It was now or never, and though she’d never been more scared in her life, she knew…
I have to do this. For myself and my baby. For Chase and the future that’s finally within our reach.
With those thoughts becoming her new mantra, she eyed the long, metal latch again. A countdown silently formed in her head, and when she got to one…
I love you, Chase.
Scottie used her core muscles to lift her legs high in the air. Without hesitation, she brought her feet back down as hard as she could, the heels of her boots slamming against the top part of the latch.
It slid down upon impact, and the two back doors flew open. The man behind the wheel shouted something loud as he brought the van to a sudden and harsh stop.
But he was too late. Scottie had already rolled herself toward the van’s back bumper. She squeezed her eyes shut as she fell out of the vehicle, her body landing with a hard thud against the unforgiving pavement below.
14
“I had him.”Bile rushed to the base of Chase’s throat, but he managed to choke it back down. “I fuckinghadhim!”
An animalistic growl filled the open air around him as he slammed his fist hard against the side of the bed of his truck. The black metal caved inward as if it were made of tin foil.
Chase didn’t feel the pain as the skin covering his knuckles split. He didn’t notice the bright red blood beginning to ooze from the cuts.
The only thing he felt was despair. The face behind the wheel of that fucking van was the only thing he could see.
“There was no way you could’ve known the asshole was going to pull this shit.” Archer stepped up beside him. “And beating yourself up…mentally or physically…isn’t going to help bring your girl back home. Trust me.”
“He’s right.” Lucky made his way from his car to where Chase and Archer stood. Obvious guilt seemed to fill the man’s bright blue gaze. “Besides, if there’s anyone to blame here, it’s me.I’mthe one who ran the guy’s background.”
A deeply muttered curse sounded from behind them half-a-second before Van’s imposing form joined the small group. The look in the man’s dark eyes matched the deep scowl covering his tanned and rugged face.
“Levi Taylor,” he growled the reporter’s name. “That’swho you need to be pissed at. That’s theonlyperson you should blame. Now, y’all can stand around here and keep pointing fingers at yourselves, or we can get to work trying to figure out why the asshole targeted Scottie.”
The group of private security specialists grew quiet as the truth in the man’s words sank in. Van was right. This wasn’t productive, and it damn sure wasn’t going to help bring Scottie back.
“Look deeper,” he turned to Lucky, who seemed to have shaken off some of his remorse as well. “There has to be a reason he went after her. Some sort of connection between the two.”
“Already on it.” He lifted the state-of-the-art tablet held securely in his hand. “I’m cross-referencing the two for anything they may have in common. If there is a connection between Scottie and this psycho, my program will find it. Trust me.”
“I do,” Chase didn’t hesitate to let his friend know.
He trusted Lucky with his life. And more importantly…with Scottie’s.
“I’m also collecting CCTV footage from all the cameras in the area, but there’s a shit ton in the city, so it’s going to take a bit for my program to locate and track that specific vehicle.”
“What about Dawari?” Archer mentioned Kaamisha Dawari as a possibility. “Could be this guy’s been ordered to use the women we love against us as a means of retaliation.”
“I don’t think so.” Chase shook his head. “When I first saw the prick watching us that night, I thought maybe. But if his beef was with the team, why not kill me?”
His head shook from side-to-side again, pacing the immediate area of the broken and weed-filled parking lot. “This was personal. He left me alive, because he didn’t give a shit about me. Scottie was his target.”And now the bastard has her in his fucking clutches.“He’s good, though, I’ll give him that. Not a professional but calculated.” The memory of the psycho pissing his pants in “fear” came rushing back. “He’s a damn good actor, and willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.”
“Apparently what the fucker wants is Scottie.” Logan joined the group after having been talking with the detectives on scene. To Chase he asked, “How you holdin’ up? You get that cut on your head checked out yet?”
He was definitely concussed and probably needed a couple dozen stitches. But as long as Scottie was still out there…
“I’m fine.”
The look on Logan’s worried face said he wasn’t buying it for a minute. Fortunately, the former SEAL also didn’t argue. If Chase had to guess, it was because Logan understood.
What he was feeling. Thinking. The all-consuming helplessness threatening to take over.