Ian couldn't believe he hadn't told Tex he didn't need the file any longer. Fuck. The file wasn't for his enjoyment—he wanted to catch the person who was after Bella. Ian no longer needed the file since Jake was behind bars. Why couldn’t Bella stop and listen for two seconds?

“Why don’t you go talk to her?” Cole asked.

Ian had broken down and called his friend that morning to ask him to come over. The house had seemed so empty, and he’d needed someone to talk to about his major fuckup.

The Eagles versus the Cowboys football game played in the background. Normally, when the Eagles scored, it brought a smile to his face, but he couldn’t concentrate on the game. He was too worried about Bella.

“She wants nothing to do with me.”

Cole rolled his eyes and took a swig of his beer. “Stop being a drama queen. Pick up some roses and chocolates, and go grovel.”

It was the tenth time they’d had that same discussion. Ian glanced at the clock. He hadn't talked to Bella in more than twenty-four hours. It felt like a lifetime. Ian knew it was his fault. He was the only one to blame that the woman he’d fallen for had walked out of his life.

Ian picked up his phone and dialed her again. It went straight to voicemail. She’d powered her phone off to ignore his calls. “What happens if she doesn’t open the door?”

“Grow a pair. If she doesn’t answer, knock until she does.”

Cole was right. He would grovel and pester her until she either told him to fuck off or listened to him. Ian sat through the rest of the game. The need to rush to be at her side intensified, but he wanted to give her time to think and not be so pissed off when he showed up.

Once the game ended, Ian practically ran to his truck. He figured she was at her flip. She spent any spare hours at that house. With her extra time and the contractor she’d brought in, he imagined she would have the house done on Friday. She could pull the flip off within a month. Ian was proud of her and enjoyed helping her when he had the time.

He grabbed a bouquet and a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. When he pulled into her driveway, he took a couple of deep breaths. Ian walked past her car in the driveway. He noticed that the door was cracked open as he approached it. After the vandalism, Bella had always locked the door.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose. Ian knocked on the door, and it swung open. When he didn’t hear footsteps or noises, he shouted her name through the house. Nothing. He walked to each room and continued shouting her name. There was no answer. No one was at the house.

When he walked back into the master bedroom, he noticed her purse on the floor. He looked inside and found her phone. Something was wrong. He powered the phone back on, guessing her password on the first try. It was the date she’d bought the new house. A slew of messages appeared across her screen, all from him.

Ian scrolled through her contacts until found Ava’s number. Ava was Bella’s best friend and would know where she might have gone. His finger hesitated over her number for a second. Ian knew in his gut something was off. He pressed the button.

Ava answered on the second ring. “Hey, chicky. Are you already done with makeup sex?”

“Ava, this is Ian.”

“Is Bella okay?”

While Ian had the phone pressed to his ear, he continued to search the house in case he’d missed a clue. He couldn’t turn off the sick feeling in his stomach. “I don’t know. We had a fight yesterday, and when I came to her house to grovel, the front door was open, and her purse and phone were left behind. I have a feeling something happened.”

Ava covered the phone. Ian could hear muffled voices as she spoke to someone. Ava came back on the line. “Ethan and I are on our way over. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Ian clicked off the phone and sat on the chair in the living room. Horrible scenarios ran through his brain. His dream of Bella’s dead body on the floor came to the forefront. Tex had set up a program that would send Ian a text if Jake got out of jail. Ian hadn’t received a text from it yet. He sent a text to Tex just to make sure, and not more than a minute later, Tex replied and let him know Jake was in jail.

A ding on his phone alerted him with another text from Tex: What's going on?

Ian answered: Bella’s missing.

Tex called immediately, and Ian relayed the little information he had about how their fight and how he’d gone to apologize and found her house empty. Tex told him he would work to pull off images from cameras around the area to see if he could find anything. He had new facial-recognition software he could use to pinpoint her face in the San Antonio area.

During the conversation with Tex, Cole texted to see how Ian’s grovel had gone. Ian sent a quick text to update him, and Cole responded that he was on his way over.

It felt as if an hour passed before Ian heard the car doors slamming outside. He heard multiple cars, and the swarm of people that came through the door startled him. Ava was the first to enter, followed by her fiancé, Ethan, who worked for the FBI. Officer Max Anders followed behind Ethan. Cole brought up the rear.

Max ran his hand through his hair. “On the way over, I contacted the jail where Jake is locked up. Bella wouldn’t run away, and we can’t file a missing person’s report for another few hours.”

“I contacted one of my friends to hack into the street cameras,” Ian said. “Once he gets a hit, he plans to call.”

Helplessness washed over Ian. Was this how his fellow soldiers felt when his unit went missing? Twenty-six hours had passed since she’d walked out of the hotel. If someone had kidnapped her, they’d need to find her soon. Studies showed that most kidnapped victims were killed within the first twenty-four hours. If Ian hadn’t made Bella mad, she would have had her phone on her, and Tex could have tracked her.

“Stop beating yourself up,” Ava said. “We will find her.”

Before Ian could respond, his phone rang. It was Tex.

“You’re on speaker,” Ian said.

Tex went straight to the point. “My software picked her up on a private airstrip outside San Antonio. I traced the car backward, and it came from her house. They had shoved her in the trunk.”

“Who?”

He could hear the sound of fingers on a keyboard. “They have a tech person working for them. He buried the flight plan. I called Beth in to help, but it will take us both a while to dig through the trail. I’m running their faces now. Nothing has come up yet. Ian, these people have money. I think we need to cross-reference them against Mr. Ainsworth.”

Ethan stepped forward. “We have a few hours before the federal prison visiting hours end. Why not try to speak to Mr. Ainsworth?”

Tex said, “That’s a good idea. I know the warden of that prison. I’ll call and have them make sure you can see him. Also, did you look through the file I sent you?”

That fucking file was why they were in a predicament in the first place. If he hadn’t requested it, she would be in his arms. He would be cuddled up the couch with her right now instead of trying to figure out who’d kidnapped her.

“The file's on my phone. I never opened it. Fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Bella saw the text yesterday. That’s why she left pissed off.”

Ethan let out a whistle. “She has a right to be mad. But we don’t have time to fix that issue. You go to the prison. Send Cole the file. When you're done at the prison, let’s meet at your house.”

They all had their assignments. Ian hoped his trip to the federal penitentiary would give him the answers he needed.

Mr. Ainsworth sat across from Ian in the interrogation room. Tex had pulled strings to get a private room and no guards. Ian wouldn’t leave until he had answers. Prison hadn’t been good to Mr. Ainsworth. The sides of his head had been shaven, and he looked to have lost weight, and if that wasn’t enough of a clue, the black eye was a clear indicator that he had an issue in prison. He had screwed over many high rollers with long reaches. Mr. Ainsworth wouldn’t make it more than a few months before someone took his life.

“Who would go after Bella?” Ian asked.

“I’ve got many enemies.”

The vague response made Ian’s temper rise. He didn’t have time to sit and play twenty questions. Ian leapt out of his chair and wrapped his hands around Mr. Ainsworth’s throat. The man’s hands were tied to the table, and he was unable to fight back. Ian gave an extra squeeze before he let go. The second Ian’s hands lifted, Mr. Ainsworth gasped for breath.

Ian towered over him. “Tell me who has a private plane man and a wife younger than him and who would take Bella.”

Mr. Ainsworth closed his eyes for a second. “My kids.”

“I need to know why and where would they take her.”

“I’ll tell you what you want, but I want to be transferred.”

“You’ll be lucky to live if you don’t tell me how to find her. Bella has been through shit because of you, and she worked her ass off.”

Ian held his breath, not sure if he would get the answer he needed.

“They probably found out about the offshore accounts if they raided my bunker. The accounts are in Bella’s name. My children would take her back to San Diego… I cooperated. Can you help me?”

Ian nodded and turned and left the room. If they found Bella in time, he would have Tex talk to the warden, but not before he made sure of Bella's safety. If he didn’t make it to her in time, he would come back and kill Mr. Ainsworth himself.

As he walked to the car, he dialed Cole. “I need you to book me a flight to San Diego.”

“No need. I have a plane standing by. Meet us at the airstrip.”

Ian would owe Cole big-time. If he had a plane, it belonged to his family, and Cole asking his family for something was a big deal.

His next call was to Wolf. They would need his help when they landed. Wolf was part of SEAL Team Six, stationed in San Diego.