CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

JJ clicked the phone off without leaving another message for April. He’d called her twice, but she hadn’t picked up, which wasn’t like her. Unease swam through his belly. His rational side said she was probably busy with a customer, but she’d never not called him back after getting a message. Even before they were dating, she was conscientious about returning his calls.

And it wasn’t as if Jack’s Lumber was all that busy with walk-in traffic. Yes, she got a steady stream of emails and phone calls from current and prospective customers, but that wouldn’t prevent her from returning his call.

“What’s up?” Bob asked as he came up next to JJ. They were still in their meeting, on a short break, and JJ was more than ready to be done. Bob looked energized and excited about the opportunities they were on the verge of nailing down, and JJ was glad. But he still couldn’t stop worrying.

“April’s not answering her phone, and she hasn’t called me back or texted after I left a message,” JJ told his friend.

“I’m sure she’s just busy,” Bob said with a shrug.

“I don’t know . . . ,” JJ admitted.

“You want me to call Marlowe and see if she can get a hold of her?” Bob asked.

“Do you mind?”

“Of course not.” Bob reached for his phone and clicked on his wife’s name. He frowned after several seconds went by and she didn’t pick up. “Huh,” he said. “She didn’t answer.”

JJ’s oh-shit meter went on high alert. He turned toward Chappy and Cal, who were talking to the mayor of Newton, and whistled.

Both men immediately turned their heads and started in his direction. Without explaining, when they got close enough, JJ said, “Call Carlise and June. See if you can get a hold of them.”

The hair on the back of his neck was standing straight up, and JJ already knew down to his bones that something was wrong. He didn’t know how he knew, he just did. Others might accuse him of being paranoid, insist his time in the Army had made him overly cautious—but they’d be wrong.

Both Chappy and Cal pulled out their cells without question.

And when neither woman answered, JJ felt sick, knowing his gut feeling had been correct.

“What the hell’s happening?” Chappy asked as JJ immediately turned for the door, his friends on his heels.

“I don’t know. But April didn’t answer either and hasn’t returned my previous call,” JJ said as he walked.

“They could be together, having some sort of girls’ spa day or something,” Bob said.

But it was Cal who shook his head and said, “No way. June wouldn’t do that to me. She knows that the closer she is to her due date, the more worried I get about her. She would never forget her phone or turn it off.”

“Same with Carlise,” Chappy agreed.

“So . . . what? How could all four of our women be out of contact at the same time?” Bob asked.

Acid swam in JJ’s gut. He didn’t know the answer to his friend’s question, but the what-ifs were killing him. They could’ve all been visiting at the office and overcome by carbon monoxide. Maybe there was a fire. Maybe they’d all gone out to eat together and had a car accident.

He didn’t know. Just knew in his gut that April was in trouble.

In the parking lot, Chappy got into Cal’s SUV, while Bob got into the passenger seat of JJ’s Bronco. They drove way too fast through town and toward Jack’s Lumber.

Seeing all four of the women’s cars in the back lot should’ve made JJ feel better, but instead, it made his dread exponentially worse. He didn’t bother turning off the ignition before tearing out of his car and heading for the back door. When he turned the knob, it was locked. Which made him feel a teensy bit better, since he’d lectured April time and time again to make sure the doors were locked when she was there alone.

Chappy was there with a key before JJ could run back to his car and grab his key chain. He pushed the door open, and JJ honestly expected to see the worst.

To his surprise, they were greeted by silence. No one was there.

Cal strode to the door that led to the front part of the office and was back in a heartbeat, shaking his head.

“Where are they?” Bob asked rhetorically.

“All their cars are here. If they went somewhere, someone would’ve had to be driving,” Chappy agreed.

JJ’s senses were still on high alert. The hair on the back of his neck hadn’t subsided. He was just as tense now as he’d been when he first couldn’t get a hold of April. “Everyone stop. Don’t move,” he ordered as he scanned the area.

At first glance, everything looked normal. Nothing was out of place. The coffeepot on the counter was half full; the pillows on the couch were perfectly placed where April liked them to be. Everything looked as it always did.

Then JJ’s nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. “Does anyone else smell that?” he asked.

His friends immediately tensed, and he saw their heads lift a fraction as they sniffed the air.

“Fuck—is that gunpowder?” Bob asked.

JJ’s gaze dropped to the floor. If someone had been wounded, there’d be evidence. But the floor was just as clean as it always was. There were no bloodstains, nothing to indicate anything nefarious had taken place. Regardless, JJ knew as well as he knew his name that something had happened here. Something awful.

“Has that hole in the bloody floor always been there?” Cal asked, pointing to a small round blemish in the floor.

JJ strode over to where Cal was pointing and crouched down. He reached out and fingered the small hole. “No,” he said, not recognizing the sound of his own voice.

“Shit! This looks like blood,” Chappy said, inspecting a dark smear on the floor not far from the hole. JJ had missed it because it blended in so well with the dark wood.

Without a word, he strode to the back door. His attention was hyperfocused now, as it used to be when he was on a mission. He hadn’t felt like this in years, had almost forgotten the feeling entirely. But all his senses were instantly honed.

His life, the lives of his teammates, and the lives of their women depended on him not missing one single thing.

He studied the small parking lot behind the office. The women’s vehicles were all there, as was his Bronco and Cal’s Rolls. His eyes scanned the gravel-and-dirt lot carefully until he saw what he was looking for. “There,” he said, using his chin to indicate the back part of the lot, near the trees. Tire tracks from what looked like a smaller SUV or pickup . . . and some sort of trailer. The set of tracks behind those of the vehicle were closer together and didn’t have much tread.

“Bloody fucking hell!” Cal swore.

“Are you kidding me?” Chappy exclaimed.

“If one hair on my wife’s head is hurt, someone’s gonna die,” Bob said in a vicious tone.

JJ didn’t say a word. His teeth were clenched together so hard, he was sure to crack a tooth at some point. He took a deep breath as his friends continued to swear.

“Enough,” he ordered firmly. “Being pissed off isn’t helping.”

“How can you be so bloody calm?” Cal barked.

“Evidence is indicating that someone kidnapped our fucking wives, and you’re telling us not to be pissed?” Chappy ranted.

“Fuck that,” Bob muttered.

“I’m pissed,” JJ told his teammates. “But being angry isn’t going to do them any good. Strap on your boots, Deltas—we have work to do.”

His words sank in immediately, and his friends instantly focused like the well-trained soldiers they were. Then each man nodded and looked to JJ for guidance.

“What’s the plan?” Chappy asked.

“Call the police. Track their cells, see if we can pinpoint exactly when something went down,” JJ said.

“Then what?” Cal asked.

JJ smiled. The kind of smile April had never seen on his face. A calculating, deadly, determined grin that his teammates recognized. “Then we go hunting,” he said.

His declaration seemed to calm the others even more.

“And I’ll tell you right now, I’m calling in every marker we’ve got. Starting with Tex. We know people,” JJ said. “We need to use every single connection we’ve ever made. Former Deltas, Special Forces . . . hell, even civilians. Someone’s got our women, and I don’t care why, but they’ll regret touching them. Mark my words.”

“I’ll call the police chief,” Bob said.

“I’ll call Tex,” Chappy added.

“And I’ll call the phone company, see if I can sweet-talk them into pinging the cells,” Cal said. “Then I’ll get in touch with my parents.”

JJ nodded. He had no idea how the Liechtenstein royal family might be able to help, but he had no problem using their connections if it meant finding April and the others. Fear churned in his gut, but he’d learned long ago to channel that fear into action. This was the most important mission of his life, and he wouldn’t fail. Not when his future depended on it.

April didn’t know how much time had passed; it was hard to tell when you were inside a pitch-black box, but eventually it felt as if they were slowing down. They’d stopped a couple of times now, actually, and each time, April wondered if they should pound on the side of the trailer, try to get someone’s attention.

But after discussing it with the others, they all decided their best bet was to be compliant . . . for now. It wasn’t until Ryan didn’t get what he wanted that he’d hit June. And no one wanted to see if he would follow through on his threats if they pissed him off. So they sat tight, huddled together, waiting to see what would happen.

Each time they stopped, they headed out again within a few minutes. Ryan hadn’t opened the door to the trailer, and he hadn’t communicated with them in any way. Eventually, they’d had to resort to using the bucket in the corner to do their business. It was difficult and embarrassing, but as April reminded everyone, they had to do whatever was necessary, and there was nothing embarrassing when it came to survival.

When they stopped this time, something seemed different. For one, they didn’t immediately leave again.

“Where do you think we are?” Carlise whispered.

“No clue,” April said. “But I think we were on the interstate. With the way this trailer was rattling and being buffeted by the wind, we were driving pretty fast.”

“He has to sleep at some point, right?” Marlowe asked.

April nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. Maybe he’s doing that now. Stopping to sleep for a while. How’re you doing, June? Are you still having contractions?”

There was a small pause before June sighed. “Yeah.”

“Are they closer together?” Carlise asked.

“A little.”

“Shit,” Marlowe swore softly.

“It’s fine. If June has her baby, we can handle it,” April said firmly.

No one replied. Until Carlise said wryly, “I know we’re supposed to be positive, and April, we’ve always looked to you for guidance, but I have to say it . . . you’re talking out your ass.”

April blinked in surprise—then she smiled. Then she actually laughed out loud. “Right, let’s get it all out. Who else wants to bitch?”

“My back is killing me,” June said. “This floor is so hard.”

“I like roughing it at Riggs’s cabin, but peeing in a bucket sucks,” Carlise added.

“And it stinks in here,” Marlowe said. “It reminds me too much of that prison in Thailand.”

“I’m scared,” June admitted softly.

“Me too,” Carlise agreed.

“Terrified,” Marlowe said. “We don’t know what this guy wants or what he’s going to do to us when we get to wherever we’re going.”

“Not to mention we’re locked in here. What if he wrecks? What if he decides to just leave this trailer somewhere?” Carlise asked.

“And he hasn’t given us any water or food or anything,” June griped.

“I’m worried about what our guys are thinking and doing. They have to be freaking out by now,” Carlise said softly.

When they stopped talking, April asked, “Is that it? Come on, now’s the time to say what you’re thinking.”

It remained quiet in the trailer, and April took a deep breath. It was her turn. “I’m scared you guys hate me for getting you into this. I’m terrified that June is gonna have her baby, and I have no clue what to do. I don’t want any of you to get hurt, and I’m so hungry I’m dizzy. But you know what? Things could be worse.”

Someone snorted.

“I mean it,” April insisted. “That asshole Ryan could’ve shot June back in the office. Or we could be alone. Having you guys here makes this somehow better. Not easy, but easier. We’re smart women. We can figure out how to survive this.”

“There’s four of us. What if we jump him the next time he opens the back?” Carlise asked.

“Or maybe we can find some rusted-out spot or something that leads to the outside and we can stick a piece of fabric out of the hole to try to signal someone?” Marlowe added.

“And we’ve all read enough baby books about what to expect. If I do have this kid, I trust you guys to help me. We can do this,” June said in a firmer voice.

April wanted to cry, she was so grateful her friends were working hard to overcome their fear.

“Who is this guy?” Marlowe asked. “Why us?”

“From the little I got from him, I’m thinking taking us has more to do with our guys,” April said.

“I agree,” June said. “He could’ve shot us all by now. Raped us. Done more than just shove us into this box and start driving.”

“It makes no sense, though,” Carlise said in exasperation.

“It does if he set something up ahead of time,” June said. “Something to lure our guys in?”

“Oh shit,” April muttered. June was right. That did make sense. But the question was . . . where?

“Why, though?” Marlowe mused.

“Does it matter?” Carlise said matter-of-factly. “Maybe Riggs looked at him wrong. Maybe he hates the Liechtenstein royal family. Or Bob said something sarcastic, or he’s after JJ because he’s got a rival tree business that isn’t doing well because of Jack’s Lumber. Kidnapping four women is extreme, so whatever his reason, he’s obviously justified it in his own head.”

She wasn’t wrong. April nodded to herself. “We need to get him to open this door,” she said firmly.

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Marlowe said with a tremble in her voice.

“When he first came to the office, he liked when I begged him. When I gave in to whatever he told me to do. I can try the same thing. See if begging him helps.”

“Like, to let us go?” June asked.

“I don’t think he’s ever going to do that,” April said with a sigh. “But you guys weren’t wrong. It’s awful in here. Cold. The floor is way too hard, and that bucket is disgusting. Do you guys trust me?”

All three of her friends answered in the affirmative immediately, which made April’s heart swell and her eyes fill with tears. “Right, so I’ll be our spokesperson. He’s arrogant and thinks he’s got everything worked out. I’ll talk to him and see if I can convince him to help us.”

“Be careful, April,” Carlise said. “We can’t do this without you.”

April reached over and blindly patted what she thought was her friend’s leg. “Yes, you can, and you will. Your husbands are counting on you all being strong and hanging on until they can get here.”

“You really think they’ll find us?” June asked.

“Yes.” It was Marlowe who answered. “Kendric managed to break me out of a Thai prison. Finding us and making this Ryan guy pay? Piece of cake, especially since all four of our guys will be working together.”

“You’re right,” June said in a tone that sounded stronger than a moment ago.

“Hell yes, they’re going to find us,” Carlise agreed.

April thought back to when Jack was reciting some of his so-called faults. How he’d sworn to scorch the earth to keep her safe. It had seemed over the top at the time, but now? Imagining him in soldier mode and making that asshole Ryan regret ever touching her sounded pretty damn awesome.

“We’ve got this, girls,” April said, relieved that her friends had somehow shaken themselves out of their backslide into hopelessness.