Grab (9 page)

“Within the law’s parameters,” Hollerman reinforced.

“Of course. I’m sure that’s Pierce Securities’ bottom line,” Jordan lied easily. He had absolutely no intention of following the letter of the law on this one. He needed to find Mia.

But first he needed to make them
think
he was cooperating.

Jordan followed the detective to the station and gave a statement, as well as met with the sketch artist and together they came up with something that resembled the asshole who had stared at Mia throughout her shift.

Jordan was losing his mind the entire time he was at the station, wishing he was doing something,
anything
, to find Mia. His name, screamed from her lungs, echoed in his brain, ricocheting off the walls of his mind the entire time he sat in the tiny room with the affable man trying to draw. The artist was patient and understanding, but Jordan was just trying not to crawl out of his skin.

Mia had been scared plenty of times in her life. There was the time the neighbor’s mastiff had gotten loose and tried to attack her, but she’d run fast enough to get away from him. Then there was the time she’d gotten separated from Mom at the mall at Christmas. The elves and all the holiday decorations had been garish instead of comforting, and her little-girl brain had thought she would be taken to the North Pole to work for Santa instead of going back home for Christmas. And then there was husband number six. He’d flirted with her inappropriately and made passes at her that had been pretty scary.

But nothing compared to this. Now she was at the mercy of a man who was clearly unhinged, and that took her fear to a whole other level.

He overpowered her so quickly, effortlessly, it seemed. Mia had fought for all she was worth. As soon as she realized there was a stranger in her apartment, she’d seen she was fucked. He’d blocked the entrance with his hulking body and an evil grin. There wasn’t any other way out of the house, besides through the windows, and they were painted shut. Still, she broke one, hoping to throw herself out. It was only two stories and wouldn’t kill her, but he was faster.

He’d grabbed her and tied her hands with duct tape before she could react. That wasn’t that bad because it was hot as shit in the back of this van, and the sweat was keeping the duct tape from sticking well. But it was behind her back, and Mia felt like she was pulling her shoulders out of socket. But that’s okay, she wanted out of this mess.

Kicking and screaming, Mia hadn’t stopped fighting until he’d shoved her into the back of the van and slammed the doors. Her one ray of hope was seeing Jordan’s face right before the doors slammed shut. He’d seen her and reacted. Abject terror etching his features as his powerful body started sprinting toward her. The van would outrun him, but he’d seen her. He would come for her, of that she had no doubt.

But would he make it in time?

On her knees, Mia struggled with the duct tape. It was loose, since she was sweating like a madwoman. Hell, she
was
a madwoman at this point.

She thought of her sister, hoping in vain to come home to the US, and her mother, who would never know how sorry she was.

Mia tried to make herself smaller in the back of the van while she worked feverishly at her bindings. She had to get loose.

When he was finished at the station, Jordan rode his Harley to Evan’s house, unrepentant about the noise echoing through the neighborhood at three o’clock in the morning. Evan was, predictably, in his computer office, sitting in front of a row of monitors that showed the city streets of Austin on freeze frame.

“Hacking into live feed is easier than past feeds, which is good.” Evan looked relaxed, but Jordan suspected it was for his benefit. His wild hair and the coffee cup next to him said differently. His brother had been on the computer since he’d called seven hours before.

“So, what did you find?” Jordan couldn’t pretend he wasn’t twisted. He felt the tension coil through his muscles as he flexed them, bouncing on the balls of his feet, ready to spring into action.

“I hate to tell you, but he’s changed to the most common truck in Texas. I saw her, though. She was still alive and kicking when he made the switch.” Relief echoed across Jordan when Evan said that. A part of him was afraid Evan would find a body being rolled out of the van on the video feeds. At least she was still alive. “She’s giving him hell. Feisty one you got there,” Evan smiled grimly at Jordan, and he appreciated the attempt at levity, but he had more important things to deal with. With more stolen plates, Evan lost the truck on street cameras when it blended in with other red F150s.

After that… Nothing. The truck with Mia inside was gone.

“Where was the switch? We need to go there.”

“In the morning. Ryan can go with you to look for evidence you can actually see in daylight. Right now, you need sleep.”

As if.

Jordan couldn’t have slept if his life depended on it. He soon realized all he could think about was Mia’s face when she’d been stuffed in the van, her voice as she screamed his name, his failure at catching up to them, and watching her drive off to God knows where.

What little sleep he
did
manage was interrupted by the nightmare—loud bangs, bright flashes, and a pain in his hand which had him waking with a scream in his throat.

Yeah, fuck that shit. He’d rather stay up all night.

Jordan’s thoughts turned back to Mia, but he refused to think about the last time he’d seen her. Instead, he focused on her laugh, her sexy ass as she bent over, and her scent.

Yeah, Jordan didn’t know exactly what it was about this that had him turned inside out, but he had to find her alive. He’d never lost a person under his command, a major feat for someone who’d seen as much action as he had, but he’d be damned if he started now. Granted, she wasn’t under his command, but she was his. She’d never agreed to it, but that was only because he hadn’t declared himself to her yet. He hadn’t had the time.

When it was polite, Jordan left Evan’s guest room and ambled down to the kitchen to make some coffee. Except it was going to take an engineering degree to figure out this coffee pot.

After his third failed attempt and his muttered curses as he mopped up yet another batch of water off the floor and countertop, a muffled giggle sounded behind him.

“It took Evan a couple of tries to figure it out, too, but once he did, he swears there’s not a better cup of joe.” Paige stood a few paces back, decked out in running gear.

“I don’t care how good it is, I just need some caffeine. I was about to start chewing on the beans.” Jordan was clenching his fist, still hurting, and Paige looked at it, then dropped her eyes. He ignored the pain, relegating it to the back part of his brain.

A few efficient moves, and Paige held out his cup of heaven. “Thanks.”

“Couldn’t sleep?”

Jordan shrugged, not willing to admit weakness. “Early riser.”

“Evan told me what you guys are doing.” She was speaking over her own cup of steamy coffee, and Jordan wished he’d been paying better attention. He might want another and still had no idea how to make it happen. “You guys are good people. I’ve known Evan was good for years, and you are also good by default, just because you came from the same mama.”

Jordan snorted at the idea. “You’ve met Mom?”

Paige’s smile was dazzling, and Jordan suddenly understood why Evan loved her so much. “You are fighting a good fight. You’ll find her alive. I know this.” She put her hand on her chest. “In here.” She was still smiling at him, and as much as Jordan wanted to believe her, he was hesitant.

Even if he found her alive, would she be alright? What did this guy have in store for her?

As soon as it was daylight, Jordan and Ryan went to the place where the van was dumped and found a homeless man who’d seen the switch and could ID Mia from Jordan’s photo on his phone.

He came out of a hole in the wall of one of the warehouses in the area, curious when they’d pulled up. When they asked him about the truck and showed him the artist’s sketch and Mia’s picture, he said, “Yeah, he was here last night.” The man paused a bit and said, “He was out here with another woman about a month ago. She called him Mikey and was begging him not to do it.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you go to the cops then?” Ryan growled at the man.

They guy shrugged. “Cops don’t listen to people like me.” Jordan got a good look at the man. He definitely smelled homeless, although surprisingly, the alcohol stench that permeated most of the vagabonds in the area didn’t ooze from this one. With a full, dirty beard, Jordan could imagine him cleaned up and shaved, and the image wasn’t too distasteful. He was a young man, and a pang of regret for missed opportunities for this guy hit him in the gut.

Wait. Jordan looked at Ryan. “A month ago? You sure?”

“Yeah, man. I may be homeless, but I can tell time.” The man shrugged, obviously not caring what they thought, but his eyes were hard, as if affronted.

“Misty was two weeks ago. That means he got another one before her,” Ryan mused.

“And she knew his name,” Jordan agreed, not liking the direction this was going, but unable to do anything but watch, hang on for the ride, and hope they found Mia in time. It was a helpless situation he wasn’t enjoying much.

“You think they were friends?”

“Maybe she thought so and he wanted more?” Jordan was really afraid of what that implied for Mia, but refused to dwell on it. He would find her. He turned and stalked back to the truck, Ryan jogging to keep up.

Back in Ryan’s truck, Jordan blew out a frustrated huff of air. “Okay, so what do we know?”

“His name’s Mikey, last seen driving a red Ford F150, and he knew a possible vic before Misty, a month ago.” Ryan ticked the facts on his fingers.

“And he’s got Mia now. We don’t have any bodies, so what’s he doing with them?” Nausea unfurled in Jordan’s belly, deep and primal.

“That’s the magic question, ain’t it?” Ryan started the truck and drove back to the office to regroup. Maybe Evan had gotten something new off the city cameras.

Mia was in a house. They’d driven for over an hour. The guy had blindfolded her when they’d gotten into the truck, so she had no idea where they were. Based on the distance between turns, she didn’t feel like they were out of the city limits. There was still a lot of noise, but since he’d done a much better job of binding her after she got out of the first round of duct tape in the van, Mia was helpless.