Reece
It’s six o’clock, and I should have been home an hour ago. I haven’t had time to call Maci, but she knows that if I’m working a case, I tend to lose track of time if I’m in the thick of it. My phone rings, and I know immediately it’s her, checking up on me. When I grab my phone, I see that it isn’t Maci, but her mom, and I begin to get concerned.
“Hello?”
“Reece, is Maci with you?” Cassie asks in a strained voice. My vision begins to dim, and my heart starts beating rapidly in my chest.
“No. Did she pick Bennett up already? She should be home by now.”
“She called me an hour ago and said she was on her way. She never showed. I tried calling her, but she isn’t answering. I’m worried about her, Reece.”
I hear a commotion in the background, and what must be Will talking to Cassie.
“Reece, it’s Will. I just got home from work. On my way, I found Maci’s car. She wasn’t in it, but neither were her things. I’m hoping she got a ride with someone, but I don’t know.”
I don’t think I can breathe. I’m shaking so bad that I collapse into the chair behind me and drop my phone. A strong hand pushes my head between my legs, and he tells me to breathe. Anderson. My brother, my friend. I hear Cutter in the background speaking, and I sit up. I track him on my phone, talking to Will and gathering as much information that he can.
“I’ll call you when I know anything. Yes, he’s still here. He needed a minute. Yeah, I would be, too. Okay, talk to you in a bit,” Cutter says before hanging up and pocketing my phone. I jump to my feet, but before I can do anything, I’m surrounded by my team. Kingston, Owens, Spader, Donovan, Anderson, and Cutter, all of them standing in a huddle around me.
After a moment—because that’s all I’m willing to give—I look to Kingston.
“Owens, you put that tracking device in her ring last week, didn’t you?” Kingston asks, reminding me of the one thing that could save her life. I can’t believe I forgot about it.
“I sure did. Here, let me pull up the information so everyone can see. Boys, take a seat at the table.” We do as he says and watch as he brings up his tracking software, then projects it onto the wall so we can all see what he’s talking about.
“This has Wilson written all over it. I don’t know how he’s involved, but he is. We need to get eyes on him and figure out where he is, too,” I state while we wait.
“Her tracking is placing her in the mountains. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll get an address.” I can’t sit still. I’m about to start pacing the room and pulling my hair out when Owens shouts, “Got it.” We all look up and see a satellite view of where she’s being kept. It looks like a rundown cabin. What’s she doing there?
I stand up, pushing away from the table and sending my chair careening into the wall. I make it to the door when Cutter asks, “Are you leaving without this?” I turn around to see him waving my phone in the air. “Toss it.” I hold my hands out, waiting for him to throw it to me, but he puts my phone on the table. He walks towards me and squares up, hands on his hips. He waits. I cross my arms and nod for him to say his piece.
“Be smart about this, Atwood. We are trained to do exactly this, to extract people in these shitty situations. This is our job, and we do it well. You know, just as each of us do, that going in there without a plan is dangerous to everyone—especially the victim.”
My jaw ticks. “Call her a victim again, Owens, and I’ll break your fucking face. She’s my fiancée, for Christ’s sake. She’s everything, and she’s in the fucking mountains with God knows who. It’s probably her fucking crazy ex. Now give me my phone and get out of my way, so I can get her out of there.”
“No. We are doing this right. You are getting Maci out of there safe and secure.” Anderson points towards the door. “Now get the fuck over here so we can make a plan.”
I know he’s right. Logan is saying everything that I would if he or any of the men in my unit were in this same situation. I walk back to the table, and Logan follows me back.
“Owens, have you tracked Wilson’s phone?”
“The last tower it pinged from was twenty miles away from that cabin. Atwood was right in suspecting him of taking Maci,” Owens tells us.
“Nothing good can be going on. Hopefully, he sticks to talking until we get there. That fucker is unbalanced. I wouldn’t trust him with a kid. Thank God Bennett wasn’t with her,” Cutter comments.
“Will you shut the fuck up? Everything out of your mouth is pissing me off,” I tell the asshole.
Kingston puts two fingers between his lips and lets out a piercing whistle, getting everyone’s attention. It as the desired effect. “Here’s the plan. Anderson, call the sheriff and let him know what’s going on. We are taking point on this. Owens, you’re monitoring tracking. Donovan, you’re driving. Do what you need to do to get ready. We rendezvous in fifteen minutes. Oorah!”
“Oorah,” everyone shouts back, and disperses to get themselves armed and ready for our mission.
****