“I think my next step should be to call Astor. He told me he would talk to me. We could get the sheriff involved. I could go in wired.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“I could meet him at a public place. You could be nearby. Set up surveillance or record it. Asking the hard questions, facing off with the right people, is what I need to do.” It’s what her father had done. She wouldn’t say that out loud because she knew exactly how Liam would respond—her father had been killed for his efforts.
Was Rae ready to die? To risk her life?
“Not saying it’s a good idea, but let’s talk about it in the morning. I’ll let Taggart know what we’ve come across. He might need to communicate with any trafficking task forces he belongs to.”
There. She had her next step. She would speak to Enzo Astor. If she got her chance, she needed to make the most of it. What would she ask him? How would she learn if he had anything to do with Zoey’s disappearance? She had experience and skills, but right now she felt so helpless and like none of it would make a difference. She closed her eyes.
“Rae . . .” His voice was soft.
Hands gently squeezed her shoulders.
Rae opened her eyes. Liam was standing next to the opened passenger-side door. “You fell asleep.”
“Oh.”
His face was close to hers. He studied her, his gaze roaming over her features. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Her voice cracked with exhaustion. “But with the door opened, I’m cold.”
He lingered, and she wasn’t sure why. Rae lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, feeling the stubble there. “Thank you for this.”
“For what?”
“For . . . for tonight. For helping me.”
“You’re welcome.” He eased away from her—not that she’d wanted him to, which should disturb her. Rae slid from her seat and dropped to the ground, putting her even closer to Liam. He didn’t budge an inch.
She pulled her gaze from his intense stare to look up. The stars lit up the deeply black sky, and the moon that had shined so bright earlier was nowhere to be seen. “This place is magical.”
“It is.”
She could hear his breaths. Feel the warmth from his body as he pinned her in. She felt the draw of him and could no longer ignore her insane attraction to the man. Rae’s heart rate jumped.
Liam must have been drawn to her as well, otherwise, why did he stand so close? Maybe their thrilling escapade in the woods had knocked away all their barriers.
She hoped not.
Then again . . .
Would he kiss her here under the stars? After everything they’d been through, she couldn’t want that from him. That was her head talking. But her heart wanted that kiss. Her senses were already reeling.
Liam ducked his chin and inched forward but then hesitated. A grin tugged at his lips. An invitation. Rae ignored the warning signals in her head and met him the rest of the way. His lips pressed against hers. His hand came up to cup her chin as his lips explored. Pleasant sensations flooded her. All she wanted was to melt into him. All she wanted was his arms around her.
What am I doing?
She ended the kiss and pulled away before she wound up in his arms, because once she found herself there, she wouldn’t want to leave. Rae’s breath caught.
She shouldn’t be surprised that they would take this kind of risk. They were both risk-takers in almost every way.
He peered at her as though dazed and lost and missing her lips.
“I’m . . . I need to go,” she whispered.
He moved out of her way. She headed to the house, leaving him behind and feeling ridiculously awkward as she clomped up the porch. I sure hope Evelyn is back from her date. At this hour, she’d have to be.
At the door, she turned around. “Oh, I forgot. Do you want me to help you unload those?”
“No,” he called. “We’ll tackle that in the morning. You’re good to go.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Check on the horses.”
Cowboy code for “I need time alone to think.”
“See you in the morning.” She quietly opened the door and stepped inside. Evelyn had left the door unlocked for them. Rae was relieved. She didn’t have a key, and she wanted to avoid another close encounter with Liam.
Rae shut the door and sagged against it. Despite their hours of work, she felt no closer to finding Zoey. The pressure, the burden of Zoey’s life weighed on Rae. She shouldn’t be wasting time kissing Liam.
Her father would have done much more in this situation. He’d pushed so hard in his work that he’d gotten himself killed. She’d chosen to think of him as a hero. A martyr even, for the sake of all that was unjust in the world.
Was it time for Rae to step up to the task?
The fire in the fireplace had been stoked since they’d left. Rae paused at the fire and took in the flames, the glowing red embers morphing and crackling and popping, and yet dying at the same time.
“Tomorrow, Enzo Astor. Tomorrow, I’m going to ask you about Zoey.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
2:23 a.m.
Denver, Colorado
Callie slept soundly.
For the first time since Mom’s arrival, Alan was grateful for her presence. Initially, he assumed her presence would require energy he didn’t think he had. But now that she was here, he realized how grateful he was. She could help with Callie in ways he hadn’t known he needed.
And Mom had forced him to look at the package that had arrived.
His throat narrowing, Alan could hardly swallow as he eyed the old paperback—a Zane Williams adventure novel. A cryptic message? Had Zoey been stalked? How long had someone been stalking her? Why hadn’t she ever told him?
Except he should have known. He’d guess that her disappearance before, the bruises, had to do with a stalker who’d finally gotten his hands on her. Alan had guessed that was what had happened, but he’d never known for sure. He’d been a coward not to ask her when he thought he was simply loving her the only way he knew how.
But this strange package—this could mean something. It could mean everything. Or it could mean nothing.
What do I do with this?
His better judgment told him to give it to the police. This was new evidence. Or was it? Would they see it the same way and ultimately block his efforts to learn more? He had to work while he had the opportunity.
He’d have to do more research. Maybe she’d requested the book. Bought it used online, for all he knew. He had no idea, and he was jumping to conclusions. He couldn’t present this to the police until he knew more, otherwise he could end up looking the fool.
A husband who didn’t know enough about his wife.
Detective Mansfield already thought Alan had something to do with Zoey’s disappearance, or he was a clueless husband.
But this book. He recognized it. He’d seen a box of books by the same author in her belongings they’d cleared out of the room she’d shared with Rae in college. He could swear Zoey had gotten rid of those books. How strange that the day Zoey disappeared again, one of the same thriller novels had been mailed to her.
All he could think about was her stalker. But if he was dead—then who was stalking her now? Was this the first book, or had that person mailed others?
Alan stared at the packed bookshelves.
CHAPTER FORTY
8:11 a.m.
Bridger County Sheriff’s Office
Liam cornered Sheriff Taggart at the county office. He was exhausted after his and Rae’s middle-of-the night exploration. Who was he kidding? More than their brief stakeout had kept him up all night. He hadn’t been able to shut his mind down after that kiss. His heart either. What had compelled him to invite a kiss? Rae had been caught up in the moment as well, or else why had she responded to him? She’d
said nothing about it this morning, and that was just as well. He had better shake it off and put his energy and thoughts into their discovery. He needed to inform the sheriff as soon as possible about what they’d seen at the house. Rae waited in his truck so she could make phone calls. She’d left a voicemail for Astor but had not received a call back yet. Liam was relieved. He didn’t feel comfortable with what she considered the next logical step.
The sheriff went through a stack of phone messages. “I’m listening, Liam. Go ahead.”
“I need your full attention.”
“And you have it.”
Okay, then. “Yesterday, after you informed Astor of his brother’s murder, Astor and his associate transported snowmobiles by truck to a closed forest road, where they snowmobiled into the woods. We followed them as far as the truck, but we couldn’t go all the way. So last night, we snowmobiled into the woods along the same road coming from the east. We found a cabin with a lot of activity involving young women. I saw Astor’s associate there but not Astor himself. He could have been there but out of sight.”
“Is that it?” Sheriff Taggart asked.
“There’s something going on at that house. An armed guard was outside. The point is that I’m concerned those girls were being held against their will. Take a look at these pictures.” Liam held out his cell with the images he’d taken.
“You took pictures?” Taggart ran his hand down his face. “You’re stepping way over the line.”
“Am I? Look at these girls. This guy could be trafficking humans and drugs and who knows what else. They look too young. They’re at least underage to be drinking, if that’s all that’s going on.” What more did Taggart need?
A deep frown developed on Taggart’s face as he adjusted his glasses and looked closer at the photographs. “I can’t just go knock on the door. I have to have a good reason.”
“And these pictures aren’t reason enough?”
Squeezing his eyes shut, Sheriff Taggart rubbed his left temple. He dropped his hand, opened his eyes, and blew out a long breath. “You should know better, McKade. In the absence of a criminal background or arrest, or proof that a crime is being committed, I can’t get a warrant. These girls could be there for a slumber party. I’ll let Detective Moffett know. She’s digging into info on Astor for me. She’ll find out who owns the property, to start. We get a connection to a crime, then we can try for a warrant. But right now it looks like at least one of those girls in this picture could be his daughter. I need more. Like I said. Slumber party.”
“You have a connection to a crime. He’s connected to the masked man.”
Sheriff Taggart sighed. “It’s circumstantial. We’re not certain it’s the same person. I know you don’t do this kind of sloppy work in the DEA. Not if you want your charges to stick.”
Liam backed off. Fisted his hands. “Right. Okay, you’re right. Maybe I’m going after this too hard, but it’s more that I got a bad feeling. Seeing that armed guard—he was far from friendly. Something wasn’t right at that house, okay? And it isn’t easy to get in and out of there. Snowmobiles only.”
“Sounds inconvenient but not criminal.”
“Or . . . it’s exclusive.”
The sheriff looked at him long and hard. “I’ve spent a lifetime here in this county, so I have to say you’ve probably seen more of this kind of thing in your line of work.”
“Unfortunately. I want to be wrong. Please . . . just prove me wrong.”
“We don’t have a lot of human trafficking in this state, but it does exist. Traffickers prefer the bigger cities. More clients that way.”
“Maybe.” Liam couldn’t help but think about resorts and hotels for tourists—common places for all kinds of trafficking. Was there something going on with that angle? What they saw was just a cabin in the woods, but Enzo Astor owned resorts. Was there a connection? “Well, I’ve given you everything I know. I hope you can do something with it.”
Liam wished he could do something himself. He wished he were carrying a badge and could wield it to enforce the law. But at the moment, he appreciated the fact that he had the freedom to protect Rae.
“You would be an asset to my team. You sure you won’t—”
Liam held up his hand. “Thanks for the offer.”
He could only imagine what working with Heath for the county would be like in addition to working for him at the ranch. No thank you. “Rae and I are actively looking for Zoey. And we already know someone doesn’t want us to find her.”
“That’s the theory you’re going with?”
“For now, yes. Why? You have another theory?”
“Not yet. We came up empty on the search for the Hummer. After the incident on the road, they must have parked it somewhere. Hid it away. Or hightailed it out of state. I have someone looking into witnesses and everyone who owns and drives a Hummer here as well as in neighboring states. There can’t be that many.”
“It all takes time,” Liam said.
“Too much time.”
A text came through on Liam’s phone.
Two texts. One from Brad, who wanted an answer about the job offer. Another from Kelvin with an image. “I’ll talk to you later.” Liam exited Sheriff Taggart’s office. He was beginning to appreciate Rae’s sense of wasting time. His visit with Taggart felt more like that, but then again, if the sheriff could do something with the information, he would.
Liam, his heart in his throat, stopped to read Kelvin’s text.
An image—Enzo Astor on the steps of a business complex with Malcom Fox not too far behind. Liam stared long and hard at the image. The text also said, “Taken a year ago.”
A year ago. This must be why Liam recognized Enzo. The image didn’t show the two men interacting, but what about the pictures taken before or after? Did Kelvin only have this one?
This could possibly give the sheriff probable cause—Enzo in the vicinity of a known drug and human trafficker. Their intuition about the man had been right on. Liam turned to catch Sheriff Taggart. Except there was a disturbance rippling through the office.
Someone had found a body.
Liam pressed himself into the wall as deputies geared up and filed out, followed by Sheriff Taggart. The sheriff eyed him on the way out. “A young woman’s body was just discovered.”
Liam’s heart lurched.
Please, let it not be Zoey.
“Watch your back.” Sheriff Taggart left him standing there.
“Always.” Liam wanted to go with him, but despite what he’d discovered last night and any possibility that the body was somehow connected, this was a law enforcement matter. He forwarded Kelvin’s text to the sheriff.
How did he tell Rae about the body when he was still reeling from the news himself? And the picture of Enzo Astor and Malcom Fox. After taking a few long breaths to compose himself, he exited the county offices, stepped out into the cold, and found Heath’s truck empty in the parking lot.
Rae was gone. Frowning, he glanced at his cell and saw the text message she’d sent. He’d just missed it.
Meeting Enzo Astor at airport before he leaves. My only chance to catch him.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
8:22 a.m.
Grayback, Wyoming
Liam would absolutely kill her. She knew it. The cab driver drove her out of Grayback and toward Jackson Hole Airport.
If she had gone into the sheriff’s office and announced her plan, then the deal would have been off. There was no time for deliberation. She shouldn’t have waited until this morning to call Astor for that interview, but Liam had wanted to talk it through. And now here they were in this situation. Astor was leaving, and she didn’t want to miss her chance.
He’d agreed to talk to her for a few minutes before his flight left. So she’d made this decision on her own. They had to pick up the pace.
The cab stopped at a drop-off area. After paying
the driver, she hurried into the terminal. She wasn’t wired like they had discussed. She would have to ask if she could record the interview. She had a feeling that would be a resounding no. But she wasn’t writing an article, and all she needed was to find out what he’d done with Zoey. Like he was going to tell her if she asked.
Come on, Rae, if you’ve ever done anything good in your life, you can do this. You can learn something that will make a difference.
One way or another.
Astor had agreed to meet her at a coffee kiosk, so she hurried through the terminal in search of one this side of security. Someone grabbed her arm and she whirled around.
The man released her arm. “You’re here for Mr. Astor.”
She nodded. “Yes. I’m Rae Burke.”
“Follow me.”
This was a safe place. Security everywhere. Cameras everywhere. She should be perfectly fine. She ignored the cell buzzing in her pocket. Liam would make his way here when he read her text. Honestly, she hoped that was soon.
The man led her down a sterile, empty hallway—away from others. “Where are we going? I thought I was supposed to meet him at a kiosk.”
“A conference room the airport makes available for meetings, privacy, whatever’s needed. For a price, of course.” He grinned, then opened a door to a room with a long table and comfortable-looking chairs. Windows served as a wall on the far side, allowing her to see outdoors. She pushed the panic down and entered the room.
At the end of the table, Astor, his cell to his ear, sat with his sidekick who was at the “party” last night. The guy must be a personal assistant of some sort. Rae hoped to get an introduction.
Enzo ended his call and looked at her.
She approached and offered a journalist’s smile—warm and friendly but serious—and a handshake. “Mr. Astor. Thank you for agreeing to see me.”
After shaking hands with Enzo, Rae thrust her hand forward to the man sitting next to him. “Rae Burke.”
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