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  “She wanted to be alone. She’s in Angela’s bedroom.”

  “If you don’t mind, I’m going to head back there.” Piper didn’t wait for his response. She rushed back to the bedroom with a horrible feeling Natalie had done something stupid. She knocked on the door.

  A groggy voice answered, “Go awwaay.”

  Piper opened the door and rushed to Natalie’s side. An empty bottle laid on its side on the night table. Piper picked up the bottle and read the name. It was a powerful anti-anxiety medication. She recognized the name from when she took these—before she got Tazzie. Luckily, she didn’t need them anymore.

  She yelled, “Jaxson, Luke, call 911. Natalie took an overdose of pills.”

  Boot steps stampeded down the wood-floored hallway and didn’t stop until they were in the bedroom. Jaxson had his phone already dialed and was giving information to the dispatcher. He included his badge number and then disconnected. “We need to get her up and moving.”

  “I can’t lift her.”

  “I can. Get out of my way,” Jaxson insisted. He had Natalie sitting on the edge of the bed and then standing in seconds. She wasn’t really awake, but she wasn’t totally unconscious either. At least she was still breathing. He walked Natalie all over the house. Thankfully, it only took minutes before the first responders arrived.

  Hadn’t it been over an hour since they called 911? Piper glanced at the time on her phone. Her fear they would lose Natalie must have her mind playing tricks on her sense of timing. It had only been fifteen minutes or so.

  Once the emergency team arrived, they didn’t waste time. They quickly loaded Natalie into the ambulance and were on the way to the emergency room in no time. Piper’s hands shook and palpitations interrupted her heart’s regular rhythm. Tazzie wasn’t with her to warn her about this panic attack. Her little heroine had searched hard today. She’d let her rest and sleep at the hotel. Piper worked at controlling her breathing and slowing her heart down by practicing her deep breathing. But it wasn’t helping. Her hands trembled worse.

  Jaxson stepped behind her. “I’m going to drive Luke to the emergency room. Are you coming?”

  She couldn’t answer him. She shook her arms to get them to stop shaking and took in another deep breath.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Tazzie…wasn’t…here…to…warn…me.”

  He whispered in her ear, “Are you having a panic attack?”

  She nodded, almost imperceptibly.

  “What can I do?” He placed his hands on her shoulders and then lightly rubbed the tops of her arms. “You’re okay, sunshine. It’s okay now.”

  She shook her head and took in another deep breath, letting it out slow and smooth. Finally, she noticed her hands weren’t shaking as bad and her heart had slowed down. She turned around and met his worried gaze.

  “I’m better. Let’s get going. I’ll sit in the back so I can continue my deep breathing without Luke noticing. Did you explain to Luke that it probably isn’t Angela?”

  “Yes, he knows. I’m afraid he also isn’t stupid. He knows if we don’t find Angela soon, she will probably be found like this poor woman.”

  Luke walked to Jaxson’s driver’s side window and said, “Hey, man. I’m going to take my own vehicle. I have an errand to do related to work, and then I’ll be at the hospital. Thanks for the offer of the ride, though.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”

  “Yes, sir. I haven’t been drinking anything but Coke.”

  “Okay, well, drive safely.”

  Luke nodded and then walked back into the house.

  Jaxson didn’t move the SUV for several minutes. Luke’s decision didn’t make sense to her. But it was probably nothing, so she let it go.

  Chapter 17

  He parked his big rig as far away from the Trucker Cafe Stop as he could. He parted the curtains of the sleeper to find the baby still safe in the car seat.

  “You’ll be with your new parents soon. They will be married and love you forever. They will be good to you. They won’t hurt you.”

  Fiddling with the curtain a few minutes, he didn’t stop until he was sure no one could see in or out. He opened the glove box and pulled out a solid black automatic gun, tucked it into the small of his back, and then pulled his T-shirt over it. He opened the door and hopped out of the tall truck. The jarring landing dislodged his gun, and he tucked it down a little more secure.

  He walked past a sea of big rigs of all different colors and sizes. The scent of French fries and hamburgers permeated his every sense and he salivated for a good meal. He needed to take care of business first. He pulled the glass door open and the bell jangled. It quieted for a few seconds until the door completely shut and then another short jangle sounded.

  He scanned the area for a woman wearing tan pants, a yellow blouse, and a pink scarf. Searching the large café, he finally spotted her and then headed for her table. Stopping, he said, “Nice weather we’re having.”

  “Yes, it is,” she answered. “Please, join me.”

  His heart quickened at the sight of her light-red hair with blonde highlights. It almost didn’t look real, though. Her brown eyes didn’t do it for him, but she was a close match. He had to force himself to focus on business.

  “I assume you have the item?” she said.

  “Yes. It’s in—”

  She cut him off. “Stop. I’ll follow you out.”

  “Now? We’re not going to eat?”

  “This isn’t a date. It’s business.”

  His nostrils flared and he grabbed the edge of the table, his knuckles turning ghost white. He glared at her. “I’m hungry. And, it will be more noticeable if we leave without ordering anything.”

  “I don’t have time. It’s now or never, big man.”

  Just as he was about to lay into her, an elderly waitress appeared. “Are you ready to order?”

  He jumped in before the woman could say a word. “I’ll take a double cheeseburger with fries and a Dr. Pepper. I’ll take your turkey club to go. I have to run out to my truck to make sure I locked it—I’ll be right back. The woman isn’t staying. Don’t let anyone take my table.”

  “You got it, sir.” She repeated the order and when he agreed, the waitress headed toward the kitchen.

  “Let’s get this over with.” He got up and walked out one of the double glass doors of the café. He didn’t turn to see whether she was following him or not. He kept moving until he was near his rig. Before he reached it, he turned and kept his tone as even as possible. “You still with me?”

  “Which one is yours? I want to pull my car closer.”

  He pointed to the rig with the navy-blue cab.

  “Be right back. Get things ready so we can make this quick.”

  He unlocked then opened the door to the cab. He parted the back curtains and picked up the car seat with a slumbering baby girl.

  A car engine caught his attention as it pulled next to him. When he leaned out the door, the strawberry-blonde buyer stood at the ready, just outside his cabin door. He handed her his meal ticket. She passed him an envelope and then placed the item in the backseat.

  “You better get back in for your dinner. You know how to contact me if you come across another item I might be interested in.”

  He only nodded as he fingered the bills. The thickness of the envelope signaled that he got a bonus this time. Of course, these goods were premium—the most sought after.

  He waited until the headlights disappeared. His stomach growled and he turned to head back to the café.

  Chapter 18

  The door opened with a pop, as the hot, humid day not only soaked Jaxson to his briefs, it caused the wood to swell, making the door hard to open.

  Luke squinted against the sun. “Have you found her?”

  He wished he could take the pain away for this young man, but he’d never be able to. “No, Luke. No. I’m just here to check and see if you thought of anything else that might be
important and to ask a couple of questions. Mind if I come in?”

  For a moment, Jaxson suspected Luke’s face revealed a confrontational stare, but just as fast as that impression flickered through his mind, it disappeared. Luke opened the door wider and motioned him to enter.

  Luke paced the length of the room, back and forth, back and forth. Jaxson compared the scene to a caged cougar waiting for his prey to come into range.

  Finally, Luke stopped and turned toward Jaxson, who was patiently sitting on the winged back chair. “I don’t understand why she hasn’t been found.”

  “Because we don’t have a map to her location, Luke. We’re doing our best.”

  “I know. I do.” Luke plopped onto the couch. He rested both elbows on his respective knees and then let the palms of his hands hold his weary head.

  “It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours yet; it’s only been thirty-six. Don’t give up.”

  “It’s too late. I know your timing equation. You have to find them in the first twenty-four or their luck of being found alive goes down to like five percent.”

  “That’s not exactly right, Luke, but the odds don’t matter. Every case is different. I only stopped by to update you and ask you what happened last night.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The hospital, man—you never made it to the hospital.”

  “Oh. I called and found out Nat was okay and resting, so I didn’t want to bother her. I figured I would go today. Plus, I needed some alone time with my thoughts.”

  “Okay. I’m going to take off. The search begins again in only a few minutes. Is there anything I can do for you before I go?”

  “Just find her. Please.”

  Chapter 19

  Somewhere far away, a moan, a squeaky bed, and quiet sobbing woke Piper. She raised her eyelids just enough so she could peek to see where the noise was coming from. Her neck hurt in the worst way. The pungent hospital smells hit her and she remembered she was by Natalie’s side at the medical center. Sleeping in a chair all night didn’t do her neck any good. Or the rest of her.

  She sat up straighter and noticed Natalie sobbing. She reached for Natalie’s hand and squeezed. “It wasn’t Angela’s body yesterday. We haven’t found her yet but there’s still hope.”

  “How do you know it wasn’t her?”

  “Because the body was too decomposed. Even if she died right after she left for her run, her body would not have decomposed that quickly.”

  “Not even in the heat we’ve been having?”

  She rubbed Nat’s arm. “Not even then. Angela is still out there and we haven’t given up.”

  “No, no, she’s gone. A mother knows things. Besides, when I almost died, Angela came to me. She told me she was angry with me for taking the pills and that it wasn’t my time. She told me I had to raise my Claire, my granddaughter.” Natalie’s sobs began again. “She said something about ‘find her.’ Could my granddaughter be alive if Angela isn’t?”

  Piper hung her head and avoided eye contact with Natalie. “You don’t know Angela is gone. You need to have hope.” But it was too late—Angela was gone.

  “No. I need to face reality. And we need to find the monster who killed my daughter. We need to find my granddaughter. We need to find Claire.”

  “We are still looking.” Piper stretched her neck by trying to press her left ear to her left shoulder and then did the same on the right side. But all it did was make her neck crack. She had to leave. She couldn’t face Natalie another moment.

  “Can I get you anything before I start to clean up? Ranger Wyatt will be here in about thirty minutes to collect me. I’m working with him to help find Angela. I promise we’re doing everything we can.”

  “I’m fine. Do what you have to. Just find Angela. Maybe you and Tazzie can search again? She found the other woman—maybe she can find Angela and my granddaughter.”

  “I’ll see what Ranger Wyatt says about it. If they allow me to, trust me, we will go out again.” Piper slipped into the restroom and worked at putting on a decent face. She brushed her teeth and took care of other morning routines. The whole time, she worried about Tazzie. Last night was their first night apart. It had been difficult without her little hero.

  After she was finished, she said her good-byes to Nat and hurried to the lobby of the hospital. Before she made it to the glass revolving door, she could see Jaxson’s SUV sitting in a no parking zone. She moved even faster and jumped inside only seconds later. Her first item of business was to check on Tazzie.

  “Hey, girl! Did you have a good night?” She rubbed Tazzie under her chin and behind her ear. Tazz whined and moaned her excitement to see her master. She didn’t just wag her tail; her whole body wriggled. She had a sense Tazz would do more if she wasn’t strapped in her seat belt harness.

  “You ready?” Jaxson asked.

  “Let me fasten my seat belt.” She grabbed the strap and clicked it so it locked. “Okay, I’m good to go. Any word on the body we found yesterday?”

  “You mean the body you found.”

  “No, I meant we. After all, Tazzie is the one who really found her. I would not have traveled that way if she hadn’t led me there.” Piper glanced his way out of the corner of her eye. The edge of his mouth turned upward, but he didn’t say anything. Her heart hitched and for a minute she questioned what on Earth she could be having a panic attack over now. Then she realized it wasn’t a panic attack. Jaxson caused her heart flutter. The last few years made him even more appealing now. But she couldn’t risk her soul over him again. She assumed she had known him back then. The Jax she had known would have never left—even if she had told him to leave.

  But he had deserted her when she needed him the most.

  And he never looked back.

  Chapter 20

  Keri poured a glass of orange juice and added champagne to sip while she read more of Piper’s journal. The journal was too hard to read without alcohol. After the last couple of readings, she’d decided she wanted her senses dulled a bit. She couldn’t go through it totally sober again. She inhaled deeply and then pressed on where she left off in this long entry.

  He pushed and pushed and pushed as he tried to push the flashlight into my vagina, but I was too small for it to fit. He put a palm on the light of the flashlight and his other palm on top of his hand and with both hands pushed with all his might, trying to thrust the weapon into my vagina. I screamed out in pain, it hurt so bad.

  He bent his head down and bit me on my stomach, breaking the skin. And still, he pushed on the flashlight.

  I tried with everything I had not to give him what he wanted, not to scream again. I held my breath until my lungs burned; they needed air so badly.

  After biting me on the side of my hip, he pounded on the flashlight and my vaginal tissue tore and tore, and then tore a little more. It entered a little farther.

  I bit my tongue until I drew blood. I would not scream. Even when he taunted me to scream, calling me a bitch, wanting me to tell him how bad it hurt and how he scared me. I would not give him the satisfaction.

  I began to whisper the Lord’s Prayer, even though I wasn’t sure I remembered it exactly. “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.”

  Samuel slapped me and told me to shut up and then bit the nipple off my right breast.

  My throat gurgled with the need to scream. The pain shot through me like a spiderweb of lightning bolts zooming through my body. I continued my prayer in a more ragged voice than before. “Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

  He told me I hadn’t seen evil yet. He threatened to show me evil. He pulled a surgical blade from his back pocket and sliced my throat.

  I didn’t know if I would be able to talk. My throat felt like it was filling with liquid. I struggled but finished. “For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.”

  Keri took a big gulp of her mimosa, emptying the glass. Tears streamed down her face. She continued reading.

  Just before he thrust it inside me, a loud explosion shook the room and the door burst open.

  The loud crash startled me, but most importantly, it scared Samuel. He jumped up and tried to run. But there was nowhere to go.

  I heard multiple voices yell, “Freeze!”

  Thankfully, Samuel dropped the flashlight onto the metal table. My breath caught in my throat and I held it. I could barely hope that I had really been saved. I had resigned myself to death—and prayed it came quickly. To think that I might now be saved…

  Then, Samuel reached down and grabbed the hair on my head.

  A loud pop, pop, pop sounded and echoed through the basement. Bullets whizzed by me. Samuel was hit. His body jerked to the left, then to the right. Then his body flew backward. I wanted to know what was happening, but I couldn’t see from my vantage point.

  The pressure was gone on my vagina. A hot, wet, moist liquid ran down my leg. Gurgling sounded in my throat and breathing became hard.

  Then I heard Jaxson calling my nickname. He let me know he was here. He had done it. Jaxson finally stopped Samuel and saved me from any further horrific moments—but he was too late to keep my psyche safe from Samuel’s torture.

  Jaxson unstrapped my restraints, and gently lifted my upper body into his arms and held me close.

  He whispered how afraid he was. How he thought he’d lost me. He promised that I was going to be okay. He was wrong. I’d never be okay again.

  His touch scared me and I pushed him away and then I crossed my arms over my breasts.

  That’s when he took off his jacket and put it around me, yelling for a medic. Jaxson must have seen the wound on my neck and heard my raspy breathing, because he screamed for a medic again. He kept promising that I would be okay. He promised nothing would hurt me now. He shouldn’t have made promises he couldn’t keep.