by Susan Stoker
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
“What time?” Logan clipped.
“I told him two thirty at Ace Security. I figured that would give you time to get back and go with me.”
“That should work. It’s twelve now. I have one more thing I have to do before I head home. No matter what, you don’t leave until you hear from me and know that I’m on my way. If you’re early, you drive around until it’s exactly two thirty. I’d come home and pick you up, but I don’t think I’ll make it before the meet time.”
“I like that,” Grace said softly.
“What?”
“Home. You’d come home to pick me up.”
Logan’s voice dropped to the rumbly growl he used when he was making love to her. “Wherever you are is home to me, Smarty. It could be a crappy apartment, a mansion in Beverly Hills, or a hole in the side of a mountain.”
“Logan . . .” she whispered, then cleared her throat and got herself together. “Okay. I’ll wait until you call, then I’ll head out. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For agreeing to meet him with me. For not calling me crazy.”
“For the record, I do think you’re crazy, but it doesn’t matter. You’re an adult who can make decisions on her own, I can’t make them for you. But I sure as hell can be by your side when you execute them. If anything goes wrong, call Nathan or Blake. Hell, even Cole. Okay? Nathan should be at the office when you get there, but call him anyway if you even feel one second of unease about anything.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you soon. Be safe.”
“Always. Later.”
Grace clicked off the phone and held it to her chest. She closed her eyes and sent a thankful prayer upward once more that she’d been able to reconnect with Logan. He treated her as an adult, didn’t belittle her, and made her feel as if she could do anything. She’d do whatever it took to keep Logan in her life. He was worth whatever she had to sacrifice in order to have him by her side. She was one lucky woman, and she knew it.
Glancing at her watch, Grace saw that she had about two hours before she’d need to leave. There were Ace Security emails to go through, financial aid forms to fill out for her classes, which started in the fall, and other things she could be doing, but the only thing she felt up to at the moment was pacing. And trying to think back through her life. Was her father telling the truth? And if not, what was he planning?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Grace looked nervously at her watch. It was two-thirty. Logan had called and let her know he was on the highway and would meet her at his office around two fifteen. She’d taken his truck, since he’d taken his motorcycle up to Denver, and had pulled into the public parking lot at the opposite end of the block, away from her parents’ architectural firm.
She didn’t want to just aimlessly drive around waiting for Logan to text her and let her know he’d arrived, but now that he was almost twenty minutes late, she was nervous.
A knock at her window startled her so badly, she shrieked in fright. She turned and saw her father standing next to the truck door. He shrugged apologetically and motioned for her to get out.
Grace looked around and didn’t see anyone else suspicious nearby. She grabbed her purse and stepped out of the truck.
“Hey.”
“Hi. Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I appreciate you giving me a second chance.”
Grace looked at her father with hard eyes. “I’m just here to hear your side of the story. Don’t think this is the beginning of a loving relationship with me. It’s about twenty-seven years too late for that.”
“I know, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing you thought I was a horrible person like your mother.” Her father stepped away from her, giving her some room. “You ready to go?”
Grace opened her mouth to speak, but didn’t get any words out before a large arm wrapped around her chest and another clamped over her face. She wanted to scream, to make some noise to bring some attention to what was happening, but couldn’t open her mouth at all. The grip over it was too strong. She breathed in sharply and smelled something pungently sweet. She met her father’s eyes and saw his concerned facial expression had morphed into one of pure evil.
It was the last thing she saw before losing consciousness.
“Dammit,” Logan swore. “I can’t get ahold of Grace.” He’d called his brother as soon as he’d been able to, but he knew in his gut, it was too late.
“What the hell is going on?” Blake asked, picking up on Logan’s mood.
“I don’t know, but I have a really bad feeling. Grace called and said her father came by the apartment and wanted to talk to her, but she refused to open the door. She said he told her that her mother had been holding her safety over his head their entire lives and that he’d finally left her.”
“And she believed him?” Blake asked incredulously.
“Yeah, he told her one heck of a convincing story. She agreed to meet him but called me so I could go with her.”
“So again, what the hell happened?”
“I called before I left Denver. I had to stop in and see Dad’s lawyer about his will. It wasn’t anything important and nothing the lawyer couldn’t have told me over the phone. It was a giant waste of my fucking time.”
“Where are you now?” Blake asked.
“That’s the thing. Some asshole ran me off the road before I could get out of here.”
“Fuck, you okay?”
“Yeah, but the fucker took off. I’m stuck here for the time being. Not only did I have to talk to the cops, my bike is out of commission. I tried to call Grace to tell her to postpone the meet with her father, but she’s not picking up,” Logan told his brother.
“They were going to the office to meet? Did you call Nathan?”
“Yeah, I did, but no one is answering in the office. I was supposed to be there twenty minutes ago, but was dealing with the bullshit here.”
“I’m already on my way to the office. I’ll try Nathan again and see what’s up when I get there. You’ll be able to get home? Or do I need to send Cole or Felicity up there to get you?”
“I’m getting the bike towed and renting a car. I don’t have a good feeling about this. Call me when you have eyes on Grace, yeah?”
“Of course.”
“Good. I’ll be waiting. Thanks, bro.”
“No thanks necessary. Later,” Blake said and hung up.
Logan clicked off his phone and paced. The tow truck should be arriving any moment, but it wasn’t fast enough for him to get back to Castle Rock any time soon.
The car that had hit him had been a piece of shit. It was a beat-up silver hatchback with a faded piece of paper in the back window instead of a license plate. Logan had been riding along minding his own business, his thoughts on Grace and the upcoming meeting with her father, when the other car ran a red light. It would’ve killed him if he hadn’t reacted as quickly as he had.
Logan thanked his military training for that. He’d learned to trust his instincts, and before his brain had processed what was happening, his muscles had automatically turned away from the oncoming car, causing him to sideswipe the vehicle next to him and narrowly miss being crushed by the asshole driving the hatchback.
He’d hit his head pretty hard when he’d been thrown over the hood of the Mustang next to him, but the helmet and leather jacket kept Logan from being hurt more seriously. The man in the car who had run the light had immediately backed up and taken off down a nearby street. It had all happened in the blink of an eye, and made Logan wonder if he’d been purposely targeted.
Twenty minutes later, Logan’s phone rang. The tow truck had just pulled up to a garage with his bike. He held up a finger to the mechanic, who was waiting to speak to him, and answered his phone.
“Hey Blake, you get her?”
“She’s not here, bro. She was driving your truck?”
“Fuck. Yeah. I
told her to drive around if she got there early, and the last I heard from her was a message telling me she was leaving the condo. You’re sure she’s not at the office? Is Nathan there?”
“I’m sure. Nathan was inside the office the whole time, but he had his headphones in and didn’t hear the phone ring and never saw Grace.”
Logan’s head hurt, and he wanted to punch something. “The downtown cameras?”
Obviously having already thought about that, Blake answered, “Yes. We’re on it. If she was here, we should be able to find her. What’s your ETA?”
“Probably at least another hour. I need to talk to the mechanic then convince someone to take me to the nearest rental center. Damn damn damn. What about her parents? Anyone know where they are?”
“Let us watch the tapes first. If we need to get the cops involved, we will. Drive safely, Logan. The last thing Grace needs is you getting hurt. Well, more hurt.”
“Later.” Logan clicked off the phone without another word and immediately headed over to the mechanic who was eyeing his motorcycle. At the moment, he didn’t give a shit about the hunk of metal, no matter how many good memories he had with Grace on the back of it. He only wanted to get to Castle Rock and find her.
Fifty-four minutes later, driving a rental car, Logan pulled into Ace Security’s parking lot. He hadn’t heard from Blake since before he left Denver and wasn’t sure what that meant.
Logan jogged to the office and saw Nathan sitting at a computer and Blake leaning over his shoulder, both concentrating on the screen in front of them.
“She was here,” Blake told his brother without bothering with a greeting, simply getting to the point. “She pulled up in your truck right on time. Unfortunately, the camera is on the driver’s side of the truck.
“They take her?” Logan asked.
“Yeah.”
“Who?”
“Her father for sure. We’re trying to get a good shot of the other person,” Blake bit out.
“Margaret?”
“No, it wasn’t her. Another man.” It was Nathan who spoke that time. “The part with her on it is only about forty-five seconds long because the camera was sweeping the lot. It doesn’t look like she was here long before they got to her,” he told his brother, rewinding the video to where Grace pulled into the lot.
Logan watched the screen intently, trying to catch anything important that would help them find her. She pulled into a spot and fiddled with her phone. Her father walked up to the truck door from out of the frame and knocked on the window. He motioned for her to get out. She did, and they exchanged a greeting. Through the windows of the truck, Logan saw another man come up behind Grace and cover her face with a cloth. She slumped into the man’s arms and Walter opened the back door of Logan’s truck. The man not-so-gently shoved Grace onto the backseat. He then climbed into the truck, keeping his head down, and drove off.
“Any other angles?” Logan barked out.
“No, but I pulled up the footage from fifteen minutes before she arrived to right after that asshole drove off with her,” Nathan explained. “I’m not sure where the other man came from, because I didn’t see him pull in driving another car at all. And here you can see her father enter the lot, and no one is in the car with him.”
“Nathan, you’ll stay here in case you find anything else?” Logan asked, his mind already moving to what he needed to do next.
“Of course.”
“I’ve called the cops,” Blake told the others. “Because of the restraining order against her parents she took out a month ago, they’re taking her disappearance more seriously than they might’ve otherwise, but they’re still being cautious. They reminded me that Grace is an adult and she’s only been missing for less than an hour.”
“You coming with me to their house?”
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Blake informed his brother.
“Nathan, let us know if you find anything,” Logan ordered.
“On it.” And he was. He’d already turned to the screen and was leaning forward, scanning the grainy black-and-white footage as if it held the meaning of life.
Logan fisted his hands as he and Blake quickly walked back outside. It was time to confront Mrs. Mason again. She wasn’t going to get away with whatever she’d done with Grace. He’d search that damn house from top to bottom if he had to. If she had Grace stashed away somewhere, he’d find her.
Logan hammered on the Masons’ front door thirteen minutes later, Blake standing at his side. “She’s a piece of work,” Logan warned his brother. “She acts demure and classy, but underneath, she’s all viper.”
“I got your back, bro.”
The door opened and James stood there, looking as “butlery” as ever. “Mr. Anderson and Mr. Anderson,” he said with a nod to each of the furious men standing on the doorstep. “There’s no need to pound the door. I apologize for the time it took me to get to it. I’m not as young as I used to be.”
“Where’s Grace?”
“Miss Grace?” the old man answered, surprised. “She does not live here.”
“Where. Is. She?” Logan repeated, his voice lower and meaner than it’d been the first time he’d asked.
“There’s no need to browbeat my staff, Logan,” a feminine voice chided to their right.
Logan and Blake turned their heads to see Margaret Mason looking calm, cool, and composed.
“Thank you, James. You may go.”
“Ma’am.” The old butler bowed, walked down a long hallway, and disappeared.
“Do come in,” Grace’s mother said with a hint of sarcasm. “Please, let’s not stand in the entryway. It’s so gauche. We can talk in the sitting room.” She gestured toward a door off the entryway.
“Where’s Grace? And don’t bullshit us. We know you know what happened to her,” Logan demanded, not moving toward the room she’d gestured to.
She sighed in disgust before replying, “I have no idea what you’re referring to. If I’m not mistaken, you were the one who trespassed onto my property and kidnapped her in the first place.”
“I don’t think you want to play the kidnapping card,” Blake drawled. “You won’t win that battle.”
“This isn’t a battle, young man. Not at all. But you don’t seem to understand that Grace is confused. She’s always been a bit . . . touched . . . if you know what I mean.” Margaret tapped her head. “We have done our best with her, but she’s always had too much of an imagination. Whatever story she’s concocted and got you to believe, believe me, it’s all in her head. Her father and I have tried to help her . . . giving her a wonderful job and making sure she got the help she needed, but when she’s off her meds . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Logan snorted, not buying Margaret’s crap for a second. “Bullshit. You’re insane. Grace hasn’t lied about one thing that ever happened under your roof. You’re a bully and too used to getting your way. You came between us once, but you won’t ever again. I’ll ask one more time. Where. Is. She?”
Margaret smirked and her exterior shield cracked just a bit. “I did what was best for Grace. She’s always been too good for the likes of you, Logan Anderson. You should be thanking me. What kind of life would you have given her . . . moving every couple of years, living on some horrible Army base, wondering if you’d get deployed and killed, leaving her alone?”
“You don’t know anything about me or the life I could’ve given Grace,” Logan bit out.
“My point is that you’re trash. All of you Andersons. There was no way I was going to let my daughter get involved with you.”
“What the fuck did you do to her?” Logan bit out once more, any patience he might’ve had now gone.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Her chin went up and Logan recognized the futility of any further questions. He wanted to strangle the older woman, not only for bad-mouthing his brothers, but for refusing to tell him anything about Grace.
“We’ve got your
husband on tape present at her abduction,” Blake informed Margaret. “The police know and are looking for him. I have no doubt when he’s faced with spending the rest of his life bending over for the perverts in prison, he’ll tell the cops everything they want to know . . . including throwing you under the bus. Especially if it means he gets to make a deal.”
“I’m sure whatever you think you saw was taken out of context. We just want what’s best for our only daughter. But it’s obvious you think we’re hiding her. You’re free to search my home, if that’s what you want to do. She’s not here. Where were you, Logan, when she was supposedly being abducted? Shouldn’t you have been with her? I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s glad to come back home where she’s safe and protected from the likes of you.”
Blake put his hand on Logan’s chest, preventing him from doing something stupid. “We’ll take you up on your kind offer to search your home. Don’t bother to show us around, I’m sure we’ll be able to find our way on our own,” Blake told Grace’s mother in an overly polite tone.
“As you wish,” Margaret said with a wave of her hand, inviting them to investigate her home, a small, gloating smile on her face.
Logan and Blake spent the next forty minutes searching the Mason mansion from end to end . . . without finding any sign of Grace. They looked behind every door, tapped on every wall looking for hidden rooms, and searched under every bed. She simply wasn’t there.
Defeated, but determined not to give Margaret an ounce of satisfaction, Logan informed her, “The next time we see you, it’ll be as you’re being placed in the back of a police car. We know you’re behind this. Mark my words, you’ll pay for every second of grief you’ve given your daughter over the years.”
“I hope you have a nice day too,” she fired back, not in the least cowed by Logan’s words. “I’ll be sure when Grace comes home to tell her you stopped by and made a scene.”
Blake pulled Logan out of the house with a firm grasp around his arm. As soon as the heavy door shut behind them, Logan swore long and hard.
“Fuck, Blake. Where is she? What did they do to her?”