Page 93 of Keeping Kara

Chaos let out a long breath. Just because she’d been alive earlier, didn’t mean she still was—but he refused to let his brain go there.

“I’ve lost him for now, but I’m still trying to find more cameras that capture the PT Cruiser.”

Chaos felt sick at hearing that.

“But I am calling with some good news. Casper, you there?”

“I’m here.”

“You talked to the colonel, right? You’ve got permission to fly?”

“Yes. But not until we have an idea of where to go. He doesn’t want us in the air until we have reliable intel.”

“I’ve got it. Been talking to the detective assigned to Kara’s case. The tip line’s been hopping with people calling in sightings. The posts on social media have worked better than I’d hoped. It seems community groups that usually post about farm stands and missing pets are much more interesting when the citizens think there’s a serial killer with a kidnap victim possibly headed their way.

“Colins might think he was smart to stay off the interstate, but it made him stick out like a sore thumb. That Cruiser doesn’t blend well. Someone saw the car driving erratically. Someone else saw a man he swore looked like Nolan getting gas. But what really got his attention was that there was a person in the passenger seat—with a blanket over their head. At the time, he figured the person was just sleeping or something, but after he saw my post, he wondered if it could’ve been the missing woman.”

Chaos ran a hand through his hair and turned his back on Buck and the phone. He wanted to rage. Scream. Throw something. Instead, all he did was take a deep breath. Just because the person in the passenger seat had a blanket over their head, didn’t mean she was dead. It could mean that Nolan was trying to hide her.

But that didn’t keep the negative thoughts at bay. He was well aware of the statistics, of how long it had been since Nolan had abducted Kara. Knew the man had to be outraged she’d escaped him back in North Carolina, had likely been stewing and planning what he’d do to her the entire time he’d been in Norfolk.

“He’s gotten farther than I or the cops expected. It looks like he’s headed into the mountains on the other side of I-81. Best guess is that he’s got a hidey-hole somewhere. If his plan was to dump Kara’s body, he’s already had more than enough opportunity and probably wouldn’t drive as far as he has to do it.”

“Tex,” Casper warned.

“Fuck. Sorry. Chaos?”

“What?”

“Don’t lose hope. I’ve gotten more intel from civilians on this asswipe than I have on anyone I’ve looked for in a very long time. We’re on his tail, and you and your team are going to find her. Every mission you’ve been on has been building to this moment. Get in those choppers and head out. I’ll be in touch with a narrowed-down search area.”

His words made Chaos feel better. Not great, but better.

“Oh, and there are four SWAT team members from the Norfolk PD on their way to you. They should be there by the time you’ve got those choppers fired up and ready to go. Everyone’s been briefed on Colins, they know what they’re dealing with and are ready to act accordingly.”

Chaos could read through the lines. And he was glad the officers wouldn’t hesitate to use deadly force against Nolan.

“Chaos, your job is Kara. Nothing else. Understand? Let the SWAT guys do their job. You concentrate on your woman. She’s gonna need you to be one hundred percent focused on getting her out of there.”

That wasn’t something Tex needed to tell him. Did Chaos want to kill Nolan with his bare hands? Fuck yes. But Kara was infinitely more important. He’d let everyone else deal with the asshole who’d dared hurt Jen and kidnap Kara…again.

“Go,” Tex ordered. “I’ll be listening.”

Chaos had no doubt the computer genius would be able to bypass security protocols and tap into the radio frequency he and the other pilots used when flying. He didn’t care. All he cared about was finding Kara.

The next half hour was spent getting the two choppers out of the hangar and ready to fly. Just as Tex had promised, four men dressed in SWAT gear arrived within fifteen minutes of the phone call. They’d been updated with intel about Colins, knew that he was armed and extremely dangerous. They also knew about his past criminal history, the fact that he was likely a prolific serial killer. They were ready and willing to take the man out if he showed the least bit of resistance.

They were a pilot down, since Edge was at the hospital with Jen, but Chaos would’ve excused himself from flying even if his copilot was available. He was in no condition to get behind the controls of a helicopter. Besides, he needed to be ready to move at a moment’s notice. He was in the back of Casper and Pyro’s chopper, along with two of the SWAT officers.

A moment of déjà vu had him feeling almost dizzy as the Night Stalkers took off, just as the last bit of light sky had fully disappeared. Chaos stared out the open door unseeingly.

This was how he’d met Kara. At night, searching the ground below for survivors of that flash flood. The hair on his arms rose as the helicopter headed west. They were going to find her; he knew it as surely as he knew his name. It was the condition she’d be in when they did that worried him.

The plan was to first search the area around the location where the car was last seen. The tree cover and mountains would make the search more difficult, but the Night Stalker helicopters had the latest technology available. It didn’t matter that it would be fully dark; in fact, that was when they did their best work.

With every mile that passed, tension rose within Chaos. Kara was out there somewhere, waiting on him to arrive. He wouldn’t let her down.

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