nose to the ground. To Max’s astonishment, instead of making a grid back and forth to try to pick up Paige’s scent, the dog ran around the house and headed straight for the beach.
What the fuck?
He’d been prepared for Max to lose the scent right away. They’d have driven her away in a car. When Max headed for the beach, nose still to the ground, his heart sank. Sweat broke out in every pore.
Had they killed Paige and buried her on the beach? Their stretch of beach was usually deserted. The beach narrowed along their stretch and the bed was rocky. The popular beach was two miles down—long wide stretches of sand and no rocks underfoot.
Oh God, now he could see it, as plain as day. Three sets of footprints, two on either side of deeply furrowed tracks. Two men holding up an unconscious woman. Then halfway down the beach, two sets of footprints, one much deeper than the other. The depth of a man carrying an adult woman.
Max had followed his nose straight to the water, so at least he wasn’t going to find Paige’s body in a shallow grave. The dog was at the water’s edge, moving back and forth anxiously, unable to follow the scent into the sea. The sea that might contain Paige’s body.
Max rejected that idea violently. Shook it right the hell off. He’d just found her, he wasn’t going to lose her. Not an option.
Coming closer to the water the footprints were muddled. And there was a long indentation in the sand, with a heavy furrow in the middle. The kind of print a boat with a hull would make.
He refused to even think that they were putting Paige on the boat to dump her overboard. It was still daylight. Would they risk someone seeing them on open water when there were other, easier options available? Why put Paige in a boat? Ten miles east and you could get onto the largest freeway system in the world and disappear.
They had to keep her alive for a reason. And they put her on a boat for a reason.
Max was going to find her and hurt the men who’d taken her, and then he was going to bring her home. That was his mission and he hadn’t failed a mission yet.
“Max!” he called and slapped his thigh. The dog looked up from where he was nosing the sand, completely recovered and quivering with anxiety. “Come with me!”
The dog hesitated, torn. He wanted to stay where there was the last sign of his mistress, but she wasn’t there. On the other hand, maybe the male human could help. He slowly trotted to him.
Max headed for his apartment because he knew Mel would have everything he could possibly need. He needed speed because someone could be hurting Paige right now. He nearly ran back, ignoring the grinding pain in his leg.
Mel had security cameras front and back, something Paige didn’t but would have—just as soon as Max got her back. He’d install security cameras right away, alarms at the doors and windows and fence, and front and back door electronic security systems not even he could penetrate.
Mel’s cameras worked on a forty-eight-hour loop and they were digital, hi-def cameras. So when Max moved the tape back, he watched, every muscle in his body tensed, as three men drove up in a tan SUV. Two men got out, one stayed in the car.
Max watched as the taller of the two men picked Paige’s lD.
They stopped at the SUV to talk to the driver who backed the SUV and drove away.
While they were talking, the camera caught the faces of all three men. Max froze the camera, studying the three men carefully, knowing he would never forget those faces—they were dead men walking.
He flipped open his cell and called Cory back. He didn’t even have a chance to say anything when Cory said, excitedly, “Max, GenPlant Labs has a super-secret facility on an island not far from where you are now. The island is called—“
“Santo Domingo Island, yeah. Listen, do you think there’s any chance of satellite coverage of the island? Say, from about an hour ago to now? Can you hack Keyhole?”
He knew what
What the fuck?
He’d been prepared for Max to lose the scent right away. They’d have driven her away in a car. When Max headed for the beach, nose still to the ground, his heart sank. Sweat broke out in every pore.
Had they killed Paige and buried her on the beach? Their stretch of beach was usually deserted. The beach narrowed along their stretch and the bed was rocky. The popular beach was two miles down—long wide stretches of sand and no rocks underfoot.
Oh God, now he could see it, as plain as day. Three sets of footprints, two on either side of deeply furrowed tracks. Two men holding up an unconscious woman. Then halfway down the beach, two sets of footprints, one much deeper than the other. The depth of a man carrying an adult woman.
Max had followed his nose straight to the water, so at least he wasn’t going to find Paige’s body in a shallow grave. The dog was at the water’s edge, moving back and forth anxiously, unable to follow the scent into the sea. The sea that might contain Paige’s body.
Max rejected that idea violently. Shook it right the hell off. He’d just found her, he wasn’t going to lose her. Not an option.
Coming closer to the water the footprints were muddled. And there was a long indentation in the sand, with a heavy furrow in the middle. The kind of print a boat with a hull would make.
He refused to even think that they were putting Paige on the boat to dump her overboard. It was still daylight. Would they risk someone seeing them on open water when there were other, easier options available? Why put Paige in a boat? Ten miles east and you could get onto the largest freeway system in the world and disappear.
They had to keep her alive for a reason. And they put her on a boat for a reason.
Max was going to find her and hurt the men who’d taken her, and then he was going to bring her home. That was his mission and he hadn’t failed a mission yet.
“Max!” he called and slapped his thigh. The dog looked up from where he was nosing the sand, completely recovered and quivering with anxiety. “Come with me!”
The dog hesitated, torn. He wanted to stay where there was the last sign of his mistress, but she wasn’t there. On the other hand, maybe the male human could help. He slowly trotted to him.
Max headed for his apartment because he knew Mel would have everything he could possibly need. He needed speed because someone could be hurting Paige right now. He nearly ran back, ignoring the grinding pain in his leg.
Mel had security cameras front and back, something Paige didn’t but would have—just as soon as Max got her back. He’d install security cameras right away, alarms at the doors and windows and fence, and front and back door electronic security systems not even he could penetrate.
Mel’s cameras worked on a forty-eight-hour loop and they were digital, hi-def cameras. So when Max moved the tape back, he watched, every muscle in his body tensed, as three men drove up in a tan SUV. Two men got out, one stayed in the car.
Max watched as the taller of the two men picked Paige’s lD.
They stopped at the SUV to talk to the driver who backed the SUV and drove away.
While they were talking, the camera caught the faces of all three men. Max froze the camera, studying the three men carefully, knowing he would never forget those faces—they were dead men walking.
He flipped open his cell and called Cory back. He didn’t even have a chance to say anything when Cory said, excitedly, “Max, GenPlant Labs has a super-secret facility on an island not far from where you are now. The island is called—“
“Santo Domingo Island, yeah. Listen, do you think there’s any chance of satellite coverage of the island? Say, from about an hour ago to now? Can you hack Keyhole?”
He knew what
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