Chapter 44
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Knox stared at the photo on the website, knowing he was correct.
He couldn't let the man near Everleigh. Fear threatened to choke him, but he channeled every bit of control and shoved it down. Freaking out wasn’t going to help anyone, least of all Everleigh.
He had always prided himself on staying calm and controlled in stressful situations.
But this was Everleigh they were talking about. His future wife and mother of his child. He thought of her pregnant, an innocent life inside her… Panic clutched at his throat, and his heart slammed against his ribcage. He had to make sure she was safe.
He met Mason’s gaze. “I need you to get over to the Beaumonts’ house, make sure Montgomery’s not there. I’ll touch base with Sullivan.”
“No problem, I’ll keep you posted.” Mason nodded and disappeared.
With his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, Knox headed back to his office and grabbed his phone and keys from his desk before heading back to the lobby, waving distractedly to Vivi as he left. He fought to stay calm as he hopped into the truck and headed toward the hospital.
While navigating the traffic leaving town, he dug his phone from his back pocket and tapped in Everleigh’s number.
It rang eight times, then rolled over to voicemail.
No doubt if Beaumont was awake, she would be spending time with him, but a growl of frustration rolled out of his throat regardless.
He tried again to no avail and dropped his phone in the cup holder.
Zane was with Everleigh and Celia, and he knew they were safe enough inside the hospital. Still, Montgomery had hurt so many people already. If anything happened to Everleigh or her mother after everything they’d already been through…
All rational thoughts flew out the window. He had to get to her before he did. He sped toward the hospital, nervously drumming his thumbs on the wheel, his blood pumping furiously through his veins. He didn't want to scare her, but he had to see her.
Anxiety gripped him, twisting his stomach into knots as one minute slowly rolled into the next. It felt like forever until the sign for the hospital came into view. He flipped on the blinker just as his phone rang. Foreboding filled him when he saw Zane’s name.
He thumbed the screen, ready to give the order to take Everleigh straight to his house and keep her locked down until he got there. Ice sluiced through his veins when Zane's worried voice cut through the line before he could open his mouth to speak.
“Boss, we've got a problem.” His hesitation lasted only a second, but it was long enough that it made Knox want to reach through the phone and strangle him. “I don't have eyes on Everleigh. She slipped away while I wasn't looking, and... I don’t know her current location.”
His entire body shook as the implication sank in. “Alert security at the hospital and check the surrounding area.”
“They're looking right now.” Zane's voice was deep with concern. “We were getting ready to head back to her place. I thought she might have called you.”
“No. I haven't talked to her since...” He trailed off, his voice cracking. Oh, Christ. Did Fletcher have her? Where would they go?
“Get back to the Beaumonts,” he ordered. “Mason is on his way right now. I think we’re looking for Everleigh’s ex-husband, Fletcher Montgomery. I'll touch base with Cade,” he said to Zane. “I don't want him near her.”
He ruthlessly shook the image from his head and fought to focus, to follow the protocol they’d trained for. First, he called Cade to let him know what was going on.
When Cade answered on the third ring, Knox launched right into his explanation. “I think we may have found your guy.”
He told him about Everleigh’s ex-husband and directed him to the website. “I recognized him from a picture Beaumont had in his office. I wonder if they've been in contact recently. Maybe you’ll find something on his phone.”
Cade still had Montgomery’s phone since the investigation was ongoing, so he would be able to dig into that.
At the moment, Knox had more pressing issues to deal with.
They didn't have evidence that Everleigh had been kidnapped by her ex, but she also wasn't showing up anywhere. “One of my guys is headed over to Beaumont’s right now to see if there’s been any sign of him.”
Cade sighed. “We’ve been stretched pretty thin, but I trust your instincts.
I'll have one of my guys check in with the staff from the country club, see if we can get a positive ID on Montgomery and place him at the scene.
Keep trying to reach Everleigh in the meantime.
I'll check into Fletcher, see if we can place him at or around the scene.
If we can find out what he's driving, county can put out a BOLO.”
That was all well and good, but Knox knew by then it'd be too late. He needed to find Everleigh before something happened to her. Because every cell of his body was screaming that something bad was about to go down. With a murmured thanks, he hung up with Cade.
He whipped the car around and headed toward the Beaumonts’ house, his heart slamming against his rib cage. His phone rang again, but instead of Cade or Zane, it was Mason. “What have you got?”
“All clear here. No sign of Montgomery anywhere.”
If he wasn’t there, where could he be?
Mason seemed to read his mind, because he voiced the same question Knox had. “Where else could he have gone?”
Honestly, Knox had no idea what was going through Montgomery's head.
He couldn't begin to understand what had driven him to come after Everleigh, especially after so long.
The only thing he knew was he had to get her away from him safely.
Because if he hurt one hair on her head, or God forbid found out she was pregnant...
He had to find her.
He didn't realize he'd spoken aloud until Mason’s swift, sure response filtered through the phone. “We will.”
Knox forced himself to focus. “Cade is contacting the country club to try to put him at the scene the night Beaumont was poisoned. He's supposed to let me know as soon as—"
His sentence broke off as his phone vibrated with an incoming alert.
He pulled the phone away from his ear and did a double take at the screen, his foot automatically easing off the accelerator.
The cameras at the house had picked up movement, and he studied the screen for a second.
There in black and white, he saw Everleigh approaching the house, a dark-haired man next to her.
He couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought the object concealed in the man's right hand was a gun.
He clenched the wheel so hard his knuckles turned white as his vision went red with rage. He was going to kill him.
He clicked back over to his conversation with Mason to switch it to speakerphone before returning to the video feed. “They're not at the Beaumonts'. He's at my place.”
He was still at least ten minutes out. It felt like a lifetime. Mason was silent for a second. “What do we know?”
“They're inside the house. Other than that...” He had no clue what they'd find.
“I'm coming with you.”
“You got a vest?”
“Not with me—”
“Then you're not coming,” Knox said curtly.
“You’re not going alone,” Mason fumed. “If Everleigh is in there—”
“I'll take care of it. You're not going in without a vest.”
“I—”
“No. You’ve got Vivi to think about now, and—”
“She'd want me to help,” he cut in. “You’re out of your mind if you think I’ll let you go in alone.”
Knox blew out a harsh breath. “Fine. But I don’t like it.”
“Too bad,” Mason shot back. “Wait for me to back you up. I'll touch base with Sullivan and let him know what's going on.”
With that, he disconnected, leaving only the video footage on Knox’s screen.
Nausea roiled in his stomach and he stomped down on the accelerator, fields and trees passing in a blur as he flew down the empty highway.
Barely three minutes later, his phone rang and he saw Cade Sullivan’s name pop up. “Yeah?”
“Deputies are on their way,” he confirmed. “Closest is approximately eight minutes out.”
Knox let out a disgusted snort. “I'm closer than that.”
“Do not go in there without backup,” he warned.
“No promises. I have to get her.”
“Knox, think about this. Don't put yourself in danger too just because—”
“She might be pregnant,” he admitted quietly. “There's no other option.”
Cade swore softly on the other end. “They'll be there soon,” he promised. “In the meantime, be careful. And for God's sake, don't break any laws.”
Knox glanced in the rearview mirror at the four-way stop he'd just blown through. Too late.
“I'll do my best,” he promised before hanging up. His road came up on the left, and he yanked the wheel, the SUV bumping and skidding along the pitted gravel surface. A half mile from the house, he pulled to a stop and killed the engine, then hopped out and opened the back hatch to grab his gear.
His hands shook, heart thudding heavily in his chest as he slipped into the vest he kept in the back of his SUV.
He approached on foot, cutting through the lightly wooded area at the edge of the road at a jog.
He slowed his pace as a small black sedan came into view, anxiety twisting his stomach into knots.
Pistol drawn, he approached the car warily.
The tinted windows obscured the interior, but a peek inside told him the inhabitants were long gone.
He pulled his phone from his back pocket, eyes glued to the insignia on the rear bumper. Snapping a photo of the license plate, he shot it off to Cade.
Hot fury raced through his veins. Worry, fear, and anger mingled together, threatening to explode, and he forced it down. He needed to get to Everleigh, needed to make sure she was okay. The deputies couldn’t be far behind; at least, he hoped they weren’t.
Overhead, thunder boomed, and he glanced up at the darkening sky. He broke into a run, quickly covering the half-mile to the house. Rain began to fall, lightly at first, then harder as he raced toward home. As soon as he reached the tree line, he drew to a halt and cast a quick glance around.
Raindrops fell heavily, saturating the ground and dotting the driveway with small puddles, but everything else was quiet. He scanned the muddy ground but saw no footprints. He hoped that meant they were still in the house.
Keeping low, he ran across the driveway, the crunch of gravel beneath his feet drowned out by the pummel of rain hitting the earth. Quickly but quietly, he mounted the porch steps, careful to stay away from the windows. He crouched low, then risked a peek inside the window.
His breath caught when he saw Everleigh, her face drawn tight with fear.
Her hands were bound in front of her, and she threw a glance to the side as something—or someone—moved off to the right.
His heart jumped into his throat as he watched Fletcher approach, pistol in one hand, a duffel bag in the other.
He tossed the duffel to the floor, then lifted the gun toward Everleigh.
She flinched visibly, face contorting in fear as he stroked her cheek with the muzzle of the compact gun.
From inside the house, Knox could hear the murmur of voices as they spoke, but he couldn’t make out the words.
With every second that passed, his ire grew.
He knew he had to wait for the right moment; the last thing he wanted was for Fletcher to accidentally pull the trigger and put Everleigh—and their baby—in jeopardy.
Fletcher laughed, long and loud, then turned abruptly.
Knox quickly ducked away from the window, hoping he hadn’t gotten a glimpse of him.
When it fell silent for a moment, he peered through the lower corner of the window once more.
Fletcher had moved away from Everleigh, out of his field of view.
He could only imagine that he meant to abduct her.
Too bad for him, Knox would never let her go that easily.
Maneuvering to his feet, he braced himself in front of the door, then delivered a kick that splintered the wood in its frame.
He shoved the door open with one hand, leveling the pistol at Fletcher with the other.
Eyes wide with fear, Fletcher grabbed Everleigh and tugged her in front of him, using her as a human shield.
“Let her go, Montgomery.”
The coward laughed as he held the pistol to her head. “I’ll kill her before I let you have her.”
Everleigh trembled, and Knox fought to keep his attention trained on her idiot ex. “Can’t let that happen.”
He pressed the muzzle more firmly to her temple, eliciting a sharp cry of fear from Everleigh. “Put the gun down or she dies.”
Knox wasn’t nearly stupid enough to gamble Everleigh’s life, so he relaxed his stance, holding his hands up in acquiescence. “Let’s just relax.” He bent low and set the pistol at his feet. “There. Now, let her go.”
Montgomery stared at him, a slow smile spreading over his face. “No. I don’t think I will.”
Relief filled Knox as Montgomery lifted the pistol away from Everleigh. In the blink of an eye, he found himself staring at the end of the muzzle. There was a tiny flash of light, and pain ripped across his side as Montgomery pulled the trigger.