Both men went back to the door. They were walking a little faster now, eager to check the lodge to see if Reese was there. Spike’s heart was beating too fast and he felt a little shaky. He hadn’t felt this kind of fear in a long time, but this time it was different, not like the fear he felt while on a mission.
This was about Reese. The woman he’d made long, slow love to last night. Who’d smiled up at him with a look so tender, he could hardly believe it was aimed at him. She was the woman he was going to marry. The future mother of his children. The thought of something happening to her, of her being hurt, made him almost physically sick.
“Easy, Spike, don’t borrow trouble,” Pipe said, reading his mind.
Spike wanted to bite his head off. Tell him he had no idea how he felt right now. How could he? He didn’t have a woman who loved him.
For the first time, Spike felt a little sorry for his single friends. He didn’t even know what he’d been missing until Reese came into his life. She made him a better person. A better man.
They burst into the lodge, scaring the shit out of Alaska, who was sitting behind the desk typing on the computer.
“Holy crap, you startled me!” she exclaimed. “What’s wrong?”
“Is Reese here?” Spike barked.
“Reese? I haven’t seen her this morning. Why?”
But Spike didn’t pause to explain. If Alaska hadn’t seen her, she wasn’t here. And if she’d been at the lodge earlier, Alaska would’ve known and told him.
He spun and went back outside and turned toward the barn. He stopped halfway there, staring at the area where most of them parked their cars.
Reese’s Escape wasn’t there.
“Shit,” he said.
“Her car’s gone,” Pipe said unnecessarily.
“You guys find Reese?” Brick asked as he approached with Stone. “Angelo wasn’t at the cabin. Woody’s looking around the property for him.”
“Reese’s car isn’t here,” Pipe said, gesturing to the parking lot.
“What’s going on?” Tonka asked, coming toward them from the barn.
Hearing footsteps behind them, Spike turned to see Alaska, Robert, Ryan, and Jess coming in their direction from the lodge. Word was getting around that something was wrong.
“We can’t find Reese or Angelo,” Brick told Tonka in answer to his question.
“I saw them get into her Escape and head out,” Tonka told the assembled group.
“When? How long ago?” Spike asked urgently.
“About an hour and a half ago, maybe?”
“Shit.”
“Pipe, you go with Spike. Tonka, Stone, and I will go in my Jeep. We’ll search Los Alamos. They couldn’t have gone far. They’re probably at the store or something,” Brick said.
“They aren’t answering their phones,” Spike reminded his friend.
Brick’s lips pressed together. That fact hadn’t escaped his attention, but he obviously hadn’t wanted to mention it.
“We’ll hold down the fort here,” Alaska said. “I’ll get a hold of Owl and Tiny and let them know they’re in charge of the guests.”
Without further discussion, the five men headed for the parking lot.
Spike could hardly think. Where would Reese have gone with Angelo? He turned to Tonka as they walked. “Did she look like she was in distress?”
“No. If she had, I wouldn’t have let her leave,” Tonka said. “She and Angelo had a brief discussion, it looked like she was using that app she has to talk to him, then they got in and she drove away normally.”
“Fuck. We need to trace her phone,” Spike said.
“I’m calling Tex,” Brick said as he brought his phone up to his ear.
Spike relaxed a fraction. A very small fraction. If anyone could find Reese, it would be Tex. He’d heard the stories over the years of all the women he’d been able to locate. He had to believe he’d be able to find his Reese too. The alternative was unacceptable.
“I’m driving,” Pipe said firmly as they approached the lot.
Spike wasn’t about to argue with him. Pipe’s Dodge Challenger was a hell of a lot more powerful than his beat-up old sedan.
The men got into the vehicles and peeled out of the parking lot as they headed toward town. For the first time in forever, Spike had no plan in mind. He didn’t even try to think about coordinating with his friends. All he could think about was Reese. Where was she? Was she scared? Hurt? Did she even realize she’d worry everyone by not leaving a note? Hopefully they’d find her SUV in the parking lot at the grocery store. She’d be mortified that she’d caused everyone so much worry.
But deep down, Spike agreed with Woody that something was wrong. Reese was too considerate to not answer her phone. He had no idea what was happening, but it wasn’t good. He felt it down to the marrow of his bones.
As they drove toward town, his life passed in front of his eyes. Their wedding, his unborn children, growing old with Reese, all of it. It felt like his hopes and dreams were disappearing in a puff of smoke—and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Then he straightened. No. He’d just found Reese, he wasn’t losing her now. He’d fight the devil himself to get her back safe and sound. He just needed a clue as to where she was and what enemy he needed to fight. Just one. He’d take it from there.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
They were headed south. They’d passed Santa Fe and were headed into the outskirts of Albuquerque now. The men next to her had eventually allowed her to sit up, and Reese stared out of the front windshield, staying as still as possible.
She had no idea what these men wanted with her. They talked amongst themselves in Spanish and it was extremely frustrating not to know what they were saying. They could be talking about what they were going to do with her and she was sitting there clueless.
For the first time, she understood exactly what Angelo must have been feeling this whole time. She vowed if she got out of this alive, she was going to study and learn Spanish. It was an insane thought, all things considered, but thinking about literally anything besides her potential death was preferable at the moment.
Angelo hadn’t said a whole lot, but every now and then he’d respond to something one of the other men asked. Reese thought about Isabella, how worried she’d be about her brother. How brokenhearted she’d be to learn that he had something to do with what was happening.
Reese didn’t know if he’d meant to involve her or not. He had told her she didn’t need to stay once she dropped him off. And she remembered the look on his face when the driver had approached him outside the Western Union. He’d been confused, surprised to see him. From what she could guess, he’d gone there expecting to pick up money someone had wired him. What other reason did anyone go to Western Union? She further assumed he was going to get a bus ticket or something and try to go home, back to Colombia. She didn’t know for sure, of course, but that was the only thing that made sense.
But instead of money waiting for him, it was these men. Did he know them? It didn’t seem as if he was anxious to get away from them. But why take her? Why not just steal her car and go? It made no sense to kidnap her too.