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Tyler paced back and forth in Jason’s living room, agitated. He clenched his fists, his blood boiling as his mind raced through a million possible scenarios. A million different ways Melissa could be hurt. A million different places she could be.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket, staring at the blank screen.
Willing for it to ring. For Melissa to text him, saying this had all been a big misunderstanding.
Impossible since they’d found her crushed phone, but hell.
How could so many hours have gone by with no new information?
Why hadn’t the police found her yet?
It didn’t seem possible.
Not her missing, not the fact that they had no idea where she was. None of it.
Amy sat on the sofa, sobbing, with Jason trying to comfort her as the other men from base huddled together and made calls.
“Call me back as soon as you know anything,” Braden angrily said into his cell phone, slamming it down on the coffee table in frustration. “The damn police won’t tell me anything,” he muttered. “No updates, no possibilities about her location, nothing.”
“Me either,” Tyler muttered. “And every minute that’s she gone is another minute that someone could be harming her. Hurting her. Taking her farther away from us. Every minute matters, and they won’t tell us a God damn thing!”
“How can she be gone?” Amy wailed. “This doesn’t make any sense. She’s always so careful! She’s been in real estate forever, and she’s always careful. Always.” She sniffled again, Jason grabbing her some more tissues from the coffee table.
“She let her guard down,” Tyler said, his gut clenching. “She was happy about her sister, up early this morning from the sounds of it. And when she got to work, she must’ve thought she was meeting with an actual client.”
“But why would she go off with someone like that? That video shows a man walking up to her in front of her real estate office, and then she just leaves with him! And we have no idea what happened!”
Tyler nodded, feeling bile churn in his stomach.
The police had showed them a surveillance video, asking if any of them could identify the man she was last seen with. By all accounts, he’d never been there before. No one recognized him. No one knew him. None of his information was on file.
Which meant that Melissa thought it was someone she could trust.
Did she think he was someone else? Had he lied and made up some story?
Fucking hell.
“We don’t know,” Jason said in a low voice. “Maybe she thought she knew him. Or he could’ve lied and told her anything. It looks like she left with him willingly.”
“Or started to,” Amy said bitterly. “We don’t know what happened when they went offscreen.”
“The police are looking for additional surveillance footage,” Tyler said. “There could always be other witnesses. Hell, if everything weren’t closed, I’d be down there right now asking people what they saw.”
Liam looked up from his laptop. “It seemed like it took them a damn long time to show us the surveillance footage. What they hell were they doing all afternoon?”
“They might’ve been reviewing it themselves,” Jason said. “Seeing if they could get a hit off of facial recognition or something.”
“Did they ever release the description of the suspect in the other attempted kidnapping from the other day?”
“I’ll look it up and see,” Liam said, typing quickly on his laptop.
“I don’t think so,” Braden said. “Which makes me wonder if this is the same guy. If they know who it is, maybe they’re closing in on him. Maybe they don’t want it all over the news.”
“Damn it,” Tyler said, punching his fist into his open hand. “I hate just sitting here doing nothing. Melissa could be hurt. Scared out of her mind. Just sitting back and doing nothing is killing me.”
“The police are trained for this,” Jason said. “Maybe we’re Marines trained in war, but we’re not used to sweeping scenes of kidnappings.”
“Shit,” Tyler muttered.
“I called her sister,” Amy said, wiping away her tears. “I felt awful doing so—she just found out her fiancé was alive. And now her sister’s been kidnapped? I couldn’t just not tell her though.”
“It’s a fucked-up world,” Tyler muttered.
“Cool it,” Jason chastised him.
“It’s fine,” Amy said. “He has every right to be upset. Melissa is missing! My God, we have no idea where she is or if she’ll be okay. I just saw her last night, but what if I never see her again?” Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, and Jason pulled her close.
“So what the hell are we supposed to do all night?” Tyler asked, frustration surging through him. He was a man of action. Not someone used to sitting around, waiting for updates.
“We wait,” Jason said, shooting him a look. “We stay here until we get word. That’s the best thing we can do for her right now.”
