Sin stared into her eyes. “No. Too dangerous.”
“I can do it.”
“She can,” Jacoby said, after walking into the room. “I’m having trouble hacking into the Caraway security system, but he hasn’t been on their street in the past seventy-two hours. He hasn’t been to the strip club, either. I checked his place again. He’s not there. Our best chance of catching him is with bait.”
Dakota stood in the doorway. “I agree.”
“Good, then it’s done.” Evangeline’s gaze flitted from one man to the other, resting on Sin. “Let’s craft a text and send it.”
Jacoby’s phone rang. “It’s Sanchez.” He put the call on speaker. “What’s the word?”
“There was a fatal crash on the beltway and I just got to Hannah’s. The front door was unlocked. Hannah and her baby aren’t here.”
Dread flooded Evangeline. “What?”
“They’re gone,” Sanchez replied. “No signs of a struggle.”
She wrung her hands. “Oh, God, he took the baby. He took the baby. I have to go.”
“I’ll drive you,” Jacoby said.
“Take one of my SUVs,” Dakota added.
“Evangeline.” The power in Sin’s voice stopped her. “You’ve got this.”
Inhaling a steadying breath, she kissed him goodbye. “I love you.”
He squeezed her shoulder. “I love you, too. Now, go get that motherfucker.”
She rode shotgun as Jacoby sped into Shirlington. As soon as he pulled up to Hannah’s, she ran inside.
“What happened?” she asked Sanchez.
“I knocked and identified myself, but she didn’t come to the door. I kept knocking, thinking she was asleep. I tried the doorknob. It was open. No mom, no baby. No signs of a struggle, but she did have company.”
A blast of heat pounded Evangeline. “Oh, no, she let him in. Show me.”
Two mugs sat in the sink. One was filled with half a cup of coffee, the other with tea. “I need these tested and the mugs fingerprinted. Can you help me?”
“Absolutely.” Sanchez tugged on latex gloves, poured the liquid into two different containers, then slid the mugs into separate baggies. “I’ll put a rush on these,” she said and hurried out.
Get it together. Calm down and think. But she couldn’t stop the panic churning in her guts. “Where would he take them?” She paced in the living room while Jacoby jumped on his laptop.
“He’s not at his place,” Jacoby replied, tapping away.
Evangeline pulled out her phone. “I’ll text him.”
“If he’s got your sister and the baby, why would he reply to you?” Jacoby asked. “From what Sin told me, he’s a smart guy.”
“I’ve got to try something.”
She typed, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a few. Wanna meet up at Mac’s?” Then, she hit send and stared at the phone. “C’mon, reply.”
No dots appeared.
Pacing, she scraped her fingers through her hair. On impulse, she called Birdie.
“Hello?”
“It’s Evangeline. Did you swing by and see Hannah and the baby tonight?”
“I was going to give her a day or two to settle in before I stopped by. Everything okay?”
“All good. Gotta run.” She hung up and started pacing again, her heart beating out of her chest. “Let me try Charlene.” She dialed.
Charlene answered, “Hello.”
“It’s Evangeline. Did you visit Hannah and the baby?”
“Yes. I saw them at the hospital. Don’t you remember?”
“After that.” Exasperation hardened her words. “Did you swing by her place?”
“No, I was planning to bring the gifts by later. What’s the matter?”
“Hannah and Robert are missing?”
“What do you mean missing?”
“They aren’t at home.”
“Aren’t you being a little dramatic, Evangeline? Perhaps she ran to the store. Could she have gone to Betty’s?”
As Evangeline’s thoughts darted from possibility to possibility, she eliminated each of them. “So, you didn’t swing by and visit her?”
“Didn’t we just have this conversation? Yes, I dropped by the hospital. I’m sure Hannah will turn up. I think her nervousness has rubbed off on you. Look, I’ve got another call.” And with that, Charlene hung up.
Evangeline grunted out her frustration while her heart galloped in her chest. “I can’t do nothing. I’m calling Monty.” With trembling fingers, she dialed. The phone rang numerous times before a computerized voice message explained that the phone wasn’t equipped to take messages. “He’s deactivated his voicemail.”
Over the next ten minutes, Evangeline burned a path on the carpet. Each second felt like an hour. Jacoby continued searching traffic cams for Monty’s whereabouts, but found nothing.
“I’m going to Mac’s,” she said, breaking the tense silence. “Maybe he’ll show.”
Jacoby shut the laptop and stood. “Let’s do it.”
Bing!
“I’ll meet you in thirty,” Monty texted back.
On the way, she and Jacoby devised a plan. Her guts were in knots, but she was prepared to do whatever necessary to find her family. As Jacoby neared the shopping center, he pulled over.
“You drive. I’ll hide. That way, if he’s watching for you, he’ll see that you’re alone. Per our plan, I’ll meet you out back.”
Evangeline waited while Jacoby laid down on the back seat. She drove into the shopping center and parked. After cutting the engine, she said, “I’ll leave the keys in the ignition.”
“Once he arrives, text me from the restroom, so I can move the car.”
“Got it,” she said. “Good luck.”
“No worries. I’ve got you.”
As she walked toward the entrance, she talked herself off the ledge. Stay calm and find them. The dive bar was busy, but not crowded. No Thomas Monty. She ponied up to the bar and ordered a beer. Though she had no stomach for it, she had to act like everything was normal. Like her sister and baby nephew hadn’t gone missing. Like the man she loved wasn’t pretending to be dead in order to avenge a man intent on killing him.
I’ve got this. I’ve got this. The words became her mantra. I’ve got this.
When the bartender placed the bottle down, she took a long draw, letting the cold liquid quench her parched throat. As a career law enforcement agent, she knew the first twenty-four hours were the most critical in a missing persons case. They’d already lost the first hour.
“You’re too beautiful to be sitting all alone,” said a guy beside her.
She glanced over. “Waiting on a friend.”
“Got room for one more?”
“You seem like a nice guy, but my life is complicated and—”
“Hey,” said a voice behind her. She glanced over her shoulder and did a double take. Joey had arrived, although, Joey didn’t look like Joey anymore, at all.
Thomas Monty had buzzed off his dark brown hair to a short, blond military cut. Dark blond stubble covered his jawline. Instead of wearing his usual flannel shirt and jeans, he’d dressed in an expensive-looking tan sweater and brown dress pants.