Sara K. Parker - Shattered Trust

Her thoughts echoed Luke’s, but they couldn’t do much in the way of investigating until they got back stateside.

“Did anyone else see him that morning?”

“I don’t know. He was supposed to meet up with his groomsmen and drive to the church together. They showed up without him, and no one mentioned to me he wouldn’t be coming.”

“How many groomsmen? And how well do you know them?”

“Three, and not that well. His college buddy, Trent. A cousin named Lee. And you probably know his friend Jordan—he works at Shield?”

“He could be a good source when we get back.”

A form finally emerged from behind the car across the lot, and Officer Perez jogged back in their direction, his head down as he slogged through the heavy rain.

The driver’s door opened and the officer climbed in without a glance back, his hair dripping, his tan uniform soaked to a dark brown. He started up the car and pulled out of the lot in a hurry, wheels skidding along wet pavement.

Next to Luke, Natalie grabbed on to the side of the door to keep herself from sliding across the seat into him, and sudden alarm fired up his adrenaline.

The interior of the vehicle was all dark shadows, the man’s face indistinguishable in the rearview, but when they passed under a lone street lamp, Luke knew they were in trouble. Officer Perez wasn’t driving the cruiser.

The driver was young and clean-shaven—and clearly on some sort of mission. Luke considered the possibility that Perez had traded out with another officer—maybe a rookie with a chip on his shoulder? He did appear to be wearing the uniform...

But something wasn’t right, and as the vehicle climbed a winding hill, wipers slashing against sheets of rain, he tried to take stock of the situation. Luke didn’t know the terrain, but he did know they hadn’t even once traveled downhill, and the route wasn’t familiar.

“Excuse me, Officer,” he said, as if he hadn’t realized what had happened.

The driver glanced in the rearview mirror, but said nothing.

“I think we might have missed a turn back there,” Luke said. “We’re staying at the Riu de Sueños.”

“Road is blocked,” the guy answered gruffly, his accent thick. The road ahead curved sharply left, but the man barely slowed, taking the corner hard. Natalie slid into Luke’s side, her hand bracing against the seat in front of her.

“Hey, we’re not in a hurry. Take it easy,” Luke said, forcing his voice to sound relaxed even as their reality became alarmingly clear: the cruiser had been carjacked.

The man let up on the gas, the whites of his eyes flashing in the rearview mirror.

“Right, right,” he said.

Visibility was low, the dim glow of the car’s headlights fighting with the heavy rain. It was an older model cruiser, with thick cage wiring separating the back seat from the driver. No way to get to the driver, and it would be too dangerous to try to stop the car, anyway.

They didn’t have many options out here, but if he waited too much longer, getting back down the mountain would be difficult. If they escaped now, they could take cover in the trees, call for help.

He tapped Natalie’s finger to get her attention. “Follow my lead,” he whispered. Then loud enough for the driver to hear, “Natalie, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Her brow furrowed, but she caught on. “No,” she said, her hands coming to her abdomen. “I...feel sick.”

“We need to pull over for a minute,” Luke said to the driver.

“Okay. Next place I find.”

Natalie moaned next to Luke, clutching her stomach.

“We can’t wait,” Luke insisted. “Pull over now !”

But the car didn’t slow, confirming Luke’s suspicions that their driver was on a mission—and it wasn’t to get them safely back to the hotel.

Natalie glanced at him, her expression giving way to fear. Then she put her hand to her mouth. “I think I’m about to be sick!” she said, and doubled over.

“Pull over!” Luke yelled to the driver. “She needs to get out!”

Natalie moaned loudly, and the driver finally swerved to the right and slammed on the brakes. They pitched forward, both throwing out their arms to keep from hitting the seats in front of them. The driver unlocked the car, glancing at them in the mirror, but not turning back.

Maybe he thought he’d fooled them. That they hadn’t noticed he’d switched places with Perez. Luke would use that to his advantage if he could.

Luke nodded to Natalie, and she didn’t hesitate.

She yanked on the handle and jumped out of the car, running behind a thick copse of trees, out of sight. Luke scooted to the door, planting his feet on the wet ground and waiting for the driver to make a move. With Natalie safely out of harm’s way, he’d have a better shot at taking the guy down. He watched the driver in his periphery, saw him shift in his seat. Getting a weapon? Luke didn’t have any weapons, but he would be ready. He shifted to the edge of the seat, keeping his peripheral vision on the driver.

But the driver didn’t make a move.

Luke considered his options. If the driver thought he still had them fooled, that could buy them some time. Making a run for it may be a safer option than confronting a potentially armed criminal in the middle of nowhere. If Luke got taken down, Natalie would be on her own.

“I’ll just go check on her,” Luke said, making his decision and emerging from the vehicle into the pouring rain.

He quickly covered the ground between the car and the foliage Natalie had disappeared behind and found her crouched by a thick tree trunk. “Let’s move,” Luke whispered, grasping her hand and leading her deeper into the thick forest. They treaded quietly, low to the ground, the echo of rain eating up any sound they made.

Luke figured they had about a minute or two before the guy came looking, but he overestimated. They’d barely covered twenty yards when a voice echoed too close.

“Hey!”

Natalie’s hand tightened on Luke’s and they picked up their pace. Luke didn’t think they’d been seen, but he couldn’t be sure.

A thin beam of light shone into the forest, just missing them as Luke pulled Natalie behind a massive fallen tree.

“Stay here.”

He started to leave, but she grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

“My job.” He pried her hand off his arm. “Stay low and don’t move from this spot.”

Leaving her there, Luke circled back toward the road. If he could stay out of the guy’s view, he could take him by surprise, turn the tables on him.

It didn’t take him long to spot the man, his dark figure plunging forward into the woods, his flashlight moving in an organized search pattern. Luke ducked behind a thick patch of shrubs, watching the beam of light track for them. What was this guy’s game? And what had happened to Officer Perez? Were the police somehow involved in the crimes against Natalie? That seemed far-fetched, but he couldn’t discount the idea. He waited for the flashlight beam to pass by him again before continuing. His approach would have to be timed perfectly. He wouldn’t do Natalie any good lying dead in the middle of the woods.

The beam of light stopped, backtracked.

Homed in on the heavy fallen tree Natalie was hiding behind.

Luke’s hands clenched into fists, praying Natalie’s cover hadn’t been blown.

But footsteps sloshed closer, louder, faster. He peered around the edge of the shrubs, saw the man heading straight for Natalie’s location—flashlight in one hand, gun in the other.

She’d been seen.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».