Page 70 of Unveiled

“We believe you may have been the primary target. I’m sorry to tell you this, but your daughter was taken from the scene.”

What did that mean? Panic and fear crawled up her throat. “So they took her to the hospital, right?”

“No, ma’am.” He shook his head hesitantly. “We believe she was abducted.”

CHAPTER

THIRTY-NINE

Jaxon strode through the salon, focused on one thing: finding Adalyn. The fear and sadness in her voice had nearly broken him.

He’d been sitting at the conference table at Vantage when the call came through, and she had uttered those awful words that played on loop the whole way there. “Please come. It’s…”

It’s what?

She hadn’t been able to finish, her sobs filtering through the line, breaking his heart. One of the officers on scene with her had introduced himself and asked him to come to the salon but refused to give him more information over the phone.

His feet carried him through the room, his head still foggy, his heart in his throat. He threw open the door to her office. Adalyn was pacing the small room, her hands tangled in her hair. “We’re wasting time! We need to do something!”

He took in her aggravated posture, the anger in her eyes—underlined by sheer terror. “Adalyn?”

She met his gaze, turbulence swirling in the gray depths. Her eyes filled with tears and her face went slack as her legs gave out and she sank to the floor. “Oh, God… Jaxon.”

He hit his knees in front of her, already pulling her into his arms. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? Talk to me.”

“It’s… She’s…” Her voice broke, and sobs racked her body as she let out a keening cry.

He threw a beseeching glance at one of the officers. He had a familiar face, but Jaxon didn’t recognize the name. “Childress?”

His gaze dropped to the Vantage logo embroidered on Jaxon’s sleeve and he let out a beleaguered sigh. “We have reason to believe your daughter was abducted this morning.”

If he wasn’t already sitting on the floor with Adalyn in his arms, those words would’ve knocked him flat on his ass. “What are you talking about? She’s at home with⁠—”

Adalyn’s head shook frantically against his shoulder. “She’s gone.”

Cold seeped into his bones. “Who? And where did they take her? Someone had to have seen something!”

“We’ve issued an Amber Alert,” the second officer, Grimes, piped up. “They’re canvassing the neighborhood right now, looking for her and questioning the neighbors.”

Rage swelled up inside him. “Start from the beginning.”

The officers explained that Wendy had been in the backyard, and it seemed that she was attacked just as she was allegedly taking Jaclyn inside for her nap.

“When we arrived on the scene, Mr. Henderson told us he’d heard a commotion and went to investigate,” Childress stated. “He found Mrs. Henderson, but there was no sign of Jaclyn.”

A cold fury enveloped Jaxon’s body. He hated the detached-sounding words they were throwing around. This was just another case to them, not a person. However, he was relying on professional courtesy since Vantage worked so closely with the local precincts.

“Tell us what we can do. We’ll print off some fliers, hit the streets.”

The younger cop nodded. “Appeal to everyone. As Grimes stated earlier, we’ve issued an Amber Alert and notified all the surrounding counties. We’ve also posted on social media to try to get her name and face out there as much as possible. Someone is bound to see her and call in.”

He felt heartsick, and he watched as Adalyn straightened. “We need to do this now. Isn’t this how it works? The first day is the most important?”

The younger cop hesitated, then nodded. “Yes, ma’am. If we don’t—” He stopped himself abruptly and seemed to change his wording. “It’s imperative we hit the ground running.”

“Then let’s go.” Adalyn peeled herself from his arms and stood. Gone was the pitiful mess she’d been just moments ago. In her place was a woman with a backbone of steel, determined to get her daughter back no matter what it took. A ferocity entered her features, determination to protect her child. Their child.

Jaxon wanted to scream, to yell and throw things—but that wouldn’t bring Jaclyn back. They needed to start at the beginning and follow the trail. The cops were already investigating the neighbors. He was calling in everyone else he knew. They needed feet on the ground and Aiden’s eagle eye in the sky, checking every possible camera from the surrounding areas.