It had been hours since Anna had texted him that she was heading to her house to retrieve some things. Prior to, he had received the same text from Jarrod apologizing for taking her there, stating that he had no choice due to her persistence. The thought of the big bad Jarrod being bullied into submission by the small framed Anna had him laughing.
But, he wasn’t laughing anymore. He couldn’t get ahold of either of them. Ben had called Anna repeatedly without an answer, and when he tried to call Jarrod, it rang and rang before his voicemail picked up. It wasn’t like the man to ignore a call from him. He went in search of Karlie. He was happy to find her in the living room watching TV.
“Karlie,” he said, not expecting her to jump.
“Jesus, Ben, you scared the crap out of me!”
“Sorry. I didn’t realize that you didn’t hear me come in.”
She shook her head. “What’s up?”
“Have you heard from Anna lately?”
Karlie dug herself back into the couch pillows and shook her head. “She’s back on the Sanders project. I’m sure she’s just too focused to notice her phone. She’s on a time crunch now, you know.”
He sat beside her. “Yeah, I understand that, but I received a text from her and Jarrod hours ago saying that they were stopping by her house for some things, and now neither of them are answering.”
“Hmmm.” Karlie pulled her phone from under a pillow and scrolled until she found Anna’s number and clicked on it. Ben watched her face fall when she got the same response he did.
“It’s not like her to ignore my calls.” She clicked end and tried again. When it just rang again, she shook her head and stared at Ben. “What do you think they’re doing?”
Ben stood silently and searched his brain for something, hoping he had forgotten a small detail that Jarrod had said. Nothing came to mind and he realized that he hadn’t forgotten any small details. Something had happened and he needed to find out what it was.
“Tom,” he said into the speaker of a radio he had been clutching. “Anna and Jarrod are missing. We need to go find them.”
“Roger that. I’m on my way.”
“Gotta go.” Ben turned to leave but stopped when Karlie placed a hand on his arm.
“Please, Ben. She’s my best friend. Don’t let anything happen to her.”
He nodded and left her clutching a pillow. Ben rushed to the front door and was pleased to see Tom and two more of his men already waiting for him.
“What do you know?” Tom asked.
He shook his head. “Last I heard, she was stopping at her house.”
“Oh, no. That’s not good.” Tom stared at Ben blankly.
“I don’t understand.”
“We found no fingerprints when we dusted her house, but we did find DNA in the kitchen that matches the person who was watching your house.”
Ben’s mouth fell open. “And you didn’t feel that this kind of information was necessary for me to know when I asked you for details regarding her house? What about the cameras?”
“Anna had just learned that her boss was murdered. I didn’t want to scare her more than she already was. I apologize, I had meant to tell you that info when we were alone. As for the cameras, they never got installed.”
Ben grinded his teeth back and forth until his jaw began to ache. He had to resist the urge to punch his longtime friend in the face for dropping the ball on something as important as this.
Instead of saying something he knew he’d regret, Ben asked, “Where do we begin?”
Tom blew his breath out slowly. “Her house.”
Ben nodded and climbed into the passenger seat of Tom’s SUV, while his men entered a matching vehicle behind them. It was Tom who finally broke the silence.
“We’ll find her, Ben. The man responsible is sloppy. I’m sure he’ll leave a trail of evidence.”
“What happens if he’s just the puppet and not the master?” Ben watched the Adams apple bob in Tom’s throat as he swallowed hard. It was clear that he hadn’t thought about that. The pair rode the rest of the way to Anna’s house in silence. Please let her be okay, he prayed silently.
Since Anna had entered his life, she had become his world. He never thought it was possible to fall so in love with a woman in such a short amount of time, but here he was, living proof that it was very much possible.
So lost in his own thoughts, Ben hadn’t realized that they were driving through Anna’s neighborhood.
“That’s Jarrod’s car,” Tom observed as he passed the driveway, parking two houses away. He pulled a gun from his center console and clipped it to his hip.
“Got one of those for me?” Ben asked.
“Ha!” Tom laughed. “I don’t arm amateurs.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Afraid I’d ‘accidentally’ shoot you for forgetting to tell me about the DNA in Anna’s house?”
Tom glared at Ben. “You are definitely not getting a weapon after that comment.”
He motioned for his men to follow him, guns drawn, and they crept down the sidewalk to Anna’s house.
Ben peered into the car and found it empty. “Nothing.”
Tom nodded and followed the other two to the front door. Noticing it was slightly ajar, Tom pushed it open and went in. Ben hurried after him and looked around. The scene he stumbled upon would be etched into his mind and haunt him for the rest of his days.
Jarrod lay sprawled out in the middle of the living room, his face so black and blue he was almost unrecognizable. The intruder had stabbed him multiple times, causing his blood to spray on all surrounding furniture and walls. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air making him want to vomit. Ben found himself rooted to the spot, unable to look away from the body of a man he had come to like. The world suddenly disappeared around him and all he could see was Jarrod.
“Ben,” said a small voice in the distance. He wasn’t sure who it was, but the person sounded panicked.
“Ben!” the man called his name again, but he was still so far away.
“Damnit, Ben! Pull yourself together!”
An angry Tom appeared in front of him. “If you don’t get your shit together, we’re never going to find her.”
Her? Who was Tom talking about? The fuzzy feeling slowly began to disappear and reality set back in. Anna. Jarrod was lying dead and Anna was missing.
“What did you guys find?” Ben glanced around the room to find it in shambles. He hadn’t noticed it before since Jarrod was all he could focus on.
“The whole house is trashed.” Tom nodded towards the rest of the house. “And they left this stabbed to the wall in her bedroom.”
Ben studied the bloody knife and the note stuck to it: She should have said NO! The words were written in blood.
“Do you think this is Anna’s blood?”
“Too soon to tell, Ben. I’ve called in a team. They should be here any minute.”
Ben shook his head. “Tom, you and I both know that this will draw in too much attention. I need to this to be as discreet as possible.”
“Not to worry. This is my team. They aren’t affiliated with the police department or any other government offices.”
They were interrupted by the sound of music. “My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard, and they’re like, it’s better than yours, damn right it's better than yours.” The verse played one more time before it stopped. The men searched the kitchen for the sound and Ben finally found it. Anna’s phone. She must have lost it during the struggle.
Ben picked it up and looked at the screen. All his texts and calls were unread, and the most recent call was coming from Karlie.
“Ben, put that down. We need to dust it for prints and I don’t need you to further contaminate it.”
He set it down and backed away from it. “I need to get some air.” Ben hurried out the front door and sat on the curb. His head started to swim with the most terrible thoughts of Anna and what was happening to her at that very moment. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her.
Ben was still under the assumption that all this had something to do with him, whether it was a disgruntled fan or a very unhappy ex. Whoever this person was would pay for what they had done to Anna.
A large van pulled into the driveway and four men exited the vehicle. Without even glancing in Ben’s direction, they walked right into the house, each of them carrying a small metal case. He waited another five minutes before going back in and couldn’t believe his eyes.
The men he previously saw in jeans and t-shirts were now in white jumpers, combing every inch of the kitchen with a flashlight. Jarrod’s body had already been placed in a bag and was no longer visible. Ben was thankful for that. It was the first dead body he had ever seen in person, and he didn’t think he would be able to stomach the sight again.
“Is this discreet enough for you?” Tom asked.
Ben had to ponder his question before he realized what he was talking about. There was no bright yellow caution tape, no coroner van, cops weren’t tearing up the lawn and the investigators walked in there wearing casual attire. To the neighbors, it would have looked like Anna was having a bunch of friends over.
“What happens now?” Ben knew the answer but needed to hear it from Tom.
“I know you don’t want to, but we have to wait. As soon as these guys are done here, the findings will be rushed to the lab and as soon as they know something, they’ll let us know.”
“Anna could be dead by then.”
Tom shook his head. “These guys are doing the best they can, Ben. You thinking like that won’t make this easier. What you need to do right now is think really hard on who could be the person doing this. Can you think of anyone?”
Ben shook his head. “Unfortunately, I can’t. I’m just as lost as you are.” A feeling he didn’t like. “Unless it’s that creepy client of hers, Ethan.”
That seemed to pique Tom’s curiosity. “Ethan?”
“Yeah. I never liked the things Anna had to say about the man. We came across his wife in the mall one day and the way she spoke to Anna was so condescending. It was full of malice and jealousy.”
“What’s his last name?”
Ben cocked his head to the side, trying to remember the name. Then it came to him. “Sanders.”
Tom snapped his fingers at one of the men and they picked up their phone and dialed a number before walking from the room. Ben waited on pins and needles for the man to return with news of the Sanders couple. When he came back into the kitchen, Ben’s heart was racing.
“It seems that Ethan is a very rich man. With a little hacking, we were able to find that he’s not just a rich man, but one who’s used to getting what he wants. Many women have come forth about his behavior towards them, but when put in front of a lawyer and witnesses, denied everything.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t surprise me. Men like him use their money and power to rule women.”
“Other than that, we don’t have anything else on him. The best we can do right now is wait to see what the evidence says.”
He was running out of patience. The woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with was missing and possibly dead. The rest of my life, he thought. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her and he desperately needed her to know that.