“Dammit, Jennifer,” I hiss, slamming down the phone. I can’t help but worry about her. She’s never not called me back before.

Picking up the phone, I call her parents. I don’t care if it’s late; I have to know what they’re doing to find her. “Hello?” her mother answers, her voice thick with sleep.

“I’m so sorry for calling you this late, but I’m Kennedy Vaughn, one of Jennifer’s friends from school. I’m not sure if you remember me or not.”

“Yes, I remember. Jennifer told me you’re helping with her divorce. How are you?”

“Not good. I’m trying to get in touch with her and she’s not answering. Do you know where she is?”

“Oh, honey, she’s out of town. She called me a couple days ago and told me she had to get away.” She sighs heavily. “This divorce is taking a toll on her.”

Why would she leave and not tell me?

“Do you know where she went?” I ask desperately.

“She didn’t say. Is something wrong?”

Closing my eyes, I pray the sinking feeling in my stomach goes away. “I hope not. Will you let me know if she calls you?”

“Of course.” I give her all my phone numbers and we say our good-byes.

A knock sounds on my door and Chris walks in, his expression worried when he sees my face. We’ve all been working so hard even he looks worse for wear with his white shirt unbuttoned and wrinkled. “Everything okay?”

Shaking my head, I glance down at my phone. “Jennifer’s missing. Her parents say she’s out of town, but I know she wouldn’t do that without telling me.” Chris sits down across from my desk and I look over at him.

“Why don’t you call the detective? It doesn’t hurt to voice your suspicions.”

I shrug. “The police won’t do anything if there’s no reason to suspect she’s missing. She obviously called her parents to tell them she’s leaving town.” It all makes no sense.

Sighing, Chris stands and loosens his tie. “Doesn’t hurt to make the call. Detective Van Bryant is a friend of your parents. He’ll listen to you.” He starts for the door. “I’m heading out for the night. You okay here by yourself?”

I wave him off. “I’ll be fine. I’m not far from leaving.”

He walks slowly out of my office and I can tell he’s tired. Hell, we all are. Chris waves at me as he passes my office and I hear the front office door shut. All I have left to do is pack up my briefcase and I’m ready to go. I just wish I could get rid of this feeling in my gut. It’s like watching a scary movie and knowing something bad is about to happen.

Before leaving, I call Van Bryant; he answers on the second ring. “Van Bryant,” he says.

“Van, it’s me, Kennedy. I needed to talk to you about Jennifer Bates.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“I think she’s in trouble. It’s not like her to not call me back.”

He blows out a breath. “Maybe she doesn’t feel like talking.”

“That’s not it at all. I think something’s wrong. Her parents said she called them and told them she’s going out of town for a while. That’s not like her.”

“Kennedy, you know there’s nothing I can do if she’s not reported missing.”

The desperation inside of me grows worse. If I have to find her myself, I will. “I’m not asking you as the police to investigate, but I’m asking as a favor to a family friend. Something’s not right. Is there any way you can stop by her house to check it out? Maybe see if anything’s amiss?”

The line grows quiet and then he huffs. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you, Van. I’ll make sure my dad gets you into that golf tournament you love so much.”

He chuckles. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

We hang up and I close my briefcase. Hunter’s going to be blowing up my phone soon if I don’t get home. The lights flicker out in the hall and my head jerks up. My skin breaks out in chills and the hair on the back of my neck stands at attention. They flicker again and I freeze. I’ve been in my office for years and the lights have never done that. Maybe I’m just being paranoid, but something tells me I’m not. If Chad has the gall to mess with me, he’s going to regret it.

I pull out my phone and text Hunter, making sure to turn it on silent.

 

Me: I don’t think I’m alone.

 

His reply is instant.

 

Hunter: What? Are you still at the office?

 

Me: Yes. Something’s not right.

 

Hunter: I’m on my way.

 

The lights don’t flicker again, but I’m not about to wait around for something to happen. I grab my letter opener, clenching it tight in my hand before walking out of my office. There’s no one around, but I can feel eyes watching me. Hurrying to the door, I open it and lock it behind me. If anyone’s in there, they’ll have to bust their way out.

It’s times like these I want to kick myself in the ass for leaving so late when no one is around. It’s dark, and once out in the parking lot there’s a ton of darkened corners someone can hide behind. With my letter opener in hand, I can see my car in the distance. Why did I have to park so far away?

I glance behind me and there’s no one there, no footsteps to be heard anywhere. I’m almost past the last darkened corner when I run straight into the wall … only it’s not a wall; it’s a man dressed all in black. I react instantly and stab him in the shoulder with the blunt blade. Growling in pain, he jerks the letter opener out, tossing it down the alley before slapping me hard across the face. I fall to the ground. The pain makes my head ring and all I can see is spots.

“You stupid, fucking cunt,” he hisses. I can’t see his face, but I recognize his voice. Chad.

He grabs me by the shoulders and hauls me back to my feet, slamming my body against the brick wall so hard I’m surprised my bones didn’t break.

The air whooshes out of my lungs and I gasp, but I can’t get a breath in. His gloves are cold against my skin. “If you make one more sound, I’ll cut your fucking throat.” I look up at the top corner of my building, hoping to see the red light of the security camera, only to find it smashed. The only thing I can see of Chad is his cold, dark eyes and the knife he pulls out of his back pocket. Dread settles into the pit of my stomach. He moves closer, shoving his body against mine. “Don’t worry, cunt. No one’s going to hear you scream. It’s time you learn from your mistakes.”

He slaps me across the cheek and my head snaps to the side. It stuns me and everything moves in slow motion as he pushes me to the ground, the concrete rough against my bare legs and palms. Tears fall down my cheeks but not out of fear, out of anger. I want to fight him off so bad, and I can’t; he’s too strong.

“Help me!” I scream.

Grabbing my hair, he jerks my head back, digging the knife into my neck. “As much as I want to hear you scream while I’m fucking you, looks like I’ll have to miss out.” He slams a piece of tape over my mouth and I panic, thrashing around as much as I can. I’ll fight to death before I let anyone violate me. He jerks my arms behind my back, and suddenly I feel of cable ties slicing into my wrists.

“You should’ve seen Jennifer’s face when she showed up at home with me waiting for her. I showed her how much I missed her. I’m going to enjoy telling her what I did to you before I kill her.” Thoughts of him hurting Jennifer tear me apart. I can only imagine the things he did to her and will still do.

My face is on the concrete, the small rocks slicing away at my skin as he puts all his weight on me. The second I hear him unzipping his jeans, I fight with every ounce of energy I have. My cries are barely audible, but I keep screaming to no avail. I know he’s going to try to kill me once he’s done with me.

“Fuck, you’re a pistol,” he chuckles, trying his best to keep me still. I clench my legs together as tight as they can go as he tries to pry them apart. My muscles shake and I’m losing the battle. No!

It’s then I hear Hunter’s voice screaming my name. I was so afraid he wouldn’t make it in time. “Kennedy!”

Everything happens in slow motion. The weight is lifted off my back and I roll around to see what’s happening. If Hunter’s broken ribs are bothering him, he doesn’t show it. He has Chad around the throat, slamming his head against the brick wall. “You’re so fucking dead,” he shouts.

The sound of it makes me sick and what’s worse is seeing the blood on the wall. It’s almost like Hunter’s a different person. I’ve never seen him so angry and full of outright rage. If I don’t stop him, he’ll kill him. Chad’s knife is on the ground so I pick up the knife and angle it as best as I can behind my back.

I’m screaming for Hunter to stop, but he can’t hear me, not until I rip off the tape. The knife is sharp and slices my skin as I saw against the cable ties. Once they’re gone, I pull the tape off my lips, my eyes burning with the pain.

“Hunter, stop!” I scream. Breathing hard, he drops Chad’s limp body to the ground and turns his attention to me. His body is tense and the animalistic look in his eyes give me pause, but I slowly get to my feet. “I’m okay,” I cry. There’s blood all over his hands and I’m too afraid to look at Chad for fear of what I’ll see. I just pray to God he’s not dead; he has to pay for what he’s done.

Hunter hurries over to me and scoops me into his arms, his grip so tight I can barely breathe. I feel safe in his arms. “What if I was too late?” he chokes, his voice breaking. He lets me down and holds my face in his hands. There are tears in his eyes and I can see the pain; it breaks my heart. If he were too late, I wouldn’t be standing there talking to him.

“You weren’t,” I murmur. “You saved me.”

Shaking his head, he lightly brushes a thumb across my lips, his angry gaze surveying my wounds. There’s blood on my face from being slapped and pushed down on the ground, and my wrists are raw and torn; my whole body aches.

“He hurt you, Kennedy. If I didn’t hear your growls, I never would’ve known you were down here. Just seeing him on top of you, about to …” He chokes up and his whole body shakes with rage as he looks down at Chad. His eyes are closed, and it’s so dark I can’t tell if he’s breathing.

A part of me wishes he was dead, but the other can’t wait to face him in prison when he’s rotting for the rest of his life. I’m going to take everything away from him.

Grabbing his cheek, I turn his focus back to me. “He didn’t, Hunter. That’s all that matters. It’s over now. We need to call the police.”

He pulls me back into his arms. “And you need to go to the hospital.”

I shake my head. “Not until Jennifer’s safe.” Eyes burning, I can’t stop the tears from flowing hot down my cheeks. “I know he hurt her, Hunter. I need to be there for her.”

“You will, baby. We’ll find her.”