Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105868 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
He stood slowly and looked at the wall again, higher this time. There were tiny specks there, cleaned but not fully removed, the kind of fine spray that didn’t come from a scraped knee. It came from force or from a wound under pressure. He ran to the connecting door to the hospital and opened it, shocked to find it open.
“Hi,” Dr. Patterson said, looking up from behind the reception desk. “What’s up, Ace?”
Ace’s body was going cold. “Have you seen May or heard anything odd?”
Patterson’s eyebrows lifted, and his blue eyes behind his glasses widened. “No, nothing. But I did have the music on for a while. What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure.” Ace turned and hustled out the front door, looking frantically around the front parking lot.
May hadn’t walked away from her clinic without her phone. Or left the back door open. She was gone. Taken.
His mind tried to build the list of who could do this. There was a killer in town. He liked blondes and might’ve decided May was next.
Kyle Mercer flashed through Ace’s brain. The asshole wanted May, and Kyle had money and power and that polished smile that made people underestimate what he could do behind closed doors. Yeah, he had an alibi for Ivy’s murder, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to keep coming after May. There was something wrong with the guy.
Ace sucked in air, moving into a calming rhythm he’d learned in Naval training. Tugging his phone out of his pocket, he called his brothers on a group line.
Brock answered immediately, his face filling the screen. “Ace.”
“I’m at May’s clinic. The front door’s locked. Back door was open. Her phone is here and there’s blood in an examination room. A lot of it.” His voice cracked at the end.
Christian came onto the screen as he began to speak. “I’m right around the corner. Be right there.”
“Stay there,” Brock said, flashing onto the screen again.
“No,” Ace said, already moving toward his truck. “I’m going to check out Kyle Mercer’s rental out at North Reach, because it’s the only thing I can think to do right now. I need you and Olly to start canvassing the town. See if anybody saw anything.”
“Already doing it,” Brock said, and the line went dead.
Damian started speaking as he came into view. “There are clouds coming, but I’ll get the helicopter up. If you’re going toward North Reach, I’ll fly the other direction.”
Ace’s stomach clenched. “Go along Two Trout Creek, would you?”
Damian’s gaze narrowed. “You’ve got it. She’s smart and tough, Ace. She’ll be okay.”
Yeah, but where was she?
Christian tore into the parking lot and jumped out of his truck with Tika on his heels. “You drivin’?” His brother was all business, wearing jeans and a light T-shirt.
“Yeah.” Ace got into his truck as his brother and Tika did the same. He swung the Ford around and accelerated, his heart racing. “She has to be okay.”
Christian looked out the window, scouting the area. “Are you sure she didn’t just go get dinner?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t know how, but he knew. May was in trouble.
The trunk was pitch black.
May couldn’t see anything, not even the shape of her own knees. The air felt used up. Hot at first from the engine, then colder as the rain started pounding overhead. Every turn slammed her shoulder into metal, and every bump shoved Jack’s body harder against her side.
His hand kept hitting her ribs when the car bounced.
She tried to twist away from him, but there wasn’t room. The carpet was damp and rough against her cheek. It smelled like old rubber and something metallic that wouldn’t go away.
The car accelerated, and rain hammered the lid hard enough to drown out everything else.
She tried to curl tighter and create space between her and Jack’s body. The elastic binding her wrists had swollen with moisture. She twisted them again anyway, dragging the knot against the ridged edge of the trunk liner. Pain lanced up both arms. The knot didn’t move.
If she could get one hand free, she could fight.
The car hit a dip and Jack rolled into her. She shoved him back with her knees, trying not to panic. She had to think.
The car finally rolled to a stop. A door opened and then she heard shoes scraping over gravel. She twisted her wrists again, frantically now, dragging the elastic over the metal seam, grinding skin raw. If she could just get one hand loose. Just one.
The trunk latch clicked.
Light exploded in.
Kyle stood over her, rain soaking his shirt. The air smelled like cold water and wet spruce.
Jack’s body jerked as Kyle hauled him by the collar and one ankle, dragging him over May and across the trunk lip. Jack’s head knocked against the bumper with a dull crack. May instinctively shoved backward.
Kyle dragged Jack out and dropped him onto the ground.