I groaned inwardly; it was day three after my hospital stay and I was finally allowed to go for a run. Not that I hadn’t been getting enough exercise, oh no, the good doctor had made sure of that. I sucked my lower lip into my mouth and smiled.

Stretching before my run made me very aware of all the places my body ached from all that exercise, but in a good way.

I waved to Fran on my way down the driveway, breaking into a slow jog.

She held up her cell phone and pointed. I pulled mine from the zippered pouch around my waist and she gave me a thumbs up.

The SOS Security team was fairly certain there was no danger to either Mackenzie or me, but Gabriel asked them to stay for a few more days just to be sure.

I’d given my notice to the senator, and just as I suspected, they’d tried to convince me to stay on the project. I hadn’t told Gabriel that part yet, and I needed more time to process it before broaching the topic with him.

I felt my rhythm kick into gear as I ran down Gilman Road and passed St. Bartholomew’s church, heading for Route 88. My body had been restless, and I couldn’t wait for this run, the familiarity of it, the routine.

Running time was my time. It was sacred to me, and I guarded this hour diligently, even though Gabriel and Cox had both tried to convince me to let them join me. Nope. No way. It was a chance for my thoughts to roam, a chance to process and even meditate. Things became clearer, and I gathered internal strength from this time that I couldn’t seem to get any other way.

I wasn’t letting anyone in on that.

Last night Gabriel had approached the topic of limits in our sex life. I wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. His dominance during sex had surprised me—it was never inappropriate, and he always made sure I was comfortable with whatever he proposed—but it made me curious. Very curious.

He’d awakened a hunger in me that I didn’t know was possible, and his uncanny ability to read my body and responses was disconcerting.

I tried not to read into it, but there were times when I wondered if I was just another case study for him. Would he tire of me when he had me figured out?

I could tell he was testing me, my limits, what I was comfortable with, reading every nuance of my response, and it made me wonder just how far he would go. How far did he want to go?

The last three days had been like a fairytale, and I was more sexually satisfied while still being hungry for more than I’d known was possible.

See? It was happening again. All I had to do was think about his hands on my body, in my body, and I started to respond. My nipples pebbled and my pussy creamed. I slowed to a walk, pausing to stretch by a tree.

A white van pulled up beside me and the door opened. I glanced at it as I pulled my left sneaker up toward my butt, stretching my quads. Too little too late. The men were wearing masks.

Before I could open my mouth two goons placed a hood over my head, I tried to scream—was this a nightmare? Was I dreaming? Because nothing came out of my mouth. I felt a prick in my neck, and everything went dark.

“Where’s Thea?” I looked at Fran expectantly.

“She went out for a run,” Fran paused to glance at her watch then paused again, “approximately ninety minutes ago.”

“She’s usually back within sixty.”

“Yes, she is, Gabriel.” Fran agreed. “I’ll call her.”

Fran flipped her phone out of her pocket, scrolled, and then hit dial. Her eyes met mine. “It went straight to voicemail.”

We moved simultaneously. She was on the phone to Cox next. “Cox, we can’t get a response from Thea. Meet us in Gabriel’s office, stat, and send two guys over to Mackenzie’s school to stand guard. Now!”

Damn, she was good.

Fran was just ahead of me, still working her fingers on her cell. “Allon, we have a possible situation. Gabriel’s nanny is off the grid, and we need to find her. We’ll call you from his office in one.”

“Gabriel, pull up your security feed.”

Cox burst into my office. “The guys are already at Mackenzie’s school, and the guard we had posted hasn’t seen anything unusual. When did Thea leave?”

“Ninety-three minutes ago.” Fran and Cox exchanged a glance. “We need to call Allon, I gave him a heads up—“

The phone rang in my office. I clicked the speaker. “Michael, you have Cox and Fran here, as well.”

“We’re tapping into public cameras, but I have to tell you, Gabriel, there aren’t many of them.”

“This is Yarmouth, Maine,” I agreed.

“What’s Thea’s usual running route, do you know?” Michael Allon, CEO of SOS Security asked.

“She would never let any of us run with her,” I grimaced.

“I tailed her one or two days early on,” Cox admitted. “Her typical route on those days took her down Gilman to Route 88. At that point, I figured she’d be turning around soon, so I turned around before she did. I’m not sure how far she typically goes.”

“What was she wearing this morning, Fran?” Allon asked.

“Black running leggings and a gray Nike t-shirt. Her running shoes are also Nike, navy blue. She had her cell phone with her.”

“I checked for a signal,” Allon confirmed. “It appears to have died just before Route 88. I’m sending the location to your cell. Get someone over there ASAP and let’s see if anyone saw something.”

I paced the room. “I thought everyone was in the clear. I thought we were all safe.”

“Everything indicated that you were, Gabriel. The senator admitted to having Thea followed, and we know that Mackenzie’s disappearance was self-imposed. What do we know about the senator—or Thea’s role with him?”

I sighed. “Very little,” I admitted. “Thea insisted it was ‘need to know’ only, and she never gave me his name, although I know he is on the Select Committee on Intelligence, so that gives us a place to start.”

“Cox?” Allon asked.

“I’m on it,” he confirmed.

“I already have a team en route to PWM via a private jet. Let’s find her and let’s do it fast.” Allon disconnected.

“How much time do we have?” I asked no-one in particular, already aware of the answer. I’d worked with the FBI’s BAU unit often enough to know.

“We’ll find her, Gabriel. We’ll find her.” Cox insisted. “Fran, I’m going to ride the route I think she likely took.”

“What about you?” I looked at Fran.

“I’m staying with you. If you get a call, Gabriel, you need to keep them on the phone as long as possible to allow us to trace it.”

My eyes trained on Fran’s. “We have to find her,” I whispered, my eyes moving to Allessandra’s painting above the mantle.