Chapter
Thirteen

Tony called Batterson and brought him up to date.

“You stay put,” Batterson said grimly. “Reinforcements are on the way. I’ll notify the FBI. We’ll find her, Tony.”

Tony listened to his boss’s instructions but wasn’t certain he could follow them. Where was Kate? Gerard had tried to kill her during the trial. Was he trying to finish the job now? Was it already too late?

He mumbled something to Batterson and disconnected the call. Not quite sure what to do, he got in his car and drove back to the café. Additional cars from the sheriff’s department had arrived, along with several police vehicles. Tony quickly found Deputy Killian and pulled him aside.

“Emily’s gone,” he said. “There are signs of a struggle. Some blood. She’s been abducted.”

Killian’s eyes widened. “Isn’t Gerard still in St. Louis?”

Tony frowned at the deputy. “Gerard? What are you talking about?”

Killian sighed. “I’m not an idiot, Tony. I know Emily is Kate O’Brien. I’ve known it for a long time. Hard to hide her anywhere. The Blue-Eyed Killer case was all over the media.”

Tony stared at Killian for a moment. “Is there anyone else in town who knows who she is? Who could have given away her location?”

Killian was quiet for a moment. “I honestly don’t know,” he said finally, “but if I could figure it out, someone else could have, too. Trust me. If I think of anything that could help, you’ll be the first to know.”

“If it is Gerard . . .”

Killian shook his head. “Let’s pray it isn’t. No matter what, I’ll do whatever I can to help find her.”

Tony thanked him and walked away, intending to call Batterson, but before he could grab his phone, someone called out his name. When Tony looked up he saw Bobby waving at him, indicating he wanted Tony to come over to where he stood waiting.

“I’m really busy, Bobby,” Tony said as he approached him. “I don’t really have time to talk.”

“It’s about Emily,” Bobby said, looking around him as if making certain he wouldn’t be overheard. “I . . . I saw something.”

Tony frowned at him. “She’s missing. What did you see?”

“I was out for a walk. I saw a man at Emily’s house. He put her in the trunk of his car and drove away. I tried to stop him, but he drove past me.”

Tony felt the blood drain from his face. “How long ago? Did you see where he went? What direction? Can you describe his car? What about the license plate? Could you . . .”

Bobby held up his hand. “You need to listen to me. I know where he took her.”

Tony grabbed the skinny man’s shoulders. “How could you know? What did you see?”

“It only took me a minute to run to my place and get my SUV. I guess whoever was driving the car didn’t want to draw attention to himself by driving too fast, because I found him turning onto the road outside of town. I followed him.” He started shaking his head. “Don’t worry. He didn’t see me. It was still dark, and I kept my headlights off.”

Tony couldn’t keep the frustration out of his voice. “You should have called the police. Maybe they could have pulled the car over before they got too far away.”

Bobby looked away from Tony, his eyes darting back and forth. Obviously the guy was nervous. Tony didn’t have time to feel sorry for him. He had to save Kate. If Bobby couldn’t help him, Tony needed to move on.

Finally Bobby looked up and met Tony’s gaze. “I’m sorry. I . . . I don’t have a cell phone. There wasn’t any way I could call anyone. They’ve only been gone about thirty minutes. I came back to find you because I know where they are.”

“Where? Tell me.”

“The car drove up Wilderness Road—into the mountains,” Bobby said.

Shelter Cove was nestled at the bottom of the Ouachita Mountains. Although a lot of the range was spotted with resorts, homes, and tourist areas, much of it was still wild. But why would Gerard go into the mountains? As soon as he asked himself the question, he knew the answer. He wanted to be alone with Kate. To be isolated. The mountains were the perfect place to hide.

“I think we should go after her, Tony,” Bobby said, his lisp even more pronounced than normal.

Tony hesitated a moment. “We need to give this information to the police. They can mount a search.”

Bobby grabbed Tony’s arm. “But what if they don’t find her in time? I know those roads. I’ve been up there a lot. I have a good idea where he took her.” He hopped from foot to foot anxiously. “If you wait too long, they’ll be gone.”

“What are you saying?” Tony asked.

“I’m saying we need to leave now.” He pointed toward the vehicles from the police and sheriff’s department. “By the time they get . . . organized, Emily could be dead.”

Tony’s law enforcement training told him to stay where he was—to wait for backup—but his feelings for Kate took over. Although he didn’t trust Bobby completely, Tony realized he could be right. By the time a search was organized it might be too late. He thought about telling someone where he was going, but he was pretty sure they’d tell him to stay put, and he had no intention of letting Gerard get away with Kate. “Okay,” he said finally. “We have to go back to my cabin first. I need ammo.”

“You better make it fast,” Bobby said, looking up at the stormy sky. “If it starts raining, it will be tough to make it up those roads. By the time these people are ready to look for Emily, the roads could be washed out. We’re the only ones who can get up the mountain before that happens.” He pointed to an old, beat-up SUV parked a few yards away. “We need to take my car. Yours won’t make it. I have four-wheel drive.”

“Are you sure it won’t conk out on us?”

Bobby nodded. “It looks bad, but it drives great. New motor. We’ll be fine.”

Tony took one last look at the LEOs gathering at the café. Batterson had told him that if he went against his training one more time, he’d be in trouble. But Kate needed him now. He’d call the sheriff’s department as soon as they were gone and leave Killian a message. Let him know where he was and why he’d left. After that, it was up to local law enforcement and the U.S. Marshals to decide what to do.

Tony nodded at Bobby. “Okay, let’s go.”

They got into Bobby’s old SUV and drove to the resort. After Tony grabbed more ammunition and an additional weapon, they took off for the mountains.

Kate woke up in a small, dark, cramped space. Where was she? She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn’t. She attempted to touch her face and find out why she couldn’t see, but her hands were bound in front of her. Finally, she raised them together and touched her eyes. Her fingers came away wet and sticky. Even though she couldn’t see anything, she could tell it was blood. Was she injured? Pain from the top of her head told her she’d probably been struck while she was sitting in bed. She remembered talking to Tony, and then she’d put down her phone. After that, she couldn’t remember anything. She felt to see what she was wearing. The sweatpants and T-shirt she’d worn to bed. Her feet were bare.

At least she was conscious so it couldn’t be too bad. Where was she? Had she been buried alive? As panic set in, she realized she was moving. She was in the trunk of a car. The carpet beneath her was scratchy and uncomfortable. She could smell oil and rubber. Her stomach rolled from fear and nausea. She struggled to ignore her physical discomfort. She had to come up with a way out of this situation.

Suddenly the car slowed. Were they turning? Now the road became rough and Kate was tossed around like a ragdoll.

Her fingers explored the trunk, hoping to locate a release switch, but with her limited ability to move, it was almost impossible to find anything.

The car lurched and bumped again. Where were they? Paved roads wouldn’t feel like this. Were they going up into the mountains? She broke out into a cold sweat as fear began to overtake her, causing her to breathe too quickly. As she began to get light-headed, Kate realized she had to calm down. If she was going to stay alive, she had to keep her wits about her. She began to slow her breathing. She had to get out of this trunk. That was the most important thing right now. She wriggled around as much as possible, trying to touch everything she could.

Finally, she found a piece of metal. Part of the car’s interior. It was sharp and she accidentally cut her finger. She wiggled up closer to it and began to rub the tape around her wrists against the ragged edge. It took several minutes, but she finally weakened the tape enough that she could rip it. Once her hands were free, she pulled the tape completely off. Then she began once again to look for a trunk release. Hadn’t she read that cars built after 2002 were supposed to have inside releases? It was one of those odd facts that she’d picked up. Usually they only helped during games of Trivial Pursuit, but today, maybe one of them would save her life.