by Kaylea Cross
Beckett covered a wince as he took a swallow of beer. He’d intended to have this conversation in a day or two, once he’d settled everything with Sierra, but he wasn’t going to sidestep it if Noah wanted to talk now. They’d been friends for over thirty years. Beckett owed it to him to be straight. “Yeah.”
“How long has that been going on?”
“A few days.”
Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “For real? Well no wonder I didn’t know.”
“You okay with it?” Not that it really mattered to him whether Noah was or not. He wasn’t giving Sierra up for anyone, even his best friend.
“It’s gonna take me a while. Just make sure you’re not taking advantage of her, okay? You’re dealing with a lot right now.”
Beckett wasn’t offended. If anything, he was glad to see Noah being protective of Sierra. “I get it. I’m gonna talk to her tonight about everything.” He would go against his nature, even though it made him squirm inside, and verbally lay it all on the line for her.
He was going to risk everything and bare his past because his love and need for her were stronger than his fear.
Noah considered him for a long moment, then nodded. “Okay.” He lifted his bottle. “Here’s to you guys. And, as her big brother, I feel compelled to add the obligatory ‘if you hurt her I kill you’ thing. No offense.”
“None taken. And I wouldn’t expect any less,” Beckett said with a smile, and tapped his beer to Noah’s.
“Whoa, what’s all this seriousness going on?” Jase asked, sliding onto the stool to Beckett’s left. “What’d I miss?”
“Nothing,” Noah answered. “Just warning Beck not to break my sister’s heart.”
Jase nodded in approval. “Good. If he does, I’ll hold him for you so you can beat his sorry ass.”
Beckett snorted. “You and what army?”
Jase raised his eyebrows. “That a challenge, old man? You’re almost forty and you’ve got a bad back. And I would use any and all weapons at my disposal.”
“Yeah, and you’d have to use every last one of them to have a prayer at pinning me,” Beckett said, shooting Jase a grin as he climbed off his stool to face the room.
Everyone seemed to have a drink in hand, so he raised his arm and called out in his officer’s voice to get the room’s attention. “I’d like to thank you all for coming. I appreciate it, and it would have meant a lot to my dad.” He raised his beer in salute. “Here’s to Jase for setting this up, and to my father. Cheers.”
“Cheers,” everyone chorused, and drank.
He lost track of time as the minutes slipped past, but stopped accepting drinks from people after the third beer and went around the room to shoot the shit with the guests. The guys from his crews told funny stories about his dad, or recalled sweet gestures he’d performed over the years.
An unexpected bonus would show up on a paycheck when someone fell on hard times. A gift certificate for an anniversary meal out with the wife would appear in someone’s toolkit when things were tight financially.
Hearing them filled Beckett with pride as much as they made him ache.
When his phone buzzed in his pocket he pulled it out, surprised to see that more than an hour had passed already. But Sierra wasn’t texting to say she was on her way.
Done at clinic. Tiana called to say Ella and Walter are missing. Gone to look in the woods out back of her place. Can you help search?
What the hell? He immediately dialed her number. It rang three times before going to voicemail. He shot her a text. On my way.
Excusing himself from the guests he was visiting, he hurried back to the bar to grab his suit jacket where Noah and Jase were talking. “Sierra says Ella and Walter are missing. She and Tiana are looking in the woods out behind their place right now. You hear anything about it?” he asked Noah.
Noah pulled out his own phone, checked it. “No messages. I’ll call the station.” He spoke to someone briefly, then hung up and shook his head. “Tiana didn’t call it in. Must have just happened.”
Beckett fished his keys from his pocket. It was his dog Ella had been walking, and he adored that little girl. Had she gotten lost, maybe? “I’m gonna go help look for her.” Hopefully she’d just wandered off a little too far and wasn’t hurt or anything. Or maybe she’d twisted an ankle or something and couldn’t walk out on her own.
“I’ll meet you there,” Noah said.
“Okay.”
“I’m in too,” Jase said, hopping off his stool to join them as Beckett strode for the door.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Ah, looks like Beckett’s going to meet us at our final destination,” Natalie announced from behind the wheel, her voice smug.
No!
Sierra yanked to free her bound hands where they were tied behind her, but there was no give and the duct tape across her mouth kept her from saying anything. After tying her up in the backseat of the car, Natalie had taken Sierra’s phone and used her thumbprint to unlock it.
There was nothing Sierra could do to escape or stop Natalie from texting Beckett. No way to warn him that it was a trap. Her only hope now was that someone had heard the gunshot inside the clinic and called for help. Then maybe someone would find her before it was too late.
Natalie—if that was even her name—was fucking crazy. She’d killed Macy. Presumably wanting to do the same to her and Beckett. Sierra had to get out of this car if she wanted to live, make a run for it and get as far away from this psycho as possible. But how? God, she had to find a way…
The light streaming through the windows changed abruptly, darkening to dappled shade. She twisted her head to the side to look up at the window. Tall trees bordered the road, thick with late spring foliage. Where was Natalie taking her? And why?
Her wrists were already raw from twisting against the cord binding them, but she didn’t stop trying to get free. She didn’t understand any of this. Who the hell was Cole Goodman? She’d never heard of him. Beckett had never mentioned him. This was all some hideous nightmare.
“I bet you’re like all the others around here, aren’t you?” Natalie said as she continued driving. “Every single one of you in this pathetic town is a brainwashed loser.”
What the hell was she raving about?
“You all think Hollister’s a hero. What a joke. And you’re worst of all, because now you’re fucking him.”
Had she been spying on them? Sierra tuned most of it out, concentrating on finding a way out of this mess. If someone had heard the gunshot, they would have called it in. Noah would respond, find Macy’s body and see Sierra was missing. He and Beckett would search for her. They would find her and deal with Natalie.
The tires bumped as the car drove over something. Sierra bounced against the seat, wincing as the motion jolted her raw wrists.
“Well I’ve got news for you about your man,” Natalie went on, the car picking up speed now. “He’s the opposite of a hero. Heroes have honor, and Hollister has none.”
Sierra suppressed a snarl of frustration, her fingers twisting at the cord. If she could just get her freaking hands free she could try to save herself. Steal this bitch’s gun and shut her up until help arrived.
“Did he tell you about his last op in Syria in November?”
November.
The word made her pause. Beckett had come home at Thanksgiving, and she had known something was wrong. He’d told her and Noah he was getting out of the military, and she’d assumed it was because his father was terminal. But was there more? If Natalie was telling the truth about this, it fit. Something he’d seen or done overseas had shaken Beckett badly on his last deployment. Something that still haunted him to the point of nightmares.
“I’m betting not,” Natalie said with a derisive snort. “But today he’s going to pay for what he did there. And he’s finally about to feel what it’s been like for me all these months.”
The car slowed again, then made a left turn and drove over a bumpy road before
turning up a path in the forest. Natalie parked and got out. “End of the line for you,” she said as she opened the back door.
A dark wave of fear rolled through Sierra. She darted a look past Natalie. All around them was forest. Towering evergreens that blocked out the sky and dense undergrowth of ferns and brush, the sent of it filling the air. They were deep enough in that no one would be able to see the car from the road. Or hear a gunshot.
Her heart began to pound harder. Then Natalie leaned in and reached out to undo the knots holding Sierra’s hands to the metal seat anchor.
Sierra kept constant pressure on the cord, waiting for the first measure of give. She was only going to have one chance to use the element of surprise.
The instant she felt some slack in her bonds, she drew her knees up and slammed her feet as hard as she could into Natalie’s chest. The cramped position didn’t give her full leverage, but it was enough to knock Natalie on her ass.
The woman let out a surprised grunt and flailed her arms out to break her fall as she hit the ground.
Heart in her throat, Sierra scrambled to her knees and lunged for the opposite door, swiveling to reach back, her hands still bound behind her.
“You stupid bitch,” Natalie snarled.
Get out! Hurry! Sierra fumbled with the handle, the position of her bound hands making it awkward. Just as Natalie jumped up and grabbed for Sierra’s left leg, she managed to pull the handle and open the door. Sierra toppled out, landing hard on her side on the carpet of leaves and fir needles.
Rolling to her feet, she spun around and ran through the trees, heading for the edge of the road.
She only made it three strides before Natalie tackled her.
They hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, Natalie on top, her weight knocking the breath out of Sierra’s lungs. Before she could marshal the strength to fight back, Natalie had a knee dug into the middle of her back and an arm shoved across Sierra’s nape, immobilizing her.
“Stay still,” Natalie snapped, pivoting to seize Sierra’s ankles. Sierra kicked and flailed, almost managed to throw the crazy bitch off, but Natalie yanked a piece of cord around her ankles, immobilizing her again.
Sierra screamed in frustration against her gag, shaking all over.
“Now get up.” Natalie seized a handful of Sierra’s hair and yanked.
Pain exploded across her scalp as hair tore free. Natalie wrenched her head up, forcing her off the ground, and Sierra had no choice but to follow. But once on her feet, she dug her heels into the loamy ground. If she was going to die, she was going down fighting.
“Move,” Natalie commanded, shoving her forward by her bound wrists. With her feet hobbled, Sierra stumbled and fell to her knees, only to be brought upright again by another vicious yank on her hair.
She clenched her teeth against the pain, refused to take another step. The duct tape smothered a painful gasp as Natalie plowed a fist into Sierra’s kidney. Her knees buckled, a haze of pain suffocating her.
“I said move, bitch.” Natalie dragged her upright and forced her forward.
A growl of fury built in Sierra’s throat. She twisted around to bash her head into Natalie, but the bite of cold metal against her temple stopped her cold. Her heart careened in her chest as her gaze locked on the pistol.
Natalie jammed the muzzle into her head. “I’ll fucking shoot you right here if you give me any more trouble, do you understand?”
Sierra didn’t move, too afraid to even breathe.
“Don’t bother wasting your energy, because you’re just gonna piss me off more and I might decide to pull the trigger early.” She pressed her face close to Sierra’s, her voice holding a deadly edge. “I’m former Army, sweetheart. You’re not getting away from me. And I’ve waited too fucking long for this day to let you ruin everything now.”
She gave Sierra another rough shove, forcing her forward one hobbling step at a time. “Your boyfriend’s coming. And we need to be ready when he gets here.”
****
Beckett parked out front of his house and dialed Sierra’s number again. Her voicemail picked up just as Jase and Noah pulled into the driveway.
“You reach her?” Noah asked, stepping out of his cruiser.
“No, and not Tiana, either. Her car’s not in her driveway and no one answered the door when I went there.”
“I couldn’t reach Sierra either. They must be deep in the woods.”
Hell. “Sierra said she was looking back here,” he said, indicating the forest down the lane. “Let’s do a grid search.” He started across the lawn, the others following.
A phone rang behind him. He stopped, looked over his shoulder as Noah answered his cell.
Whatever the person said made Noah’s head jerk up, his stare locking with Beckett’s.
The hair on the back of Beckett’s neck stood on end. Sierra.
“I’ll call you back,” Noah said to the caller, then lowered the phone and spoke to Beckett, his expression tense. “One of my deputies responded to a report of shots fired on Front Street a little while ago. It was Sierra’s clinic. Her assistant is dead. They found Sierra’s purse but she’s missing.”
The bottom fell out of Beckett’s stomach. Jesus Christ. He pulled out his phone, showed it to Noah. “The text came from her phone.”
Noah met his eyes, anger burning bright. “Whoever took her must have sent it. They want you.”
“Well they’re gonna get me.” He turned and ran for the house. Inside, he grabbed his pistol, a full mag, and his dad’s hunting rifle. When he jogged down the front steps a minute later he found Noah waiting there with his service rifle. Beckett handed Jase his dad’s. “Let’s go.”
“Beck, let me and my guys handle this,” Noah said. “They’re on the way now.”
“Fuck that, I’m not waiting for anything,” he shot back, already striding across the yard, Jase right behind him. “I’m going after Sierra.” And God help whoever had taken her.
Noah cursed and hurried after him.
He made it to the lane in seconds, in full battle mode, already scanning the trees for signs of movement or recent disturbance. He took the lead, automatically slipping back into his role as commander. Someone had taken Sierra. He would hunt them down.
“Jase, take the left. Noah, the right. I’m going in there,” he said, pointing to an area of forest ahead of him.
The three of them fanned out and began their search. Beckett’s pulse quickened slightly, all his senses heightened as they entered the dense woods. He lost sight of his friends within moments and kept going. Noah and Jase were pros and could handle themselves. He could hunt without worrying about them.
A quarter mile into the bush, a flash of movement to his right snagged his attention. On instinct he ducked back behind a thick cedar trunk and dropped to one knee, pistol up and ready to fire.
“Hollister.”
The female voice coming from the dense tangle of brush startled him for a moment. The kidnapper was a woman? “Where’s Sierra?” he demanded.
“Right here. Show yourself, you cowardly son of a bitch.”
The insult barely registered, all his focus on his target and getting Sierra home safe. The speaker was moving, circling slowly to the right, deeper into the woods.
Beckett angled his body, anticipating her movements. “I need to see Sierra,” he called out.
She had to be alive. He fought to keep his heart rate down, his breathing steady, and refused to let himself think the worst. If this bitch had hurt Sierra…
“Here,” the woman called out, almost straight ahead of him now.
A moment later something moved behind the leafy screen of trees. Branches trembled.
And then through a gap in the leaves a pair of wide, familiar blue eyes stared back at him.
“Sierra,” he rasped out, the fear on her face slicing through him like a razor blade. He couldn’t see much of her, but from the angle of her shoulders her arms appeared to be bound behind her, an
d the tape across her mouth prevented her from speaking.
But the terror in her eyes sent an icy wave through him.
“Are you okay?” he demanded.
She didn’t answer, and then the breeze moved a branch obscuring the rest of her face from view and he saw why.
A hand held the muzzle of a pistol to her temple.
“Drop your weapon,” the woman threatened.
Christ. With no clear shot, Beckett didn’t have much choice, but damned if he was going to drop his weapon. “It’s gonna be okay, sweetness,” he told her, hoping she believed him. The sight of that pistol against her head made him insane, but he had to keep calm to save her, and he wanted to reassure her. “Just stay still.”
She stared back at him with heartbreaking eyes, unmoving.
A bitter laugh floated out from behind the screen of leaves. “But it’s not going to be okay. Not for her, and not for you.” The woman with the pistol stepped out from behind cover, staying behind Sierra, using the woman he loved as a shield.
Beckett held that hate-filled stare, memorizing her face. He had never seen her before.
“Drop your weapon!” she yelled at him.
“Who are you?” he demanded. He still didn’t have a clear shot, so he slowly lowered his weapon. Jase and Noah were nearby, but if they spooked her she might pull the trigger. He had to keep her talking, distract her.
The woman’s lips twisted into a sneer. “I’m Cole Goodman’s fiancée.”
Every muscle in his body contracted, shock squeezing all the air from his lungs. Jesus fucking Christ. How? It couldn’t be.
“Didn’t think you’d ever have to face me, huh? Well here I am.”
His jaw clenched. “Let her go.”
“Not a fucking chance, you gutless bastard,” she snapped, a wild glitter in her eyes. “You let him die. You sat up there in your nice, safe position on that ridge with your team and watched the whole thing without even trying to stop it. You let them all die.”
Each word hit him as if it was a separate bullet, but he refused to let it show. How did she know what had happened?