Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91887 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
For a moment, I just stare at her. What she did is beyond invasive. It’s also possibly the smartest thing anyone’s done all week.
“You’ve tracked her?” I ask, unable to believe my luck.
“Yes.”
“Show me.”
She fumbles in her apron pocket and pulls out her cell phone. Her hands are shaking so badly that I have to take it from her gently. A map fills the screen.
“She went to Sheldon’s apartment,” Betty says quickly. “You can see it here.”
I zoom in. She’s right. The dot sits squarely over his address for a time.
“And then?”
“She left,” Betty says. “About forty minutes later. I thought that was it. I thought I’d been paranoid. I figured she’d come back, I’d take the air tag back, and no one would be the wiser. But then she didn’t come back and I didn’t know what to do. I thought of calling the police, but I didn’t dare do it. I was going to wait five more minutes and then come and find you.”
My eyes track the path. The dot has moved south. Out of the residential area. Toward the industrial estate on the edge of the city. My blood turns to ice.
“Where is that?” I ask. I think I already know the answer to that, but I want confirmation.
Betty swallows.
“I googled it. It’s an old trading estate. Hawthorne Trading Estate.”
Hawthorne Trading Estate. I was right. I know it. Joseph owns a piece of property there. He had a warehouse there. I almost forgot about it because it has been unused for years. My pulse slams in my ears as I try to make sense of this.
“Sheldon might have taken her to show her the warehouse,” Betty says, automatically trying to think of something that doesn’t involve Jo being in danger. But she doesn’t sound convinced. Because at this point, I’m not either.
The dot on the screen stops. Right over the warehouse.
“And then where did it go?” I ask.
Betty’s voice is barely audible.
“It cut off.”
I look up sharply. “What do you mean cut off?”
“The signal vanished. As if the device was destroyed. Or out of range.”
My heart starts pounding properly now. Please let it just be that it’s out of range, not that Sheldon has done something to her. I hand Betty her cell phone and pull my own cell phone out and call Jo. It rings once. Then it goes straight to voicemail. I try again. Again, it goes straight to voicemail.
“Her cell phone is off,” I mutter.
“That’s not like her, is it?” Betty whispers.
No. It isn’t. Jo is meticulous. Careful. Prepared. She wouldn’t switch off her cell phone for no reason. And I don’t believe for a second she’s someone who would forget to charge it. A slow, controlled fury begins to build inside of me.
“Sheldon wouldn’t hurt her,” I say, trying to convince myself of that. But the words taste hollow. He’s unstable. Entitled. Angry about the will. Angry about Jo being here. Angry that she exists at all. He has most people fooled into thinking he doesn’t care about any of that, but I can see right through him. I should have warned Jo about him. I didn’t really think he would do anything more than have a tantrum about it, though.
“She’s clever,” Betty says, almost pleading. “Perhaps he’s showing her something stored there. Something of Mr. Joseph’s.”
“Joseph hasn’t used that warehouse in years.”
Silence falls between us. Neither of us believed that explanation anyway.
“I’m going there now.”
Her shoulders sag in visible relief. “Thank God,” she whispers.
“If I haven’t called the house phone in thirty minutes,” I continue calmly. “I want you to ring the police. Send them to the warehouse.”
Her eyes widen. “Mr Rhodes …”
“Thirty minutes,” I repeat, cutting off her question with the answer before she even has time to finish asking it. “Tell them you believe a woman is being held against her will at Joseph Manswell’s old warehouse in Hawthorne Trading Estate. Give them my name. They’ll take it seriously.”
She nods quickly. “Yes, sir.”
I step back, already turning toward the front door.
“Mr Rhodes,” she calls softly.
I pause.
“I’m sorry.”
I meet her gaze.
“If that air tag leads me to her,” I say evenly. “You’ve saved her life.”
Her hand flies to her mouth. I don’t wait to see if she is going to say anything else. I stride out of the house, the cold air hitting my face like a slap. My car is parked at the curb. I don’t think. I just move. Door open. Engine on. The roar of it fills the quiet street as I accelerate. My hands grip the steering wheel so tightly that my knuckles whiten.
If Sheldon has touched her …
The thought fractures into something violent and uncontrollable. My tires squeal against the road as I tear away from the house, heading straight for Hawthorne Trading Estate.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
AXEL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIBv2GEnXlc
-never tear us apart-