Page 70 of Unmasked

She motioned off to her left. “The ground is wet over there where the culvert runs. I figured you’d want to stay over here.” She tossed a look his way. “Less chance of leaving footprints.”

He regarded her suspiciously but finally nodded. It didn’t matter that the leaves would be disturbed. That could have been done by anything. What was important was that Knox’s perimeter wire was set up out this way. If she tripped it on the way in, he’d know exactly where they were.

Her gaze flitted around, and her heart leaped when she finally saw the trail camera mounted high up in the tree. Sliding a glance Fletcher’s way, she studied him briefly to see if he’d noticed. He hadn’t. She bit down on her tongue and tried to regulate her breathing so she wouldn’t give anything away. She angled them so they walked directly in the line of sight and prayed that Knox would be there soon.

CHAPTER

FORTY-FOUR

Knox stared at the photo on the website, knowing he was correct. He couldn't let the man near Everleigh. Fear threatened to choke him, but he channeled every bit of control and shoved it down. Freaking out wasn’t going to help anyone, least of all Everleigh. He had always prided himself on staying calm and controlled in stressful situations.

But this was Everleigh they were talking about. His future wife and mother of his child. He thought of her pregnant, an innocent life inside her… Panic clutched at his throat, and his heart slammed against his ribcage. He had to make sure she was safe.

He met Mason’s gaze. “I need you to get over to the Beaumonts’ house, make sure Montgomery’s not there. I’ll touch base with Sullivan.”

“No problem, I’ll keep you posted.” Mason nodded and disappeared.

With his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, Knox headed back to his office and grabbed his phone and keys from his desk before heading back to the lobby, waving distractedly to Vivi as he left. He fought to stay calm as he hopped into the truck and headed toward the hospital.

While navigating the traffic leaving town, he dug his phone from his back pocket and tapped in Everleigh’s number. It rang eight times, then rolled over to voicemail. No doubt if Beaumont was awake, she would be spending time with him, but a growl of frustration rolled out of his throat regardless. He tried again to no avail and dropped his phone in the cup holder.

Zane was with Everleigh and Celia, and he knew they were safe enough inside the hospital. Still, Montgomery had hurt so many people already. If anything happened to Everleigh or her mother after everything they’d already been through…

All rational thoughts flew out the window. He had to get to her before he did. He sped toward the hospital, nervously drumming his thumbs on the wheel, his blood pumping furiously through his veins. He didn't want to scare her, but he had to see her.

Anxiety gripped him, twisting his stomach into knots as one minute slowly rolled into the next. It felt like forever until the sign for the hospital came into view. He flipped on the blinker just as his phone rang. Foreboding filled him when he saw Zane’s name.

He thumbed the screen, ready to give the order to take Everleigh straight to his house and keep her locked down until he got there. Ice sluiced through his veins when Zane's worried voice cut through the line before he could open his mouth to speak.

“Boss, we've got a problem.” His hesitation lasted only a second, but it was long enough that it made Knox want to reach through the phone and strangle him. “I don't have eyes on Everleigh. She slipped away while I wasn't looking, and... I don’t know her current location.”

His entire body shook as the implication sank in. “Alert security at the hospital and check the surrounding area.”

“They're looking right now.” Zane's voice was deep with concern. “We were getting ready to head back to her place. I thought she might have called you.”

“No. I haven't talked to her since...” He trailed off, his voice cracking. Oh, Christ. Did Fletcher have her? Where would they go?

“Get back to the Beaumonts,” he ordered. “Mason is on his way right now. I think we’re looking for Everleigh’s ex-husband, Fletcher Montgomery. I'll touch base with Cade,” he said to Zane. “I don't want him near her.”

He ruthlessly shook the image from his head and fought to focus, to follow the protocol they’d trained for. First, he called Cade to let him know what was going on.

When Cade answered on the third ring, Knox launched right into his explanation. “I think we may have found your guy.”

He told him about Everleigh’s ex-husband and directed him to the website. “I recognized him from a picture Beaumont had in his office. I wonder if they've been in contact recently. Maybe you’ll find something on his phone.”

Cade still had Montgomery’s phone since the investigation was ongoing, so he would be able to dig into that. At the moment, Knox had more pressing issues to deal with. They didn't have evidence that Everleigh had been kidnapped by her ex, but she also wasn't showing up anywhere. “One of my guys is headed over to Beaumont’s right now to see if there’s been any sign of him.”

Cade sighed. “We’ve been stretched pretty thin, but I trust your instincts. I'll have one of my guys check in with the staff from the country club, see if we can get a positive ID on Montgomery and place him at the scene. Keep trying to reach Everleigh in the meantime. I'll check into Fletcher, see if we can place him at or around the scene. If we can find out what he's driving, county can put out a BOLO.”

That was all well and good, but Knox knew by then it'd be too late. He needed to find Everleigh before something happened to her. Because every cell of his body was screaming that something bad was about to go down. With a murmured thanks, he hung up with Cade.

He whipped the car around and headed toward the Beaumonts’ house, his heart slamming against his rib cage. His phone rang again, but instead of Cade or Zane, it was Mason. “What have you got?”

“All clear here. No sign of Montgomery anywhere.”

If he wasn’t there, where could he be?

Mason seemed to read his mind, because he voiced the same question Knox had. “Where else could he have gone?”