guy got sloppy moving her and someone saw something strange but didn’t think to report it.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Liam licked his lips, then shook his head. “No.”
Sanders stepped in from outside and motioned toward the command post and Perring nodded.
“Get some sleep, Liam. If you’re going to keep helping us, we’ll need you sharp.” She moved toward the dining room but paused before stepping inside. “Good work tonight. Glad you were here.” She didn’t give him a chance to answer before disappearing into the room. After a moment he made his way to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, looking down into the dark hole of the sink drain. In the living room he found a blanket beside the couch and draped it over himself before drawing out his phone. A text message waited on the screen from Dani. She’d sent it almost an hour before.
Going to bed soon. Hope you’re okay. I love you.
He began to reply, then deleted the text. He didn’t want to wake her. Instead he imagined her sleeping in their bed in the old farmhouse, warm and safe and so opposite from the situation Valerie was in tonight, he nearly shivered. If he and Owen’s roles were reversed, he didn’t know what he would do. You’re kidding yourself, he thought. You know exactly what you’d do. You’d be hunting whoever took her, with or without the law behind you. And what would you do when you found the person that had her? What if she wasn’t all right? What if she were already gone? You don’t even need to ponder it. Not for one second. You know.
He silenced the internal voice and sent up a thanks to the universe that his family was where they should be before setting the phone on the table beside him. He didn’t need to worry about what-ifs. Too many times people wasted their lives stressing about things that would never happen.
Through the window the clouds were corroded piles of ash that gradually parted to reveal a half-moon suspended in the ocean of darkness. As sleep slowly stole over him, he tried to draw comfort from the moon’s light, but no matter how long he looked at it the only thing he felt was a cold apathy within its gaze.
CHAPTER 8
Dade Erickson pulled into his two-stall garage and shut the car off, the clacking rumble of the garage door closing behind him the loudest sound he’d heard all day.
The offices where he practiced law were like different partitions of the same cemetery since several of his staff had taken the day off for various functions. His secretary, Gwen, was on an administration retreat in Florida, and Nancy—one of his two partners in the firm he started—was on vacation with her family in Hawaii. Her imbecilic husband had scrimped and saved up enough to surprise her and their two snot-nosed kids with the getaway, working double shifts at the shipyard to pay for it. If he only knew what Dade and Nancy did in Dade’s private bathroom when the rest of the employees of Erickson, Bender, & Scott went out to lunch, he wouldn’t have been so keen to have his wife come along on the trip. Not so keen at all, Dade thought, remembering their last rendezvous and how Nancy had moaned what a superior lover he was compared to her husband while he sweated above her.
Chuckling a little, Dade got out of the low shape of his Mercedes E250 and admired the car beneath the lights.
“You’re fucking sexy,” he said, running a hand along the fender before going to its front to admire the grille. He’d only had the vehicle a week and he still got a semi-erection when climbing into the leather interior in the mornings before work. Maybe next week when Nancy was back they would leave early from work and he’d screw her in its rear seat. She’d like that, he was almost sure of it.
Making a mental note to suggest it to her after her return, Dade climbed the single step into his house and shut the door. The cleaning lady had been there that day. He could smell the flowery potpourri she
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Liam licked his lips, then shook his head. “No.”
Sanders stepped in from outside and motioned toward the command post and Perring nodded.
“Get some sleep, Liam. If you’re going to keep helping us, we’ll need you sharp.” She moved toward the dining room but paused before stepping inside. “Good work tonight. Glad you were here.” She didn’t give him a chance to answer before disappearing into the room. After a moment he made his way to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, looking down into the dark hole of the sink drain. In the living room he found a blanket beside the couch and draped it over himself before drawing out his phone. A text message waited on the screen from Dani. She’d sent it almost an hour before.
Going to bed soon. Hope you’re okay. I love you.
He began to reply, then deleted the text. He didn’t want to wake her. Instead he imagined her sleeping in their bed in the old farmhouse, warm and safe and so opposite from the situation Valerie was in tonight, he nearly shivered. If he and Owen’s roles were reversed, he didn’t know what he would do. You’re kidding yourself, he thought. You know exactly what you’d do. You’d be hunting whoever took her, with or without the law behind you. And what would you do when you found the person that had her? What if she wasn’t all right? What if she were already gone? You don’t even need to ponder it. Not for one second. You know.
He silenced the internal voice and sent up a thanks to the universe that his family was where they should be before setting the phone on the table beside him. He didn’t need to worry about what-ifs. Too many times people wasted their lives stressing about things that would never happen.
Through the window the clouds were corroded piles of ash that gradually parted to reveal a half-moon suspended in the ocean of darkness. As sleep slowly stole over him, he tried to draw comfort from the moon’s light, but no matter how long he looked at it the only thing he felt was a cold apathy within its gaze.
CHAPTER 8
Dade Erickson pulled into his two-stall garage and shut the car off, the clacking rumble of the garage door closing behind him the loudest sound he’d heard all day.
The offices where he practiced law were like different partitions of the same cemetery since several of his staff had taken the day off for various functions. His secretary, Gwen, was on an administration retreat in Florida, and Nancy—one of his two partners in the firm he started—was on vacation with her family in Hawaii. Her imbecilic husband had scrimped and saved up enough to surprise her and their two snot-nosed kids with the getaway, working double shifts at the shipyard to pay for it. If he only knew what Dade and Nancy did in Dade’s private bathroom when the rest of the employees of Erickson, Bender, & Scott went out to lunch, he wouldn’t have been so keen to have his wife come along on the trip. Not so keen at all, Dade thought, remembering their last rendezvous and how Nancy had moaned what a superior lover he was compared to her husband while he sweated above her.
Chuckling a little, Dade got out of the low shape of his Mercedes E250 and admired the car beneath the lights.
“You’re fucking sexy,” he said, running a hand along the fender before going to its front to admire the grille. He’d only had the vehicle a week and he still got a semi-erection when climbing into the leather interior in the mornings before work. Maybe next week when Nancy was back they would leave early from work and he’d screw her in its rear seat. She’d like that, he was almost sure of it.
Making a mental note to suggest it to her after her return, Dade climbed the single step into his house and shut the door. The cleaning lady had been there that day. He could smell the flowery potpourri she
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