by Katie Reus
He had to be careful with her, though. He was under strict instructions to never hurt their products. So he’d have to take her carefully. She couldn’t be more than a hundred and fifteen pounds, so even if she put up a fight, overpowering her wouldn’t be a struggle.
Not with his training. He might have been kicked out of the Army, but they’d trained him well beforehand.
Moving quietly, he opened his driver’s-side door and gently let it move back into place, not letting it click completely shut. The dome light didn’t come on, because he’d disabled it. He didn’t want her to see him until it was too late. Doing another visual sweep of the lot, he checked to make sure none of her coworkers at the seafood restaurant had followed her out, but he’d already done a head count as other employees left throughout the evening. According to the information he had on her, she was closing tonight, so there would be a cook or two inside still closing up and a manager, but she was the last waitress out.
It was shitty that no one walked her to her vehicle, but good for him. His information on his targets had never been wrong. He didn’t like that all the facets of their operation were kept insulated, but he got paid well, so he kept his concerns to himself. Money made it easy to do a lot of things.
His friends thought he was a bounty hunter, so it was easy to explain away his odd hours. In a way, he did hunt people down for a bounty, so the title was fitting.
Smiling to himself, he watched as she let out a curse and started to bend down in front of her back tire. He’d punctured it a couple of hours ago and later he’d have one of his contacts tow the vehicle for him, but it gave him the perfect opening to subdue her without a struggle. Taser in hand, he stepped closer to the line of trees, thankful for the darkness to cover his movements.
He was close enough to her that he could hear her creative, colorful curses. Heart pounding at the thrill of bagging his prey, he had started to step out from behind one of the trees when a loud male voice stopped him.
“Hey!”
Sid froze for just a second, looking behind him. The other parking lot was completely empty.
“What happened to your car?” the male voice asked.
Sid turned and realized the man hadn’t been talking to him. From the file he had on the restaurant employees, he knew the man was one of the fry cooks. He wasn’t wearing work clothes, but jeans, a T-shirt, and a light windbreaker. He must have come from the rear of the restaurant, which was why Sid hadn’t seen the guy. Still, he inwardly cursed. He could have been seen. Taking out someone else wouldn’t have been an issue, but he wouldn’t leave any witnesses. It was easier for everyone if his jobs stayed clean.
“I must have run over a nail or something,” the girl said, irritation in her voice.
“I’ll give you a ride home. You can call a tow truck in the morning.”
Sid blended back into the shadows as they continued talking, his heart rate jacked up. That had been close. Too close.
This girl wasn’t like their normal quarry from what he understood. Normally they found women and lied to them about a job opportunity. With this woman, they were just taking her. It felt like an unnecessary risk, but the boss wanted her for a reason. If he had to guess, it was because a client had requested a woman with a certain look or ethnicity and this girl fit the bill. Gonna be disappointed tonight, Sid thought as he slid back into his SUV. He didn’t start it, though, waiting until the girl and fry cook were long gone.
He’d follow her home. Maybe he’d just take her from there instead. It was only eleven; he had plenty of time to still kidnap her. Because he couldn’t afford to screw up. The last guy who’d failed had ended up with a bullet right between the eyes.
Chapter 4
Cover: facade, vocation, purpose, activity, false identity maintained by an undercover operative.
Amelia couldn’t stop the edginess that had settled in her bones since getting in her Jeep. Too many old conversations and memories kept playing in her mind. Now that she was away from the noisy auction, she had too much time alone. Too much time to wallow in her thoughts.
She’d made an excuse about a work emergency and needing to take care of it herself. Iker had been understanding, even offering to come with her—which had made her feel even guiltier. She rarely lied and wasn’t one to hang on to guilt for nonsensical things she had no control over, but she actually felt bad about lying to him. She really wanted to finish that conversation with Maria, though. Especially since her friend seemed to know more about Danita.
The way Danita had just up and quit had been odd. Amelia had even tried calling her, but her cell phone had been disconnected. She’d e-mailed too, but with no response. Not exactly strange, since she hadn’t put in her two weeks’ notice; maybe she’d been too embarrassed to talk to Amelia after that.
As Amelia turned down a street that would get her to the center faster, she noticed the same car that had been on her tail since a couple of blocks away from the auction following her once again. It was possible the driver had followed her the entire way and she just hadn’t noticed. She was so used to paying attention to her surroundings, but she’d been distracted as she left the auction.
Not caring if she was being paranoid, she made a sharp right turn, barely slowing down as she did it. Her tires squealed before she righted the wheel.
The car followed, gaining speed.
A low-grade panic hummed through her veins. She knew the streets of Miami like the back of her hand, but she was in a dicey area. She needed help, but the only people she saw on the streets now were homeless, hookers, or dealers. Freaking great.
She gunned the engine. The nearest police station was fifteen minutes away and she didn’t want to head to Bayside. She couldn’t lead whoever was behind her there.
There was a red light ahead. Damn it.
Her heart in her throat, she flicked her gaze to the rearview mirror again. The vehicle was almost on her now. Her fingers tightened around the wheel. Suddenly the brights flooded her mirror, making her instinctively flinch away. She twisted the mirror to the side so the glare wouldn’t blind her.
Her Jeep jerked forward as the driver rammed into her. Her seat belt locked hard against her chest, making her gasp. Jeeps were made sturdy, so she didn’t feel a huge impact. She snapped her hand back to the wheel, holding it steady as she pressed on the gas. Red light or no, she had to run it.
The driver gained more speed in a burst, slamming into her again, propelling her through the light. She held tight as her Jeep swerved to the right. Unable to keep it steady, she braced herself as she careened into an IHOP parking lot. Narrowly missing a Pontiac that had to be forty years old pulling out of the entrance, she hit the brakes to slow but didn’t stop.
Heart racing, she continued through the brightly lit, packed parking lot, ignoring the two guys who shot her the bird for nearly clipping them. As she passed them, she twisted her rearview mirror back into place. The car wasn’t there. No one was following her. The two guys were now making obscene gestures to her, but she ignored them and steered to the second entrance to the twenty-four/seven pancake place.
As she pulled up to the entrance, she saw no one coming from either direction, so she tore out into the four-lane road, making a left. She wasn’t stopping at this place, not at this time of night. It might be more dangerous here. Her palms were damp as she drove, but she kept an eye on the rearview mirror, taking the most efficient route to the community center.
She was almost positive no one had tailed her. And there was no sense in heading to the police station now. Whoever had been following her wasn’t anymore and she had literally no information on what the driver or car looked like. She didn’t have a make, model, or even color. It had been a dark color, maybe black or blue, but she couldn’t say for sure. She couldn’t say anything for certain. She knew how the legal system worked and she sure as hell wasn’t wasting her time down at one of the police stations where she’d have to wait to talk to someone and then fill out paperwo
rk that wouldn’t amount to anything tonight.
No, thank you.
She’d drop by when it was convenient for her and make a report for insurance, but that was it.
When she made it to the community center, she was thankful to see Maria’s vehicle in the side parking lot through one of the gates. She started to call Maria, but the gate automatically opened for her. That was when she saw the headlights of Maria’s car flash twice.
She must have a remote control to the security system. Whatever it was, Amelia was glad she didn’t have to wait to be let in. As soon as she steered through, the gate started to close.
Relief speared through her as it did. She parked next to Maria and walked to the back of her Jeep as Maria got out of hers.
“You made good time,” her friend said, walking toward her.
“Yeah.” Surprising, considering her detour. She winced when she walked around the back and got her first look at the damage to her bumper. Her shoulders and neck were stiff, but she figured she’d be fine in the morning. Sleep and a glass of red wine sounded perfect, but first she needed to hear what was going on.
Maria’s eyes widened. “What happened?”
“Someone rammed into me on the way here. Twice.” Instinctively she looked over her shoulder, glancing around the community center parking lot. There weren’t any other vehicles around and the security fences were high enough that they’d hear someone trying to scale them. Still, she wanted to get inside. After the night she’d had, her nerves were completely shot.
Maria let out a quiet gasp. “Did you call the police?”
Amelia shook her head. “Not going to waste my time. I’ll make a report tomorrow for insurance, but seriously, it’ll be a big hassle tonight going down to the station.” Not that she didn’t respect the cops; she definitely did. She was friends with some uniforms and a couple of detectives who came into her restaurants with regularity, but it didn’t negate the fact that calling them or going to the station—on a busy Friday night—would be pointless without any information to give them.
Maria’s expression was worried. “Are you sure you’re okay? We can call someone now. Do you think maybe you need X-rays or something?”
Amelia was touched by the concern in her friend’s voice. “I’m okay, but thank you. . . . Where’s Cade?” she asked suddenly. No way would Maria’s hulking, slightly overprotective husband have let her come down here alone at night.
Maria actually blushed. “Uh, I told him to wait inside. I know he’s kind of intimidating and I also know that my request to meet me here so late at night is pretty weird, so I didn’t want you to feel ambushed.”
A smile teased her lips. “So he’s probably watching us from one of doors right now?”
“Oh yeah. Look, I’m sorry for being so cryptic before. I just wanted privacy and the space to show you . . . something.” Maria motioned that they should head toward the nearest set of double doors.
Amelia fell in step with her. “And showing me ‘something’ isn’t cryptic at all.”
Maria’s lips pulled up at the corners, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “A couple weeks ago Leah and I noticed that some women we’ve helped here have sort of just gone missing. Not legally, but moved and cut all contact with everyone.” One of the doors opened as they reached it, with Cade standing on the other side next to the silver button that worked this set of doors.
He nodded politely at Amelia and murmured a greeting. She did the same and stepped inside with Maria.
“Cade, someone hit Amelia’s Jeep,” Maria said immediately.
His entire body went rigid. “Are you hurt?”
Feeling her face flush, Amelia shook her head. She didn’t want to make a big deal of this. “No, it’s fine,” she muttered, shooting Maria an annoyed look.
Her friend just pursed her lips. “It’s not fine. That’s scary.”
“Did you get a good look at the driver, the vehicle, the—”
Amelia shook her head again, cutting off Cade. “I don’t even know if it was a man or woman driving. The driver blinded me with the brights the first time they hit me. The second time they hit me I drove through an IHOP and hurried out a side exit. They didn’t follow through the parking lot and I’m guessing it was impossible for them to turn around and figure out which way I’d gone. I wasn’t followed, so if you’re worried about a security issue here, don’t. I wouldn’t have come here if someone had been following me. I’d have just gone straight to the police station. And”—she held up a hand when it was clear Cade was going to pepper her with more questions—“I’m not calling the police right now, so leave it alone. I’ll make a report tomorrow.”
He blinked once, maybe at her forceful tone. Then he simply nodded stiffly. He wasn’t happy about it, though, that much was clear. Well, too bad. She’d been taking care of herself a long time.
Cade stayed behind them, and even though he was intimidating as Maria had said, it was a relief to have a huge guy like that at their backs. Despite what Amelia had said, she was still out of sorts because of what had happened.
“So, all the women you mentioned have done what Danita did?” she asked, wanting to get the focus back on why she’d come down here. When Maria nodded, she continued. “Did you know she turned off her phone too?”
Maria nodded again. “Yeah.” Now her voice was resigned.
The click of their heels echoed along the dimly lit hallway. Luckily they didn’t have to go far to Maria’s office. The light was already on inside, showing a comfortable, welcoming space. Hand-drawn pictures, sketches, and even oil paintings from various kids Maria had helped over the years covered her walls. A leather chair was behind her desk, and two worn but comfortable-looking seats were in front of it.
“I’ll let you guys talk,” Cade murmured, before disappearing down another hall in the direction of the gym.
“He doesn’t have to leave,” Amelia said. Yeah, he was a big guy, but it wasn’t as if she was scared of him. Especially not after he’d been all concerned about her “fender bender.”
“Oh, I know, I just wanted to talk to you in private.” Maria slipped off her high heels as she entered the room. Her dress was an eggplant color, the deep purple stunning against her bronzed skin.
Amelia was tempted to take off her heels as well, but she knew once they came off, they weren’t going back on.
Maria moved to her desk and flipped open a blue binder. “You can sit,” she said, not looking up as she thumbed through some of the pages.
Amelia did, wondering what the heck was going on.
Less than thirty seconds later, Maria sat in the chair next to her and handed Amelia the binder. “There’s a lot of information in there, but if you start on this page, it’s the list of women who have gone missing in the last year.”
Amelia’s eyes widened as she scanned the names. “There’s got to be at least forty names—”
“Fifty. So far.”
“You’re telling me these women are all missing?” Nausea swirled in her stomach.
“Yeah.”
Amelia’s temper spiked, sharp and fast. “And you haven’t called the cops yet?” She practically shouted it, then forced herself to rein herself in. She needed to hear all the facts first.
Reaching out, Maria flipped one of the pages. “Keep reading. The women all left jobs or school or both. All of them turned in notice at work, some more abruptly than others. They’ve all stated that they found work elsewhere. All of them had their phones turned off within days of leaving for their ‘new job.’ The main thing they have in common with each other is that they’re virtually alone in the world. Yes, they’ve got friends, but no family, no significant others, and no real estate ownership. Nothing to tie them to one place. They’re all over eighteen, but none of them are over twenty-eight. It’s a pretty tight age range.”
That sick feeling intensified as Amelia continued flipping through the pages. Sure enough, she recognized twelve of them. She flipped back to
the first page and twisted the binder so Maria could see it. “These women,” she said, indicating seven of them, “all told me they found new jobs. They were all part-time anyway, so it wasn’t out of the ordinary. Though . . . three of them never picked up their last check.” Which wasn’t all that strange. Waitresses made well below minimum wage because their money came from tips. Their checks were nominal. Still, now it made Amelia wonder if there was something more going on.
She pinned Maria with her gaze. “We need to go to the cops. As in tomorrow morning.” She would go now, but she wanted to set up a meeting with a detective friend of hers so they got someone who would listen. Not just some random person. “They’ve got resources we don’t. They could look at, I don’t know, like, credit card records or something. Maybe—”
“The ones who had credit cards haven’t used them since they’ve gone missing, and all of them have closed their bank accounts. They’ve also deleted their social media accounts—the ones who had them anyway.”
As Amelia digested what her friend had just laid out, a few things became crystal clear. “You’re already working with the police.” Otherwise how would she know all this stuff? Finding out about social media accounts was one thing, but knowing about freaking bank account information was something else entirely.
“Sort of.” Maria shifted almost nervously in her seat. She paused, as if waiting for something, then continued. “Cade is in law enforcement.”
Amelia blinked once, but she wasn’t exactly surprised. The man moved with a military sort of bearing. “What branch?”
Another very slight pause as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “FBI.”
Maria was lying. Amelia saw it in her gaze. She didn’t think the law enforcement part was a lie, but she didn’t buy the FBI part. Maria’s cheeks tinged just a shade darker as she’d said “FBI.” That, combined with the nervous hair thing . . . Amelia forced her expression to remain concerned, which wasn’t hard, considering that she was. She was also slightly terrified now.