Chapter 27

Alexa shivered, the cool night air descending. She could hear the low hum of insects but couldn’t see much aside from the crescent moon. It had been dark for more than an hour, and with each minute that passed, she’d grown more terrified. Alexa wouldn’t freeze to death. As far as she knew, the temperatures only dropped to the fifties or so in the canyon at night. It wouldn’t be comfortable though. She was cold, hungry, and thirsty, not to mention sore and aching.

Duke hadn’t even looked back when he’d tied her up earlier. He’d simply walked off, leaving her there to die. She’d heard the helicopter rotors around ten minutes after he’d left her there, then watched in horror as it flew away without her.

Tears smarted her eyes. Certainly, Callie would be worried by now. Hours had passed since she’d left the airport, and her best friend would know something was wrong. But could she do anything to help?

Shaking her head as tears streamed down her cheeks, Alexa regretted not telling anyone more information about her plans for the afternoon. Austin knew she was getting on a helicopter, but that was it. She could’ve taken a picture of the helicopter or pilot and sent it to someone, or at the very least, asked for his identification.

Doug. Duke. How foolish she’d been for simply trusting him because he held up a sign with her name on it.

And what of Melissa? She got the feeling that Melissa and Duke truly were a couple, but the woman knew nothing about her fiancé’s dark side. Duke said he’d drugged her, and somehow, Alexa sensed that was true. Melissa was excited for the engagement photos, and she hoped the innocent woman was okay.

Shivering again, she tried to wrench her hands apart. Her wrists would be bruised, her skin chafed, with how hard Alexa had fought against her restraints. It was hopeless. Duke seemed to have known what he was doing when he tied her in place. Just like her father, Duke was a sailor who probably knew a significant number of knots. Except he’d tied her up instead of tying knots on a ship, leaving her alone to die.

Frustrated, she looked around in the darkness. There wasn’t anyone close by, just the vast emptiness of the canyon. She wasn’t near any hiking trails or overlooks. Alexa was in a remote spot, unlikely to be found.

“Help!” she screamed into the dark night. “Somebody help me! Please!”

She yelled until her voice was raw and she knew the awful truth. No one could hear her. No one was coming. Alexa tried to keep her emotions in check but finally gave up, sobbing all alone in the dark night.

***

“Unfortunately, the additional information I’ve found out about Duke Murphy is concerning,” Commander Madden said thirty minutes later, eyeing the team as they sat in the bullpen. “Once I received word that he’d left Oahu, I looked further into his background.”

“His records were sealed.”

The CO nodded at Austin. “Yes. I had to dig deep to uncover more information about him. I called in a favor with a friend. The Navy should’ve discharged the guy sooner. He had a lengthy list of misdoings and reprimands. No doubt someone was trying to cover their ass by burying some of the trouble he got into.”

“That explains why I couldn’t find much about Duke,” Austin said, anger coursing through him. “I searched and searched, but there was little background on the guy. What’d he do in the Navy anyway? It seems he had a number of years of service before he was discharged.”

A beat passed, and somehow in that split second, Austin knew. Duke had her. He’d gotten Alexa to Kauai and taken her in revenge and retaliation.

“Duke was a Navy helicopter pilot,” their CO finally said, his voice grim.

Austin’s stomach dropped, the sound of silence echoing in his ears. He could hear his own heartbeat thundering, but his entire existence now hinged on this moment. “God damn it!” he shouted, pounding his fist on the table. “He fucking took her!”

Wyatt’s face was turning red with anger, and he spat out the next words. “That motherfucker may have taken Alexa, but this will help us. IDing the pilot will allow us to track his movements in Kauai. We can run credit cards to see where he’s been. Have the PD put out a BOLO with his name and face. He’s got to land that damn helicopter somewhere.”

The CO nodded. “Yes. We need to figure out where he went. I doubt he left it in the bottom of the canyon. Let’s pull up the radar from earlier today and contact the airports. We need everyone on the lookout for this asshole.”

Austin was already rising from the table, shoving his chair back. “I’m going to Kauai.”