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Bobby’s grin grew. “I bet I could make her tell me.” He drew his gun and aimed it toward the ground. It wasn’t the Raging Judge he’d been wearing in a chest holster. This was a sleek Glock with a suppressor. The Judge was Bobby’s fun gun. The Glock was all business.
“Ed,” Corey said, “do what you can to find Allyson. We’ll keep you updated.” He slid his phone into his pocket. “Noni wanted to talk to us on Tuesday. Let’s give her an interview.”
Gentilly, New Orleans, Louisiana
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 7:15 P.M.
Noni sat on the edge of Allyson’s bed, staring into the empty closet. The woman was gone. Her car was gone, as were her clothes, and there were no suitcases anywhere. She’d left a key under the doormat, though, and a note to her landlord saying she’d had a family emergency and wasn’t coming back.
Noni hoped that Allyson had left of her own volition. When Noni’s calls had gone unanswered, she’d pictured Allyson lying dead somewhere, a victim of Corey Gates.
Noni had risen to leave when she heard the tinkle of broken glass. A window. Someone’s breaking in. She ran to the bedroom window that looked out to the backyard in time to see a familiar bald head seconds before it was covered by a ski mask.
Corey Gates.
Corey Gates is here. For Allyson. But he wouldn’t find Allyson. He’ll find me.
Fear gripped her gut and, for a second, she froze in indecision. Move, dammit. Do something. She found her cell phone in her pocket and called 911.
Nothing. With growing horror she saw that she had no cell phone signal.
Cell phone jammer.
No one knew she was here. No one would look for her.
She was on her own.
Hide.
She ran for the bathroom but stopped to strip off her coat and stuff it under Allyson’s bed. Her newsroom ID was in the pocket. If someone came looking, they’d know she’d been taken.
Then she crept into the bathroom and climbed into the tub, pulling the shower curtain closed. Heart pounding, she plastered herself against the tile wall, wishing she had a gun.
For what seemed like forever, she stood there, holding her breath. Listening for footsteps. None came. She quietly exhaled. They were gone. They hadn’t found—
The shower curtain was yanked aside, revealing an enormous man. Holding a gun. With a silencer.
She sucked in a breath to scream, but he leaned forward and slapped a piece of duct tape over her mouth. Yanking her out of the tub, he twisted her arms behind her back, making her cry out. Before she could blink, he’d taped her wrists together and pulled her flush to his body.
“Found you,” he whispered in a singsong voice, then laughed.
Her fight instinct finally engaged and she kicked at him, but he just laughed again and taped her ankles. I’m going to die. He’s going to kill me.
Gentilly, New Orleans, Louisiana
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 8:15 P.M.
Val tugged at the itchy Kevlar she wore under her sweater as Molly entered Allyson Meyer’s neighborhood. “We’re nearly there, Kaj,” she said into her phone, hoping this house would be more fruitful than the last.
Noni Feldman hadn’t been home when they’d knocked—or she hadn’t answered—but Kaj had called as they were headed back to his house, telling them that he’d just talked to Bella Butler. She’d informed him that two of her security guards hadn’t shown up for an emergency meeting that afternoon—Zach Monteith and Allyson Meyer.
Her head of security had tried calling their cell phones multiple times but had received no answer. Visits to their respective homes had also yielded no answer. But one of Zach’s neighbors had informed him that the police had been by their house earlier in the day. It had taken Bella several hours to find out that Zach was the dead paramedic that Noni had mentioned in her anonymous call, his body found in the bayou.
Val and Molly had immediately detoured for Allyson Meyer’s address.
Kaj had been understandably irked that Bella hadn’t called him right away when they’d realized the two hadn’t shown up. But she’d wanted to be sure before she accused them.
“I called André to tell him,” Kaj said, “but got his voice mail. I left him a message to call me back urgently. If you get there and anything is off, back away and call 911.”
