“Get me his address,” I said. I was sitting in my truck, ready to pull out of the parking lot as soon as I knew whether to turn left or right.. “His fucking address,” I yelled into the phone and took it away from my ear, conferencing in Roman.
“I can’t do that until there’s a warrant,” Maddox said. I heard his chair creak.
Roman picked up. “Kiernan.”
“Caroline was taken. Give me that fucking address, Maddox.”
“I’m already working on the warrant, Kiernan. It’s in the works, when it’s done I will give you his address. We don’t even know if she’s there. We don’t know where he takes these women, but we will search his home and see if we can find answers. A judge is working on it.”
“Maddox,” Roman growled.
“We don’t even know where he takes the women when he kidnaps them. I will give you the address when we get the warrant,” Maddox repeated. I opened my mouth to argue, but his tone of voice changed. He was speaking low and quickly. “This is number three. The other vet was taken on the eighth.” He was giving me the address. My heart pounded as I typed it in. I knew Roman would have it too. “We can’t let there be a number four. Both bodies were found on a hill near a crest.”
“Roman,” I said.
“Got your back,” he responded. I hung up the phone and turned right toward Toby’s house, 384 Hill Crest. He was a technical mastermind, but he didn’t strike me as a guy who would be able to have multiple venues. I was betting that he took his victims to his house. I don’t know if it was the rational and logical part of me that had drawn that conclusion or just the fucking hope that I was right. I needed to be right.
I swerved in and out of traffic, laying on the horn, desperate to get to Caroline. I took the gun out of the holster as I whipped my truck onto his street. I parked a few houses down, hopped out, and ran toward his front door, just as Roman was getting out of his car. I heard another car pull to a stop and knew that it was Maddox.
I knew, whether he had the warrant yet or not, he’d be here. Playing as close to the line as he had to while doing everything he could to help me save Caroline.
37 Caroline
My head was pounding and my eyelids were heavy. I blinked slowly, barely coming to. It took several moments to become fully aware of the space surrounding me. It was a dim room with large overhead lights that cast an eerie glow. The walls were cement cinderblock, and there wasn’t a single window. It almost looked like a basement, but I didn’t think any homes in Texas had basements.
I tried to lift my arms. They ached and had fallen asleep. My mind was still fuzzy. I was bound to a chair, my hands duct taped behind my back and my feet tied to the legs of the chair.
I slowly took in the room again, becoming more aware with every second that passed. My mind raced as I thought back to Toby sticking something into my neck.
It was cold and damp in the room. I shivered. My heart was hammering inside my chest, and I could barely breathe as the panic started to set in. The anxiety only rose when I spotted Toby in the corner of the room, sitting in front of several monitors. Almost the entire wall was covered in computer screens. He sat there watching.
There was footage of me playing. Videos he’d taken from my laptop, from the clinic, and even from that day at MarxMen. I wasn’t the only woman on the screens. I recognized Dr. Velasquez. And so many others. All with dark hair, most wearing scrubs. He was completely captivated by the screens.
Were all those women past victims, or were they future victims?
I gulped. I didn’t want to think about future victims, because that meant I was dead. Tears filled my eyes and I bit back a sob, refusing to make any noise. Toby didn’t know yet that I had woken up, and I wanted to keep it that way for as long as I could. I pulled against my restraints to check how tight they were and stopped before I could make a peep.
I wouldn’t be able to break through the duct tape on strength alone. I’d need to find something sharp to help me cut it or something to rub against, to at least weaken the tape until I could forcefully rip through it.
On the far side of the room, opposite from the wall of screens, was a metal surgery table with an operating room light hanging above it. I bit the inside of my cheek until it bled to stop myself from making any kind of noise. Images of what he could do if he got me on that table were drifting through my mind, and the possibilities seemed endless. I hated knowing that the other women had lived their last moments in absolute terror.
Kiernan will come, I promised myself. He’ll be back at the office soon and realize I’m gone. He’ll figure it out and he will find me.
I wanted to laugh. The past couple of weeks, I’d been too scared to tell Kiernan that I was in love with him, and now I might never get the chance. And those three simple words didn’t seem scary compared to this. The tears were rushing down my face, and it was becoming more difficult to stop every noise I wanted to make.
I gritted my teeth as hard as I could. My molars ground together and I squeezed my eyes shut. I had to stay strong. Kiernan will come. I have to stay alive long enough for that. Long enough
