Fifteen minutes later, Troy pulled into her apartment complex. Something was wrong here as well. Multiple police cars were parked near her apartment building. Screeching to a stop, Troy jumped out and sprinted toward her apartment, taking the stairs two at a time. “Caitlyn!” he yelled.
A woman who lived next door looked nervously over at him. “Someone broke in. I don’t think she was there though—her car was gone. They trashed her apartment.”
His pulse pounding, Troy moved toward the doorway. Police tape blocked off the entrance, and he clenched his teeth. Her place had been totally trashed. The sofa cushions were cut, with stuffing spilling onto the floor. Her TV had been smashed. Entire drawers full of things had been dumped onto the carpet. The blanket she’d cuddled up in that first time he’d come over was carelessly thrown on the ground. Anger seethed within him. Those fucking monsters had ruined her apartment. Destroyed her car. Taken her.
“Sir, you can’t come in here,” a police officer said. “This is an active crime scene.”
“This is my girlfriend’s apartment,” Troy said, nausea roiling through him. “She’s missing. Her car was on fire on the freeway.”
“That’s your girlfriend’s vehicle?” the officer asked. He spoke into his radio, updating someone about the apartment and connection between it and the car fire. “It sounds like she’s been targeted,” he said grimly. “They were looking for something in here.”
“Clearly. Her car was almost new,” Troy said through clenched teeth. “It shouldn’t have caught fire like that. Someone did something to it.”
The officer nodded. “The same people could’ve tampered with it. Maybe they wanted to make sure she stayed away while they looked for something in here. Does she keep any jewelry or other valuables hidden?”
Troy blew out a breath. Caitlyn was very down-to-earth. She wasn’t always wearing flashy clothes or jewels. He knew without a doubt she’d been targeted by the same people who’d hijacked the yacht. They’d been outside her office. They’d called her. He should’ve driven over here and picked her up himself tonight, not let her drive alone on the freeway as it was getting late. Yes, she was a grown woman, but damn. One of the gunmen was still missing, and so were the military IDs.
“No, she didn’t have anything they’d steal like that of monetary value. I’d say the TV was the most expensive item here, and that’s destroyed. I need to call my CO. I’m a Navy SEAL, and Caitlyn was on the yacht that was hijacked a few weeks ago. This is all tied together, and she could be in extreme danger.”
***
Caitlyn sputtered as she woke up, exhaust fumes filling the air and choking her. Where the hell was she? She moaned as she shifted, her head throbbing and hands and feet bound. Suddenly, her hellish night came rushing back. Her car smoking and then catching fire on the freeway. The tall man who’d exited his vehicle, first offering to help, and then dragging her back to his dark SUV. He’d bound her with zip ties and hit her, knocking her unconscious.
She blinked and coughed again as tears smarted her eyes.
Had he left her in the backseat of the SUV with the engine running? Was he trying to kill her? Nothing but darkness surrounded her, and she knew she couldn’t escape. Being tied up on the yacht had been one thing. She’d had Evelyn with her, and they’d been seated on the floor of a cabin with the lights on.
She couldn’t very well bite into the zip ties and free herself. The way they cut into her skin made her long for the ropes.
Would Troy wonder why she never showed up at his place? He’d come looking for her. That much she was certain of. If he took the freeway, it was possible he’d even see her car on fire. Would he recognize it? Would traffic be so bad that he’d take back roads to get to her apartment?
Unable to hold back a sob, she shifted on the backseat. They must be in a garage or something. If the car was outside, she wouldn’t be choking on the exhaust. What had happened to the man who’d put her here? Had he found those damn IDs he claimed that she had?
They must have stuffed them into her purse on the yacht—assuming what he said was in fact true. She hadn’t noticed them, but she’d also switched her wallet and small cosmetic bag out to a smaller purse. She certainly hadn’t unzipped every pocket.
Maybe they’d go looking in her apartment for her other purse and Troy would find them. He’d know what to do. He’d find her.
She began to grow dizzy from the fumes, choking. How long could someone survive like this? Did she have minutes left? An hour?
Slowly, her world faded to total blackness once more.
Chapter 20
Troy paced back and forth in Caitlyn’s parking lot talking to his teammates on his cell phone. More police cars had convened around her apartment building, and they were asking for pictures of Caitlyn. Too bad he didn’t have any—not a single damn one. They’d been dating for more than a month but neither were the type to stand around snapping silly selfies. They’d been intimate with one another, making love and kissing and caressing each other all night long, but taking a damn photograph? It hadn’t happened.
“They need a photo of Caitlyn,” Troy muttered into the phone.
“Okay. I’ll get one,” Raptor said, talking to someone in the background. Troy didn’t even wonder how it would happen. They could go on her social media accounts
