Sienna’s eyes crossed with exhaustion. She and Ryan had stayed up all night reading Jaylen’s emails. Some she could never unread. And she had thought Henry’s pick-up lines were bad. The Earth may implode if Jaylen and Henry ever got together. Besides his horrible emails with women, there were the financial reports Seth had finally sent after Jaylen had asked for them at least ten times. Then there were emails with the other players. She’d learned they all liked her, thought the new weight trainer checked himself out in the mirror too much, and they were all scared of Janice.
“Nothing,” Sienna complained as she tossed the last paper onto her coffee table. “Please tell me you found something.”
“I found out the guys think the weight trainer takes too many selfies.”
“Ugh. I found that out, too.” Sienna sat up and went to pour a cup of coffee.
Ryan took the cup she offered him and took a sip. “And as much as I wanted to find something horrible about Seth, all Jaylen complained about was him being slow on getting paperwork to him.”
“The financials showed that he was making money for a while and then the money was reinvested. During the past year, the investments didn’t pan out. I guess that’s why it took Jaylen by surprise that he didn’t have enough cash to buy a house.” Sienna sat down on the couch next to Ryan and laid her head on his chest.
She yawned and wanted to close her eyes, but she needed to get to work. The Thoroughbreds had an away game that week, and she needed to prep some of her players for life on the road. “Do you think you can get Malik’s emails? We can compare them to see if there’s anything in common.”
Ryan put his arm around her, and she struggled to stay awake as he slowly ran his hand over her back. “Yeah, I can do that. I can drop you off at the office and then pay Detective Braxton a visit.”
His phone rang. “Speak of the devil.”
Sienna shot up. “You can’t tell her about Jaylen or the emails. I don’t trust her yet.”
“This ain’t my first rodeo, sweetheart.” Ryan grinned before answering the phone.
Sienna smothered a laugh as Ryan acted totally shocked, angered, and desperate, finding out Jaylen was missing. She wanted to give him a high five when he talked Braxton into letting him have copies of Malik’s emails to see if there’s any hint to a place Jaylen may take himself.
Ryan hung up with a promise to meet the detective within the hour. “It was a good thing you had Jaylen change into his street clothes to leave. They think he left on his own. They can’t figure out why they can’t find him on the security tape leaving.”
Sienna snickered and sipped her coffee. “I have no idea,” she said innocently.
Ryan had made sure she was safe behind her office door and Janice was on full lookout, along with the guards at the stadium, before he left to meet Detective Braxton with Hooch in tow. Sienna was only in her office five minutes before the first knock on the door. Sienna looked up and smiled at Coach Trey Everett.
Trey was in his late forties and still as handsome as when he had played in the NFL. His wife, Taylor, had been America’s Sweetheart. She had four Academy Awards on their mantel at home next to Trey’s football trophies and their two sons' artwork and trophies. His sons were now sixteen and fourteen years and excelling in high school.
“Morning, Trey.” Sienna smiled up at him. She didn’t need to pretend with him. He was from Keeneston and had babysat her a couple times when he was home from college.
Trey closed the door and took a seat across her desk. “How’s my running back doing?”
Sienna blinked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You know, the 215-pound man hiding in a run at the vet clinic.”
“John,” Sienna grumbled.
“I’m on the text tree. I got the text yesterday and plan to stop by today to check on him. Is there anything I should or shouldn’t say?”
Sienna shook her head. “Just make sure he understands the importance of staying put and not contacting anyone.”
“Will do. You’ll let me know if there’s anything I can do for you or Ryan, right?”
“Of course. Thanks, Trey.”
Trey stood and opened the door, and Sienna sighed. She already had a line of rookies waiting to talk to her.
* * *
Ryan was too tired to pretend to care about Detective Braxton’s rant. He thumbed through Malik’s emails and made notes about any similarities with Jaylen’s. They both had a fear of Janice, and the weight coach was a little more eager to snap a selfie than a grown man should be.
“I know she has something to do with this. I should get a search warrant for her house,” Detective Braxton spat as she paced her small office.
That finally drew Ryan’s attention from last year’s report from Rook Capital Management. He needed a copy of this to compare to Jaylen’s. There were emails asking Seth to forward this year’s reports to Malik, but he didn’t have time to get them before he was murdered.
“Wait, what are you talking about?” Ryan asked. Braxton huffed and then launched on a tirade about how Sienna was harboring Jaylen. Braxton had no evidence of it other than her dislike of Sienna’s defensiveness about being tied to terrorism, so Ryan didn’t give it much credence.
“She’s your girlfriend. Did she tell you where Jaylen is?”
Ryan smirked. “Not at her house, I can tell you that much.”
Braxton rolled her eyes at him. “Did you find anything?”
“Not really. It just looks like he was getting all his ducks in a row to retire. Nothing out of the ordinary. No scathing emails against Seth. No this guy may kill me. Nothing.”
Braxton nodded. “That was my opinion as well. I just have a feeling I’m missing something. I have that creepy, crawling feeling that something is going to happen, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop it.”
Ryan looked down at his arms—his hair was standing up.
“You don’t have to hide your laugh. I know it’s silly.”
“No,” Ryan told her. “It’s not silly. It’s just strange. I have that same feeling.”
* * *
Sienna looked at the large lineman crying on her couch and wanted to give him a hug. Zack Sanders may be the biggest man she’d ever known, but he was also the most sensitive.
“I just don’t understand why they always boo us. And when we go through the tunnel they yell at us. Don’t they know this is just a game? A game we love with all our hearts.”
“Zack, fan mentality is something you need to teach yourself to block out. Especially when you’re on the road. You have no control over it. It’s similar to a mob effect. You don’t need to worry about them. You need to worry about yourself,” Sienna told him as she handed him a tissue.
“I know. I just want to enjoy the game.”
“But once you’re out on the field, do you hear them, or are they pushed into the background?”
“I feel the energy. It’s awesome. I don’t really hear them because I’m so focused on the plays,” Zack told her before blowing his nose.
“Have you tried putting in earplugs for away games?” Sienna held up her hand to stop him from talking. “Not for the game, but from the time you leave the locker room until both teams are on the field. That way you can feel the energy, the noise, and the excitement, but you won’t be worried about running through the tunnel. Keep the earplugs in, your helmet on, and do your pregame concentration warm-up. Focus on you and your love of the game.”
Zack nodded. “I can try that, Doc.”
“So, now that we have a plan, how is everything else going that we’ve been working on?” Sienna smiled as she saw Zack brighten up.
“Good. I have a date. With a woman. A real one.”
Fifteen minutes later, Zack stood up and wrapped his arms around her. When he hugged her, Sienna’s feet came off the ground and air whooshed from her lungs. “If there’s ever anything I can do for you, Doc, just let me know. I have to meet with my agent before we leave for the game.”
Sienna felt her breathing stop. “Seth’s still here?”
Zack nodded. “He had some loose ends to tie up and one more meeting with me. Then he’s heading out. See you later, Doc.” Sienna gave him a weak smile as he lumbered out the door. He kind of reminded her of a blond Hooch.
A shiver ran down her back; Sienna grew cold. She didn’t like that Seth was in the building. He had scared her the other night, and everything inside her was screaming to get as far away from him as possible. She heard his laugh in the hallway and sat rigid in her chair. When the door to the small meeting room down the hall closed, she didn’t bother waiting for Ryan to arrive. She needed to get out of there now.
Sienna grabbed her purse and slipped from her office. She walked as quickly and quietly as she could down the hall and sighed in relief when Janice’s desk came into view.
“Hello there, sugar. Is that hunk of a man coming up to meet you?” Janice asked and looked Sienna over before frowning. “What’s going on?”
Sienna tried to smile, but when the conference room door opened she forgot to pretend that everything was all right. “I was supposed to meet Ryan here, but I don’t want to be here anymore. I’m going to the guard’s station at the entrance of the parking lot so I can flag Ryan down. If I somehow miss him, will you tell him that’s where I am?”
Janice followed Sienna’s look to the back of the hallways. “Sure thing, sugar.” Janice patted her hand and then shooed her to the elevator.
Sienna didn’t think she took a breath until the elevator doors closed. She closed her eyes and collected herself. It wasn’t like her to be so scared of one person, but it was as if her body was on high alert. Her heart pounded, her breathing was heavy, and she couldn’t stop thinking someone was behind her.
The elevator doors slid open and Sienna peeked out. No one was around. She laughed at herself for being ridiculous. She stepped into the glass lobby and headed for the double doors leading to the parking lot. The security guard was a good distance away, but she needed the walk to calm down. She would see the players’ cars and then beyond them the private entrance to the employee lot where Tony would be on duty.
Sienna pushed open the glass door and stepped into the overcast afternoon. Storm clouds were gathering in the sky and the humidity from the summer was starting to fade. A strong wind gusted, and Sienna’s hair attacked her face with stinging whips. Sienna pushed her hair from her face and grimaced at Seth’s neon yellow car parked in a handicap spot right next to the door.
The wind blew hard and Sienna stopped. She had thought she heard something but the noise had been whisked away on the wind. She took a couple steps forward when she thought she heard it again. Was it thunder?
Sienna’s heart dropped to her stomach, and she knew it was an unnatural sound. Slowly she turned toward the noise. Her scream at coming face-to-face with a man dressed in a black ski mask was torn from her by the wind. He stood still, mere inches from her, and slowly his mouth curved out into a smile. The sound of thunder pounded, but this time her ears heard it for what it was. Someone was pounding at the glass doors.
“Dr. Ashton, it’s lovely to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. If you would be so kind as to come with me.” Sienna could barely hear his Middle Eastern accent as the clouds darkened and the wind whipped about them.
From over the man’s shoulder, she saw Zack and Janice beating desperately at the door. A door with a crowbar jammed through the handles to prevent it from being opened.
“Come, Doctor. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
He reached for her, and Sienna reacted. She swung her purse at him, hitting him on his head. He stumbled back, and Sienna raced toward the row of cars. She didn’t feel him until it was too late. His hands pressed on her back and pushed. Sienna was suddenly airborne. The scream didn’t have time to be released into the storm as the skies opened, and she flew into Seth’s car.
Sienna covered her head with her arm as she was flung over the hood. Her body bounced off the sheet metal, and she rolled down the hood and fell in a heap on the wet pavement. Pain shot through her hip as she struggled to stand.
“Let me make myself clear, Doctor. I have no problem with the hard way,” the man yelled as rain pounded around them.
Fear shot through her. The man grabbed her hair and pulled her up. “No!” Sienna screamed as she lashed out with her fists. She felt them connect; she felt him loosen his grasp. She tried to dive to the side, but instead of freedom, she felt a fist to the side of the head.
“I like the hard way, Doctor.” The voice floated above her as she collapsed to the ground.
Sienna blinked her eyes, but between the rain and the hit on her head the world seemed blurred. A car sped to a stop next to them, and she knew if she was put in it she was dead. Sienna used all her energy and dove under the back end of Seth’s car. She tried to tuck herself in a ball under the low car, hoping to gain some time for Zack to reach her, but it wasn’t enough. Two strong hands wrapped around her ankles and pulled. Her nails broke as she clawed the concrete and suddenly she was no longer under the car. A foot connected with her stomach and air whooshed from her lungs. Pain unlike anything she had ever experienced hit her as the man kicked her over and over.
Her mind went elsewhere, and she didn’t hear the glass breaking or the sound of another car racing toward them. She was just thankful for the beating to have stopped as she was picked up like a wet ragdoll and tossed in the trunk.