On the way over to Cassie’s unit, Clint had told us to keep silent. When he headed toward the old master bedroom, I made a slight noise while jerking my head toward Cassie’s bedroom. Clint changed course and we found nothing in her room.
We spent less than ten minutes in her unit, and my blood boiled with the wasted effort.
I locked her door and turned around. Brock and Clint were nearly to the stairs when I stopped dead. My instincts told me I was on a new version of Candid Camera.
I followed them slowly, saying, “Glad that’s done. She’ll have her brush back, and now we can go get pizza.”
When I caught up to Brock on the stairwell landing, he grabbed me by my t-shirt collar. “What the fuck, Gabe? You think it’s time for a fuckin’ slice?”
“Both of you cool it. We need to get downstairs.”
I caught Clint’s eyes. “The Ring cameras,” I said in a low voice.
“They were there before—”
I shushed Brock since his voice had risen.
“They were gone. Now, they’re back, Brock.”
Brock started to speak, but Clint said, “Downstairs. Now.”
Clint led us to his SUV, which was parked two buildings over. He leaned against the hood, and looked to me. “Ring cameras. Talk to me.”
Brock started speaking, but Clint cut him off. “Nope. Gabe. He’s been comin’ and goin’ from there. Tell me about the cameras.”
I ran it down for Clint about the cameras being gone after the legal tenant moved out, and now they reappeared.
“When were you last at her place?”
I cast my mind back, and told him it was on Saturday early morning.
He nodded. “We should be able to work with this.”
Brock grabbed the back of his neck. “Not to argue with Gabe, but—”
Clint looked at Brock. “It’s what we’ve got, Sullivan. I know he’s your brother. I know he’s close to the subject, well, new subject, but you take lead on a case, you’re gonna have to trust the information you’re given.”
I ignored the investigative lesson, and asked, “What do you mean, ‘We should be able to work with this.’ What in the hell do we have to work with?”
“The cameras,” Clint said, sounding like a kid on Christmas morning. “Got a tech guy on staff who should be able to get something for us.”
Clint pulled his cell out, and started talking –to the tech wizard, I assumed.
I clenched my teeth, and debated saying what I was really thinking.
Brock watched me closely and asked, “What is it, Gabe?”
I shook my head, then shrugged. “If we suspect he’s got her in that damned apartment, why can’t we just bust the door down or something?”
Clint’s head came up, and he covered the mouth of his cell. “It’s called breaking and entering, and Gabe, we’re assuming a helluva lot by thinking Craddick managed to rent that same unit.”
He lowered his head and resumed his conversation.
Brock squeezed my shoulder. “It’s gonna be okay, man.”
My eyes met his eyes. “You feel that way when you didn’t know where Cecilia was?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
“Yeah,” I said. “And you didn’t have it half this bad.”
Clint straightened from his SUV, shoving his phone in the holster on his belt. “No time for comparing notes. Craddick rented that unit. Move-in date was Sunday.”
“Nobody moves in on Sundays,” I blurted.
Clint shook his head. “It’s noted in his file with his initials next to it. Surprised you didn’t see him installing the damn cameras.”
I stared into space remembering Sunday. Then I whispered, “She was with me Saturday afternoon and all of Sunday.”
I looked at Clint. “Why aren’t we calling the cops, man? If there’s even a chance she’s in there—”
“For all we know, she’s gone out with a friend. There’s no proof she’s actually missing. The fact your bathroom was left the way it was is flimsy at best. Cops are likely gonna need her to be missing until tomorrow before they’ll start searching in earnest.”
“Plus, we don’t need to wait on them to send a unit out, when we could just knock on his door ourselves,” Brock put in.
Clint’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Let’s do that, but we need to be quiet.”
“Won’t he see us with the cameras?” Brock asked.
Clint grinned. “Your crazy brother said we were headed to get pizza. But, I got a roll of electrical tape in the back. Time Craddick’s view gets blocked.”
Cassie
I WOKE UP, BUT DIDN’T open my eyes. My foggy brain forced a vision of Asher to my mind, and I remembered he had done something to me before everything went black. Thank goodness mother insisted I take up yoga. As much as we focused on deep breathing, I was able to breathe deeply like I was still out for the count.
The moment I heard Gabe’s muffled voice, I desperately wished I was still unconscious. It was garbled, but I heard his distinct baritone saying ‘That’s done,’ and something about pizza. His tone seemed easy-going regarding the pizza, and it hit me. Like all the other women he’d been with, Gabe could take me or leave me. All his words about not being ‘other women,’ were just words. My nose started to sting, but I refused to cry.
My thoughts were interrupted when hands wrapped around my ankle, pulling my leg to an angle. I was on a mattress. Then I felt something coarse on my leg, and I knew it was rope. Peeling an eye open, I saw Asher bent over my leg in the midst of tying the rope. I realized my hands were tied above my head.
With my hands tied, I didn’t need to have my legs restrained, too, so I opened my eyes and kicked Asher as hard as I could. The top of my foot connected with his chin hard enough I heard his teeth clack together, and he dropped the rope, but it wasn’t enough. I pulled my leg away. He lunged on top of me at an awkward angle, which stopped me from getting another kick in.
“Get
