No matter how hard she thought about it, Reese couldn’t think of a reason why they’d take her…except for the most obvious and horrifying ones.
The thought of anyone touching her, violating her against her will, made her want to cry. Or throw up. Or both. If that was the case, she wouldn’t make it easy on them. Even though there were four of them, she’d fight like hell. She’d get their DNA under her fingernails. She’d mark them so if they were caught, the police would know they were lying when they said they didn’t know anything about her.
The thought of them raping and killing her and leaving her body somewhere in the New Mexican wilderness to rot made tears fill her eyes. She refused to let them fall though. She willed them back. She wouldn’t let them see how scared she was.
Her thoughts turned to Gus. Did he know she wasn’t at The Refuge by now? She’d left him a note, so if he’d gone back to the cabin after cleaning the trails, he would’ve seen it. But how would he know where she was? They’d thrown her phone into the trash, and she’d seen enough crime shows to know the cops used phones to track people.
Despair hit her. If she was going to live through whatever was happening, she’d have to do it on her own. It was obvious Angelo wasn’t going to help, he hadn’t so much as looked at her since they’d gotten on the road. He was practically pretending she wasn’t there. That they weren’t related by marriage now.
The fear she’d felt since she’d been forced into the backseat began to morph into something new. Anger.
She and Gus had discussed their future children just last night. He’d come inside her and asked how many kids she wanted. They’d talked about the pros and cons of big families versus small and had decided together that three kids would be perfect.
She’d even told him she would stop taking her birth control pills, and they’d let nature take its course. She’d been so happy. Almost overwhelmed by the fact that the man she’d had a massive crush on was discussing how many children he wanted with her.
She wanted that. Wanted a future with him. Wanted to see him holding their babies, rocking them to sleep. If they had girls, they’d have him wrapped around their little fingers, and their sons would be miniature Guses. The pain in her heart at knowing their future might be ripped away before it had even started hurt so bad, she wanted to curl into a ball and sob.
But she couldn’t fall apart. She needed to be alert to the slightest window of opportunity she might have to escape. They couldn’t drive forever, eventually they’d have to stop for gas. There would be people around, she could scream, make a scene. Or tell her captors she needed to pee, write a note while she was in there. Or better yet, run like hell. Anything to get away. She’d figure out how to get back to The Refuge once she was safely away from these assholes.
Feeling better now that she had some sort of plan in mind, even though it was vague, Reese took a deep breath. She studied the driver, memorizing every single thing she could about him so she could describe him to the police. His hair, the shape of his nose, the mole under his ear. She’d do the same with the men sitting on either side of her when she had the chance. She wasn’t going to be a victim. No way in hell.
“Anything?” Spike asked Tonka.
It had been thirty minutes since they’d left The Refuge and they’d searched every inch of Los Alamos for Reese’s car…with no luck. Tonka had called a moment ago to check in.
“Nothing. We need to stop driving around in circles and meet to plan our next steps.”
Spike didn’t want to stop. He kept hoping the next street they pulled down, the next parking lot they drove through, they’d find Reese. But there had been no sign of her car. It was as if she’d disappeared into thin air. “Where?” he asked.
Tonka had a quick conversation with the others in his car, then came back and said, “East Park off of the main road.”
Spike knew where that was. It was on the east side of town and had a trail, a playground, and a dog park. “We’ll be there in three minutes.”
“Ten-four.”
Spike told Pipe where to go and stared straight ahead as they drove, trying his hardest not to let worst-case scenarios overwhelm him.
Brick and the others arrived around the same time as Spike and Pipe, and behind them was Woody.
They all got out of their cars and gathered in a circle.
“Brick called me ten minutes ago,” Woody said, clearly agitated. “Any sign of either Angelo or Reese?” he asked.
Everyone shook their heads.
“I talked to Tex,” Brick said.
Spike braced himself for the news.
“He traced Reese’s phone to the Western Union in town. When we went there, I was hoping to find her, but there wasn’t any sign of her whatsoever.”
“And her phone?”
Brick gave him a dire look. “Her purse was in the dumpster in the parking lot. With her phone inside.”
“Damn it!” Spike swore, turning and viciously kicking the tire of Brick’s Jeep. It didn’t make him feel better, only made his foot hurt. He turned back to Brick. “What else?”
“The phone Angelo had was in there too.”
“So someone stole them and dumped them?” Pipe deduced.
“Not exactly,” Brick said solemnly. “Tex also sent me a security video.” He fumbled with his phone and clicked a few buttons. “I just sent it to you all.”
Spike took out his phone and impatiently pulled up the video Brick had sent. It was grainy and taken from the opposite end of the parking lot, but he saw Reese’s Escape pull in. Angelo got out and went into the Western Union, leaving the shop not too long after. He was approached by a man. Reese got out of her car and was immediately grabbed by another man, who put her in the backseat of her own vehicle, a third man quickly sliding in beside her. Angelo and the man who’d approached him both walked to the car—and a minute passed before Angelo walked calmly toward the dumpster and threw Reese’s purse inside. The video skipped at that moment, and the next thing they saw was Angelo getting back into the car before it drove off.
“What the actual fuck? Angelo’s involved in this?” Woody exclaimed.
Spike’s jaw was clenched so tight, he couldn’t speak.
“Isabella’s going to be devastated.”
It was all Spike could do not to beat the shit out of his friend right then and there. Isabella would be devastated? Her brother had just fucking kidnapped Reese! He didn’t give a shit what anyone else was feeling right now, only what Reese was going through.
He took a deep breath. Then another. Now wasn’t the time to get into a fight with his old teammate. His only concern was Reese.
Brick’s phone rang, and Spike tensed, praying it was Tex calling to tell them he had a lead on where the men had taken Reese.
“Brick…yeah…no, he won’t be mad… You did? What’d it say? Right, okay…we figured that much out…good job, Al. We will…I need to go…love you too.”
Spike’s shoulders slumped. It was obviously Alaska on the other end of the phone.
“That was Alaska,” Brick said unnecessarily. “She’s worried about Reese, and she went to your cabin, Spike, and used the spare key to get in. She thought maybe, just maybe, she’d gone on a walk and had come back after everyone left.”