Chapter 3 #2
The door light blinked green, and he pushed the double doors, feeling fresh air hit his face for the first time in what seemed like years but was more likely months.
It was evening, though there was still light.
It was pleasantly warm too. He knew one thing for sure: He wasn’t in Texas.
He’d have to follow John’s directions, or this could get ugly.
Nate crossed a loading spot, rounding the corner, and saw a mostly empty parking lot. There wasn’t much to choose from when it came to vehicles to lift. He was debating his choices when he saw her.
Even from a distance, he knew she was beautiful. She was slender with amazing legs that were emphasized in form-fitting black dress pants. Her hair was long and blonde, and the glossy waves bounced as she jogged across the lot. He began to wonder what color her eyes were when he scolded himself.
What the hell are you doing? You need to get the fuck out of here. Then, the thought occurred to him: She has a car. And keys. Right there.
He was off running before he could think better of it. His gate was wobbling, but he found he could still be stealthy. Years of Conglomerate training apparently worked even when you were caged for months.
Nate came up from behind her quickly and quietly. She didn’t see it coming, and he had a syringe of that benzodiazepine ready to go. He wasn’t sure of the strength, but seeing how John operated, it would knock her out.
Grabbing her from behind, he put his hand over her mouth and said, “Sorry, honey. This is how it has to be.”
Nate plunged the syringe into her neck, feeling immediately guilty. He didn’t want to do this, but he had to. If he didn’t leave soon, he would lose his chance and be back in hell again.
The woman’s body struggled before she went limp.
He could see she was fighting it, and he was going to lay her down somewhere safe and grab her car keys when he realized he couldn’t just leave her unconscious late in the evening, alone in a parking lot.
Something terrible could happen, and it would be because of him.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
Nate made the split-second decision to take her with him. He had no idea what he was going to do with her. He supposed he could eventually drop her off somewhere safe when he got far away from this hellhole. But right now, he needed to get out of here.
He held the woman up as she fell into a lull in his arms, half-conscious.
Juggling his gear, he was able to grab the handle of the passenger-side front door and open it, thankful she had a keyless entry, so he wouldn’t have to manually unlock it.
Once he got her situated, he went through her purse, pulling out the keys and wallet and chucking the purse on the ground.
He was about to shut the door when he noticed a smartwatch on her wrist. Not knowing whether that could be tracked or not, he pulled it off and left that as well. He wasn’t going to take any chances.
Then, he ran around to the driver’s side of the sedan, jumping into the seat and starting the car. He didn’t remember leaving the parking lot or getting on the road as he frantically looked down at the directions John had given him. Everything was a blur, and he tried to focus. It was hard, though.
He had broken out of his prison. He was detoxing. He had kidnapped a beautiful woman. But most importantly, he was free.
? ? ?
Ryan Hale frowned as he called Alex for a third time.
It went to voicemail again. Before that, he had texted.
She always messaged him immediately when he checked in with her after work, but she had gone dark.
She could be busy, or her phone could have died.
However, Ryan trusted his gut, and he knew something was wrong, which was why he was two minutes from the Sims Center.
He dialed Jack, knowing he would need to fill his boss in.
“Hunter,” Jack answered tersely. “This better be good because I’m about to sit down to eat with my woman.”
“Alex isn’t answering calls or texts,” Ryan told him, not bullshitting around.
He’d usually rib Jack about being domesticated, especially since it was not long ago the man had sworn he’d forever remain a bachelor. However, this was too serious. Alex could be in danger.
“What does her watch’s GPS say?” Jack asked, his tone changing to straight business.
“At the Sims Center. I’m pulling up now.”
Ryan headed toward the back parking lot, where Alex always left her car.
He noted there were only a few vehicles left, and none of them were Alex’s.
However, there were a few small items in one empty space, so he headed that way.
He parked his truck and bailed, kneeling beside the contents he recognized immediately: Alex’s purse, phone, and smartwatch.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“Hunter, I need a team immediately. Alex is missing. Her stuff is sitting in the middle of the employee parking lot for the Sims Center. And…” He stared at her watch and phone. “…all the ways to track her are not on her.”
“What the fuck?” Hunter said. “Call in your support people. I’ll call in mine. Do you think Sims did it?”
“No,” Ryan said, his heart pounding. “Her car is gone, and there’s no way she would have dumped this stuff willingly. I think she’s been grabbed.”
“By who?”
“That’s a good question.”
Within a half hour, they had two teams searching for Alex’s car.
One was hanging around the outskirts of the Sims Center, trying to look inconspicuous as they planned.
The other was searching around town. Bryant was aware—and flipping out.
He was pulling every elite ops agent he could on this. Every. Single. One.
Ryan had never seen Bryant like this. He usually kept calm during emergencies, but when he found out Alex was in danger, a switch was flipped. Cool, calculated Bryant was gone, and in his place was a man on a warpath. Ryan knew the man was close with Alex, but he didn’t realize how close.
Now, Ryan was on the line with the man, standing around with the first team and trying to get the resources straightened out so they could find Alex. Plus, he had to calm Bryant’s ass down.
“What about cameras from the Sims Center?” Bryant asked sharply. “That should be an easy hack, right?”
Ryan sighed and said, “No cameras anywhere at the Center, remember? We thought it was odd for a psychiatric facility not to have cameras, but I’m sure Sims does it to be secretive.”
“Shit, yeah. Sorry,” Bryant mumbled.
Ryan had never heard the man curse before, but in the last hour, it felt like every other word out of Bryant’s mouth was a cuss word.
“It’s okay,” he reassured his boss. “We’re all on edge. We promised Alex safety, and now she’s missing. I’m taking full responsibility for this, sir, and I will get her back.”
“No. Don’t. This was my hair-brained idea. You did exactly what I told you to do, down to the letter. I pressured her into doing this. If anything happens to her, I don’t know what I’ll do…”
“Hale,” a familiar male voice from behind Ryan said.
“Hold on, sir,” he told Bryant from his comm and turned.
“We got a hold of a video feed from a restaurant across the street,” Jack Hunter said as he jogged up to Ryan. “We had to enhance the shit out of it to get anything, so it’s grainy as hell. Look at this.”
Jack held out a tablet, and Ryan stared at the video.
The camera angle was from far away and captured the back lot of the Sims Center—right where Alex parked.
With no other cars parked there since almost everyone had left for the evening, it was a clear shot.
The video was blurry, but Ryan watched as a figure ran up behind another figure.
There was an attack, and the first person dragged the second into what looked to be Alex’s car before driving off.
After watching the video, Ryan’s stomach lurched at the implications. Alex had been kidnapped. He knew it was a good possibility, but the video showed it to be true. If only they could get a better look at the person who had grabbed her…
“Replay the video,” Ryan demanded.
The men watched as the scene played out again. This time, Ryan’s stomach dropped even more as he noted the color of the guy’s clothing. The implications were frightening.
“Is it just me, or is head-to-toe white a little much, even for spring?” Ryan asked.
“Yeah,” Jack said. “I know it’s just black and white feed, but the color is distinctive. You don’t think he could be…” Jack trailed off and looked at Ryan.
“A patient,” Ryan mumbled.
“Thinking that if the guy is still in hospital wear, he’s probably not supposed to be out.”
“If that’s so, Sims is keeping it quiet.”
“Or he doesn’t know.”
“Sir,” a voice said from behind them.
Jack and Ryan turned to see an agent jogging to them.
“What?” both men said.
“There’s some commotion at the Sims Center. Men in black tracking through the outside of the building. They came from the back of the facility.”
Ryan huffed a sigh, turned to his boss, and said, “Sims knows. What’s our next move?”
Jack’s expression was stony when he said, “We have to find her. Now. Who knows what that fucker will do to her?”