Cadence glanced down at the road.
“Lily probably thought she could make it home. Just a few more miles, and she would have been safe.” Anger rumbled beneath the captain’s words.
Cadence walked to the edge of the road. The shoulder was covered by loose dirt. She glanced to the north, then back to the south before focusing on the captain. “No rain has come through here?”
Anniston shook his head. “Due for some later, but it’s been dry here for the last week.”
There were no signs of footprints, but Lily might have just stuck to walking on the road itself. Then there would have been no prints left behind.
Cadence headed around the car to take a look herself. She stopped at the gas tank. Frowned. There were scratches around the tank. As if someone had pried the lid open.
“You said the car ran out of gas?” She thought of how Lily must have felt as her car sputtered and coasted on this dark road.
Scared. So scared.
“The tank was empty. I checked around the vehicle, trying to figure out why it had stopped. The battery was fine. Engine, oil…everything else was fine. It was the tank that was desert dry.”
“You said her purse was found in the car.” Kyle turned away from the vehicle. His broad shoulders were tense. “If she was walking, don’t you think she would have taken that with her?”
The captain didn’t reply.
Kyle cocked his head as he studied the captain. “What about her keys? Where were they?”
“Still in the ignition.”
Hell. Along with the purse, this put a different spin on things. Cadence put her hands on her hips. “She didn’t start walking anywhere, Captain.”
“But—”
“If she’d walked, she would have taken her purse. Her keys. Women don’t leave their purses behind.” Now she realized why Kyle had been so adamant about taking the case. An abduction like this…a fresh case…we might even be able to find her alive.
If they acted quickly enough.
Kyle opened the driver’s side door and slid inside.
“My men already searched the vehicle,” Anniston called out. “We recovered everything.”
Kyle raised his hand. A cell phone was held in his gloved grip. “This had fallen between the seats.”
Turned out Anniston’s men hadn’t recovered everything.
Anniston hurried toward him. “You think Lily tried to call someone for help last night?”
I would have called for help. On that long, dark road. The cell phone would have been the first thing Cadence reached for.
Some profilers tried to figure out the killers based on their actions and the clues killers themselves left behind.
Cadence didn’t work that way. When she tracked killers, she became their victims.
She had the nightmares to prove it.
“Who was keeping Lily’s daughter last night?” Someone must have been watching the girl.
“Lily’s mother. Lily and little Carrie…”
She saw Kyle tense at the girl’s name. She’d seen a similar reaction from him on other cases. He was always sensitive to the families.
She understood. Dealing with the families was often the hardest part for her.
“They live with Lily’s mother up on Miner’s Way.”
“The mother didn’t report receiving a call from her daughter?” Cadence asked.
“No.”
Cadence considered that for a moment. Maybe Lily wouldn’t have wanted her mother to rush out at night, no doubt dragging Carrie with her. So she wouldn’t have called her…but someone else.
Who?
Maybe Lily had called someone for help…only that person hadn’t been the savior Lily expected.
Tracking the last phone call Lily Adams made was an easy enough matter. A few touches on the phone and her most recent call list had appeared.
Curtis Adams. Lily’s ex-husband.
Cadence and Kyle now stood on Curtis’s doorstep, the captain just a few feet away. According to her recent-call list, at 2:12 a.m., Lily had called Curtis.
When the captain had questioned him before calling the FBI, the guy had denied hearing from her. Anniston had said that after discovering Lily was missing, his first stop had been the ex. Only Lily’s ex-husband had sworn he hadn’t heard from Lily in weeks.
Guess someone lied. Cadence knew far too well how often and easily people could lie.
It wouldn’t be the first time an ex had gone after a former lover. Cadence had seen plenty of cases play out that way—most with sad endings.
Had Curtis Adams found himself in the perfect position to get a little payback against Lily? According to Anniston, Lily had full custody of the couple’s daughter, and Curtis had been shut out in the cold by the court.
Did that make you want to punish her? When he’d found himself on a dark, lonely road with Lily, was that just what Curtis had done?
Cadence knew they were about to find out.
Kyle lifted his hand and pounded his tanned fist against the door.
Cadence heard the pad of footsteps inside. Only those footsteps weren’t coming toward the front door.
They sounded like they were running away from the front of the house.
Kyle’s bright-blue gaze slid to her. He gave a curt nod, then he shouted, “FBI! Curtis Adams, we need you to open the door!”
In the distance, a door slammed.
“He’s running out the back,” Anniston snarled as he turned to jump from the narrow porch.
Innocent men weren’t supposed to run.
Cadence drew her own gun and raced after the captain. Kyle was right at her back.
She saw a blond male jump into a pickup truck, one that was painted fire-engine red. He revved the engine as Anniston pounded on the window and ordered him to stop and exit the vehicle.
“Get out, Curtis!” Anniston shouted. “Now!”
The guy wasn’t exiting.
The tires screeched and the vehicle lunged forward, heading right for Cadence.
“FBI!” she yelled. The guy was coming too fast, the pickup fishtailing.
He’s not stopping. Hell.
She lunged to the right just as she felt strong hands wrap tightly around her. She was thrown through the air and landed in a heap of bushes, with Kyle’s hard body pressed tightly against hers. Cadence only had a moment to feel the hard thrust of his body. The ripple of muscles. The leashed strength.
Twigs scraped against her as she jumped to her feet, but Kyle was up first, aiming his weapon at the back of the truck.
“Stop!” Kyle bellowed.
That obviously wasn’t happening.
But then Kyle fired his weapon, shooting at the back left tire. A damn good shot. It should have been. She knew her partner spent plenty of hours at the firing range.
The truck swerved, fishtailed again, and plowed right into a tree.
That was one way to stop him.
Only Curtis Adams wasn’t done yet. He shoved open the driver’s side door, leaped out of the vehicle, and started running down the old dirt drive.
Perps never made it easy on them.
Kyle raced after the guy, and Cadence was the one following this time.
Curtis wasn’t getting away, not from Kyle. According to the stories at Quantico, her partner had been all-state back in high school. She’d sure seen him sack fleeing suspects before without even breaking so much as a mild sweat.
Kyle tackled Curtis, knocking into him with an impact that could have easily broken bones.
Cadence rushed to a stop next to them. Curtis had twisted around and lifted his fist, preparing to plow it right into Kyle’s face.
“Don’t,” she snapped as she aimed her gun at Curtis’s head. “In case you missed it the other two times, we’re FBI, and you need to freeze.”
He finally froze. Or at least stopped fighting. Flushed cheeks, wide, wild eyes, breath sawing out in a frantic rhythm—the guy’s whole body trembled.
Kyle
climbed to his feet. “Where is she?” Kyle barked.
Breath wheezing, the captain rushed over to join them.
Curtis still hadn’t risen.
Cadence’s eyes narrowed as she studied his pupils. Pinpricks. And that nervous gaze of his kept flickering over Cadence’s shoulder. To the house?
She darted a glance back. He’d been leading them away from the house. What was inside?
Lily?
“Where is Lily Adams?” Kyle demanded as he hauled Curtis to his feet.
Curtis immediately stumbled, and Cadence didn’t think the stumble was from the crash with the tree or with Kyle. She peered at Curtis, noticing the red sores on his face, particularly around his mouth and across his forehead. His cheeks had a hollowed look, and dark circles lined his bloodshot eyes.
“Curtis Adams,” she said quietly. “You just tried to run down two federal officers with your vehicle. Do you have any idea how much trouble that’s going to make for you?”
As soon as her words sank in, Curtis immediately attempted to lunge away.
Kyle grabbed him and hauled him back. Kyle’s suit had torn, and dirt covered most of the expensive cloth.
His handsome face sure looked pissed.
“What drugs are you on?” Cadence demanded as she sized up Adams.
“Nothin’!” he spat. “Get away from me, you—”
Kyle’s hold on the perp tightened. “You want to be real careful what you say to her next.”
Like she hadn’t been called plenty worse than what Curtis was about to say. But Kyle never liked it when anyone said a cross word to her. Protective, straight to his core. That protective streak could be damn sexy.
But then, so could he. Rumpled, sweating, fury straining his features, he looked like the lethal threat he was. Definitely dangerous enough to intimidate Curtis.
“Anniston.” She directed with an inclination of her head. “How about you pull out your cuffs?” Curtis was running high, and he could attack again at any moment.
Meth. She’d bet on it. All of the telltale signs were there, and tremors were shaking the guy’s body harder now.
If she went back into the house—when she went in—Cadence was sure she’d find drug paraphernalia.
Anniston began to rattle off a list of Curtis’s rights. As the captain talked, Curtis just looked confused. When you assault federal officers with your car, you’re gonna get arrested.
“Where’s Lily?” Cadence asked once Anniston was done.
The handcuffs clicked as they locked.
“I don’t know!” Curtis shouted.
“She called you last night,” Cadence continued, undeterred. “Did you go and pick her up? Did the two of you fight?”
If he’d been riding high on meth last night, there was no telling what he might have done.
“I already told the cop.” He jerked his head toward Anniston. “I ain’t seen Lily! We ain’t talked since the divorce!”
The woman had left such a fine catch? Hard to imagine. “She called you. We saw the proof on her phone.”
“I didn’t talk to her!”
Maybe. Or maybe it was just another lie. “Is she in your house? Did you hurt her?” Cadence stared right into his wild eyes as she waited for his response.
For an instant, she saw sanity flash. “Hurt Lily? No…never!” He shook his head and his shoulders seemed to slump. “Go look…go look inside…she’s not there.”
They’d definitely be looking. “Take him in,” she directed Anniston.
The captain hauled the guy away.
Cadence turned back to the house.
Kyle was already heading for the rear door, a door that Adams had conveniently left wide open.
“You think she could be in there?” Kyle asked quietly.
Cadence heard no sound from inside. “No. He wouldn’t have told us to go in if he was keeping her here.” Curtis wouldn’t be that stupid, would he?
Cautiously, she entered through the back door. Kyle had his gun out. Cadence took five steps into the kitchen and saw exactly what she’d been looking for.
Tinfoil, bent to look like a bowl. The telltale glittering residue shining on the foil.
Over on the counter, a spoon, its curving base darkened brown.
Meth.
They slipped from the kitchen. Their footsteps creaked against the broken linoleum tile.
The house was in shambles. Trash, old food scattered everywhere. And the stench in the house…Cadence swallowed.
The guy obviously didn’t believe in cleaning, but when you were a meth addict, there was little you believed in, other than the drug.
Her gaze swept what passed for a den. No sign of Lily.
She saw a faint, flickering light on an old end table.
Cadence hurried toward it.
An answering machine. A very old, dusty answering machine that appeared to still work.
The red light indicated Curtis had missed a call.
He’d sworn he hadn’t talked to Lily.
Could it be the guy didn’t even realize his ex had called?
Yes.
“Kyle!”
He was there in an instant.
She pressed the button to hear the message.
A woman’s voice, low, shaking, pulsed from the small machine. “Curtis? Curtis, are you there?” Her breath whispered out, sliding from the machine. “Look, I need your help.”
Cadence glanced up. She found Kyle’s gaze locked on her.
“My car stopped.” Fear trembled in the woman’s voice. Lily’s voice. “I’m out on the highway, just a few miles from home. Please, Curtis. If you’re there, pick up.”
Silence. Lily had waited for Curtis to pick up. He hadn’t.
“Someone’s here!” More fear. Her voice was higher. “There are lights behind me. Curtis, please, pick up!”
Curtis had been busy. Curtis had never even heard the phone ring.
There was a rasp in the background. Someone else talking.
“I’m fine!” Lily’s voice shouted.
Cadence saw Kyle’s jaw harden.
“Help is coming,” Lily said, her voice still a little too loud. Why?
Because she’d been talking through her window. And that was why they couldn’t hear the perp’s voice.
Cadence’s heart beat faster. Were they going to hear Lily die on this recording? There had been no blood at the scene.
And no Lily.
There was another rasp, a murmur. Whoever was there was talking to Lily.
Silence. Then…
A grinding sound.
No, Lily, no! Cadence knew Lily had just lowered her window.
You let him in.
“What seems to be the trouble?” A man’s voice. No accent. Hard. Rumbling. Carrying so easily to the recorder because he’d been right next to Lily and her phone.
Close enough to kill.
“I don’t know, Officer. My car just stopped.”
“Fuck,” Kyle whispered.
Cadence’s breath burned in her lungs. Officer.
The man was speaking again. “Why don’t you step out of the vehicle, and we’ll take a look, okay? If I can’t get it working for you, I can always give you a ride.” There was no threat in his words. He sounded helpful.
Don’t get out of the car, Lily. Like the warning would do any good now. She could almost see Lily in her mind. Nervously reaching out to unlock the door.
“It’s not safe for you to be alone out here,” the man said. “You never know what’s waiting in the dark.”
Cadence knew exactly what waited. Monsters. A monster had been standing right beside Lily.
“I don’t recognize you.” It was Lily’s voice, only it was harder to hear now. “Th-the light’s too bright.” The words were muffled. Had she put down her phone?
Kyle stood as still as stone.
“I thought I knew most of the cops in this area.” Even muffled, the rising fear was obvious in Lily’s voice.
Too late. She realized she might have made a mistake in trusting the man.
“Have you been drinking?” A sharp crack of demand, the words were more audible than Lily’s had been. “Ma’am, I smell alcohol on you. Step from the vehicle, now.”
So clever. The man had tricked her, intimidated her, and gotten Lily Adams to do exactly as he’d wanted.
“No! I—” There was a groan of metal.
She opened the door. She went to him.
“I work at a sports bar, Striker’s. Some beer spilled on me earlier, and I—”
Lily’s voice broke off. Just stopped.
Kyle’s blue eyes glittered.
“I know just what you’ve been doing, Lily.” The man’s voice. Mocking. Satisfied.
Muffled cries broke from the machine.
Then…nothing.
Beep.
“Sonofabitch.” Kyle breathed the words. “She was taken by a cop?”
Maybe. Or maybe that was just what the perp had wanted Lily to think. Either way… “We’re going to need to meet with all of Anniston’s men.”
And they’d be questioning Anniston, too.
They had concrete proof now. Lily Adams hadn’t just disappeared of her own accord. This investigation wasn’t merely based on Kyle’s hunch or gut instinct.
Lily Adams had been abducted.
Somewhere, out in the small town of Paradox, her abductor could be waiting.
We’re going to find you.
CHAPTER TWO
They’d taken over the small police station in Paradox. Curtis Adams was in a holding cell, and Kyle hoped the jerk would hurry up and become more coherent for them soon. Trying to question a guy high on meth was useless.
Officers in three counties were now searching for Lily. Her face was being splashed across the news. Time was of the essence. They’d caught this case early, thanks to Anniston, and if they could move fast enough…
“It reminds you of her, doesn’t it?”
He turned, not surprised to see Captain James Anniston standing in the doorway.
James looked over his shoulder, glancing back to where Cadence was hovering over an old computer. Then he crossed the threshold and shut the door behind him.