Sara wasn’t big on doing laundry. She’d hand washed her bras and other things, but for regular clothes, she stalled as long as possible. Like him. And those shorts had been the ones she was wearing earlier in the day.
If she had left them in her pocket, would she have dropped them for him now?
And why?
If Morley’s men had come after her, she’d have no reason to leave the pills as a clue. He’d know or at least assume who’d taken her just by finding the abandoned car. She could have dropped her ring or her watch, or something more personal if she was just looking to confirm to him she’d been kidnapped.
But the pills?
He couldn’t see her dropping the tablets by accident, either. It just didn’t make sense.
In the distance, he heard sirens and knew the cops would be showing up to canvas the area. Rafe had no desire to get caught up in their manhunt and questioning. He could do Sara more good by being out looking for her than if he let himself get tied up here.
Shoving the pills into his pocket, he climbed into his car and headed back to town, all the while racking his brain, trying to come up with an explanation.
Why? Why would Sara deliberately drop the pills? There had to be a specific reason. What was she trying to tell him?
Think! he ordered himself in frustration.
Pills. Morley. The two things didn’t mesh. But the pills had led to Biff and Todd being arrested…so maybe her kidnapping wasn’t related to Morley after all. Biff and Todd were barely adults; prepsters looking to make an extra buck by being frontmen for drug dealers. And those big guys wouldn’t be happy that Pirro had ratted them out to his nephew, a cop, with a cop girlfriend.
Rafe gripped the steering wheel harder. Maybe Sara’s disappearance had everything to do with the drug sting instead of the more obvious Morley connection. Rafe’s reliable gut instinct told him that the drug connection made perfect sense. It also sickened him, since drug dealers would be a lot more violent than Morley’s men.
He glanced at the clock on the dashboard. It still hadn’t been that long since Sara had been taken. Rafe could still find her in time if he could figure out where they’d taken her. Once again, Rafe’s mind turned to the pills as his clue. And the only place that came to mind were the deserted caves where the sting had gone down.
But a drive there would waste valuable time if she was somewhere else. Suddenly his cell phone rang. He glanced at the number and hit Send. “Talk to me, Nick.”
“Aunt Vi just called Angel in hysterics because you’d called her to say that Sara was missing and on her way out of town, but she could swear she saw her in the passenger seat of a woman’s car headed toward the old abandoned caves.”
His pulse kicked up rhythm, and he stepped on the gas. “Why didn’t she call me?” he asked.
“Because she’s Aunt Vi, and she’s always going to take the long way around a problem. Can I help?” Nick asked.
“No, I’ve got it. Thanks.” He disconnected his brother and redialed the state police, asking for immediate backup.
The abandoned caves would be the perfect place to get rid of a body, he thought, and nausea overwhelmed him. Ignoring the feeling, Rafe tore off the highway and through town, headed for the outskirts.
All the while, his head throbbed from the fear and panic racing through his brain, but one thought was prevalent above the others.
Rafe prayed he wasn’t too late.
SARA KNEW HOW to handle a perp, but Joy had taken her off guard. Worse, Sara still had no clue why Joy had been waiting for her, why the other woman had abducted her or what she wanted with her now. The one thing Sara did know—sitting in the passenger seat of Joy’s car, gun pointed at her stomach—was that she only had until they reached the tunnels to figure a way out of this mess.
“Can you tell me why I’m here?” Sara asked again.
“I said shut up!” Joy waved the gun as a reminder of why Sara should listen. “I need to concentrate until we’re out of town.”
Sara turned around to look out the side window.
“Eyes straight ahead. Hands in your lap, and don’t make eye contact with anyone as we drive through town,” Joy warned, slowing to heed the twenty-mile-per-hour speed limit.
Sara did as she was ordered. Just as she had from the minute Joy had pulled out the gun. The old standby rule, never leaving a place of kidnapping, went by the wayside when Joy had waved the weapon in Sara’s face and forced her into her car.
The only information Sara had gleaned so far was that Joy had been watching her from the day she’d arrived in town, and right now they were headed to the tunnels where the drug bust had gone down—apparently Joy had seen that unfold, as well. At least Joy’s revelation about viewing the bust caused Sara to remember she had Pirro’s Viagra in her pocket. She’d had a split second to come up with the idea to leave Rafe a clue, dig out the pills and drop them on the ground before Joy had shoved her into her car and set off.
Whoever Joy was, she was more than a handful and way more than Sara had planned for. And that was the problem. She’d let her guard down around Rafe and kept it down in the one area of her life where she should have been more careful.
She never should have left Rafe sleeping and taken off on her own. When he woke up and realized she was gone, Sara would be lucky if he even wanted to come after her.
Sara had to assume she was on her own.
Joy finally pulled the car to a stop beneath the same trees where Rafe and Sara had hidden during the bust.
Joy climbed out of the car, came around and pulled Sara out, too. “Step away from the vehicle.”
Eye on the woman with the gun, Sara walked into a clearing, all the while looking around for something to use as a weapon. But there were no rocks or large tree branches nearby. There wasn’t an escape route, either, since Joy had full control of her gun, if not her faculties. Even if Sara made a run for it, Joy could take her down with one clean shot.
The one thing Sara knew she had to do was buy time. “Can I talk now?” she asked Joy, who’d ordered silence until they reached their destination.
“Oh. You’re one of those. You just need to know everything before you die.” Joy sighed, sounding put out and annoyed.
But as Sara knew, criminals usually loved to tell about their exploits and reveal how brilliant they were, and she assumed Joy was no different.
“Fine. Did you really think you’d get away with that stupid blog post telling the world you’re off on your honeymoon?” Joy asked.