CHAPTER TWO
Liam McCoy turned right on Poplar Avenue and drove toward Wicks. Piper should be working, and he couldn’t wait to see her. He’d spent three weeks in a backwater cesspool country with his black ops team tracking and rescuing a diplomat’s daughter, a hostage of terrorists. On the way home, Fortress had sent his unit into Venezuela to assist another team.
He’d gone too long without seeing Piper Reece’s beautiful eyes. Liam had planned to ask if Piper was interested in an exclusive relationship with him. Bravo had deployed unexpectedly in the middle of the night and he wasn’t able to broach the topic before his team left the country.
If Piper agreed to exclusivity, he would give her the secured cell phone he’d obtained for her to use. He’d missed her like crazy while deployed this last time. At least with a secured cell phone, Liam would be able to talk to her when he was on a mission.
He snorted. For a man who prided himself on operating in the field without support for weeks at a time, the fast attachment to Piper puzzled him. Somehow, she had slipped under his skin.
Liam parked in front of the candle shop. The lights were off. He glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes before the shop was due to close and the place appeared deserted. Maybe Piper was in the office.
He exited the SUV and walked around the side of the shop toward the rear of the building. Since he didn’t want to scare her by banging on the back door, Liam grabbed his phone and called Piper’s cell.
He heard the ring tone she’d chosen for him and frowned. Was she in the dark alley? Why wasn’t the security light on over the back door?
Liam ended the call, slid his phone away, and palmed his weapon. Something was wrong. Worry for Piper’s safety gnawed at him.
When he reached the mouth of the alley, Liam peered around the corner of the building and froze. The door to Wicks stood open, and Piper’s purse and keys lay on the ground outside the door.
On silent booted feet, Liam approached the doorway, weapon up and tracking. If nothing was wrong and he scared Piper, he’d apologize profusely and convince her he’d been worried about her safety. But he wasn’t wrong. The woman haunting his dreams at night adored that ridiculous pink purse. She’d never leave the handbag and shop keys on the ground in an alley.
He paused at the door and listened. No sounds coming from the interior of the building. Liam moved into the candle shop. Still no sign of life.
Urgency beating at him, he walked toward the office, senses on alert. Where was Piper? Within two minutes, he’d determined the woman he sought wasn’t in the building.
Liam returned to the alley, leaving everything as he’d found it, and ran to his SUV.
He called Josh Cahill, an instructor at PSI and a cop on the Otter Creek police force. “It’s Liam. Piper’s missing.”
“Sit rep.” Josh’s clipped tone and military jargon forced Liam to focus.
“I’m at Wicks. The shop’s rear door is standing open and Piper’s purse and the shop keys are lying in the alley. She’s not inside Wicks.”
“Did you touch anything?”
“No, sir.”
“I’ll call it in and be at the shop in ten minutes.”
“I won’t be here. I’m calling Zane to see what he can tell me.” Zane Murphy was the tech guru at Fortress Security, the parent company of Personal Security International. “If Zane gives me a direction, I’m going after Piper.”
“Understood. Keep me in the loop. Remember, you’re not a cop.”
“You remember the same. I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect Piper.” No matter what it took. Liam ended the call to Josh and contacted Zane.
“You just returned to Otter Creek, Liam. I thought you’d be too busy with a certain woman to call me,” Zane Murphy teased.
“I need help.”
“Talk to me.”
“Piper is missing.” He gave Zane the address of the shop. “I need you to hack into traffic cams in the area.”
“Time frame?”
“I arrived at Wicks at 5:30 p.m. The back door was open with Piper’s purse and keys on the ground.”
“I’ll contact you the minute I find anything.”
“Hurry, Z.” Gut instinct told him Piper was in deep trouble.
“Copy that.” Zane ended the call.
Liam punched in the number for his teammate, Matt. He hated to interrupt the newlyweds’ reunion, but Delilah needed to know about Piper.
“What’s up?” Matt asked.
He summarized what he’d found. “Z’s checking the traffic cams.”
“Call the cops?”
“Josh will be here soon. If Z gives me a direction, I’m going after Piper.”
“Delilah wants to come to the shop to see if anything is missing. Do you want help with the search for Piper?”
Liam appreciated the offer, but his friend needed to be with his wife who must be shaken by the news. “Stay with Delilah. I’ll call if I need you.”
“I’ll alert the rest of the team. We’ll be on standby.”
“Thanks.”
“Watch your back, Liam.”
A moment later, Liam’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen. Zane. “Tell me you found something.”
“Late model black van with tinted windows racing away from the alley behind Wicks.” He paused.
“Talk to me, Z.” Liam’s hand clenched around the cell phone.
“I’ll send you the footage so you can see for yourself. She’s alive but her abductors aren’t afraid to hurt her.”
Cold fury swept through Liam. “Which direction did they drive?”
“I tracked them to Highway 18. They’re still moving.”
Liam cranked his engine and sped away from Wicks. “Tag number?” He memorized the license plate number Zane rattled off.
“It’s a rental from the Knoxville airport.”
He frowned. Highway 18 intersected with Interstate 40, the main thoroughfare through Knoxville. If Liam didn’t stop them, the kidnappers could force Piper onto a private plane, making it almost impossible to track her.
Liam pressed the accelerator to the floor as soon as he merged onto the highway. “How many kidnappers?”
“I saw two, the driver and the thug who grabbed your woman.”
His woman. Liam’s heart skipped a beat at that description of Piper. “I don’t want to pull over and look at the footage. Tell me what happened.”
Zane complied.
Liam’s hands clenched around the steering wheel as his friend described Piper fighting against the thug who hit her.
“The kidnapper backhanded Piper. I don’t think he wanted to seriously injure her.”
“Yet. He’s not afraid to use force to get what he wants.” But what did he want? Uppermost in Liam’s mind was the possibility of rape. Then again, if that was his intent, the kidnapper would probably go after Piper alone.
Information? Liam scowled. What information? Piper worked in a candle shop. She didn’t have access to sensitive government secrets.
Nausea boiled in Liam’s stomach. But he did. Had his enemies tracked him down and targeted the only woman to capture his interest since he joined Fortress? Liam prayed he was wrong because his enemies were ruthless and wouldn’t blink at hurting an innocent woman to draw him out. “One of the kidnappers had to present ID to rent the van.”
“John Brown. I checked the address. A vacant lot in Philadelphia.”
He growled. “Van still on course?”
“Yeah. Just passed Cherry Hill.”
Liam glanced at the speedometer. He’d be lucky if one of the county cops or Highway Patrol didn’t pull him over. “Call Ethan Blackhawk. Have him contact law enforcement agencies in the area. Explain what’s happening because I’m not stopping, Z. If these clowns reach the airport and force Piper onto a plane, I may never find her.”
“The cops will want to handle this on their own.”
“They are backup only. They can have the collar but we’re doing this my way.”
Zane was silent for a moment. “You think this is connected to you?”
“I have to assume as much until I talk to Piper.”
“Hold.” The phone was silent while Zane called Otter Creek’s police chief.
Weaving in and out of traffic, Liam used his combat driving skills to keep his reinforced SUV on the road and avoid civilian drivers.
Two minutes later, Zane’s voice filled the cabin again. “Done. The Highway Patrol is setting up a road block at the entrance ramp to Interstate 40. I’m monitoring their transmissions. They won’t be in place for another twenty minutes.”
“Too late. The kidnappers will be halfway to Knoxville by then. Do the cops know not to stop me?”
“They do. Whether they’ll cooperate is unknown.”
Frustration swamped Liam. If the cops were trigger happy, he could end up on the receiving end of a bullet. “Any change in the van’s direction?”
“Negative. Still on course for the interstate.”
Liam coaxed a little more speed from his vehicle. “How far away is Piper?”
The clicking of keys on the keyboard filled the cabin. “Seven miles. Interstate entrance ramp is sixteen miles ahead.”
“Copy that.”
“Want me to contact your team?”
“Call Matt. He’ll inform the others.”
“Hold.” Zane returned a moment later. “Matt’s on his way with Simon. He said for you to shut up and deal.”
He gave a short huff of laughter. Matt told the members of Bravo what they needed to hear. Liam wouldn’t need backup to handle two kidnappers. However, if they had friends waiting along the route, things would be more challenging. Besides, he wanted Matt to check Piper for injuries.
“You should see the van in the next mile. Want me to stay with you?”
“No. Keep monitoring their movements. Let me know if they pull off the highway.”
“Copy that. Contact me when your woman is safe.”
“Thanks, Z.” Liam ended the call and floored the accelerator. The SUV leaped ahead.
Thirty seconds later, he saw a black van racing toward the interstate entrance ramp.