Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 72669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
He noticed everything.
***
Booth
“Dammit, fuck, damn, shit,” I snapped, pushing away from the table where the helpful neighbor, John Goates, showed me the video. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” John apologized. “I wish I could offer more help.”
“You did everything right,” Luke said. “Wish we could’ve seen more.”
I rolled my eyes at Luke.
So much for letting me do what I needed to.
The man hadn’t let me out of his sight since I’d gotten here.
“You’re welcome,” John smiled. “I know one other person on this street that has the same system, but he’s out of town for Thanksgiving.”
I nodded.
That was how life worked, wasn’t it?
Offering him my hand, I walked out shortly after with Luke at my side.
“Now what?” I asked Luke.
“Now you let me get my detectives on it,” Luke expounded. “I’m not one, and I won’t try to be. Flores and Butcher are good, though, so you have nothing to worry about. If there’s something to find, they’ll find it.”
My eyes went skyward as I scoured my mind for answers, but I froze as I saw the flag on the neighbor’s flag pole.
That hadn’t been like that when I’d gotten here earlier.
Dozens of scenarios filtered through my brain, but all I kept coming up with was one thing.
Luke’s voice filtered into my thoughts, but I couldn’t stop where my mind kept going back to.
My eyes focused, coming to a rest on Luke as he walked to his car with his phone to his ear.
I just knew I had to stop him.
“Luke, would you hold on a minute?” I asked him.
Luke stopped on his walk to the car and turned to face me.
I, on the other hand, walked towards him, bringing my phone out and hitting ‘dial’ as soon as I pulled the phone app up.
“Hello?” A strange voice said.
“Give me to Masen,” I ordered quickly, a faint sickening feeling twisting my guts.
“I’m sorry sir, but who is this?” The woman asked, authority leaching into her tone.
“This is her fiancé,” I said. “Now tell me who this is.”
I heard scrambling on the other line and then a deep male’s voice say, “This is Detective Flores, I’m at the hospital, but your fiancé no longer is.”
And I knew.
I knew whatever was going on, she wasn’t okay. This wasn’t a case of her leaving on her own. She knew the risks associated with the brain injury she had. She would not just leave the hospital because she felt like it. Not without a damn good reason, anyway.
“Motherfucker!” Luke bellowed, pulling my attention from the man telling me my woman was missing. “What the fuck? She had two seasoned police officers on her. How could they let her slip through their fingers?”
A sick knot of fear started to lodge in my throat, and my eyes edged towards the flag once again.
“Luke,” I interrupted him, surprised at how even my voice had sounded when I knew there was a whole bunch of rage at the end of my words.
Luke looked at me, sensing his attention was needed here, and not with whomever he was speaking to.
“Yeah?” He asked, eyes intense.
I gestured to the flag.
“Whose house is that?” I asked.
He looked at the house, then his gaze wandered to the flag.
The fucking upside down flag.
He opened up his notebook that he had in his hand and started to scan.
However, my eyes were attracted to the front window and the flick of the blinds.
Swallowing thickly, I said, “We need to act like we’re leaving. Calmly.”
I don’t know why, but my instincts were screaming at me to take this easy. To not bring attention to the house in front of us.
If I tipped them off that I knew something was wrong, whomever was in that window would do something extreme.
And if my gut instinct was correct, my woman was the one who would suffer.
I couldn’t really tell you why I knew she was in there…but I just knew. I knew she was in there with every cell in my body.
Luke nodded, hearing what I was saying. “Let’s go. You get on your bike, I’ll get in my SUV, and we’ll head to the end of the block.”
Relief poured through me knowing Luke understood me as well as he did.
We’d only been working together for a short time now, a few months at most, but we understood each other and worked well together.
We both had instincts honed to perfection from the extensive military training we had, and it was more than obvious he was willing to listen to my instincts, even if any sane man wouldn’t have flagged on something like this.
I got on my bike and drove away.
It was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life, but I did it.
I came to a stop near where Masen had been in the accident with the deer, knowing damn well that I probably should’ve gone further.