Love's Taming (The Love's Series) (33 page)

“Fuck.” He immediately put his phone on speaker as others gathered around.

“Got everything on camera. Man came in with a dog, just as though he was a client. That’s how he got past my man outside. He dropped the dog then tasered the man in the reception area. Went back, talked to Doctor Donavan for just a moment, and then tasered her. He carried her out and was met by another man who tied her up. They left in a white panel van. We got the plates and have called it in officially.” Tony rattled all of this off quickly and efficiently.

“Is Shane still there?” Tony asked.

“Yeah,” Matt answered.

“She didn’t have her purse, but her cell is on her. We’ve got a trace on it. My men are rolling into the office now. We’re sending you the coordinates.”

A policewoman rushed into the room. “The officers that went to the clinic to assist were told to check on the young woman, Suzanne, that works there. He was afraid that she was in danger too since he can’t get hold of her on her phone. I’ve got two officers going to her apartment now.”

Shane looked at Matt, his mind racing.
Fuck, pull it together. Think it through.
“Carl. We gotta get someone to Carl’s place as well. He was with her the other day so he may be in danger as well. Get Leon to get his address. He lives with his mother down the block. Hell, get Jobe on it. He knows the address.”

Snagging his phone, he started to walk down the hall with Matt right on his heels.

“Shane,” Matt said while grabbing his arm. “Where are you goin’? You’ve gotta stay here man.”

Shane turned on his friend and partner, a look of pure white anger shooting from his ice blue eyes, growling, “Get your hands off, Matt.”

“Shane, you can’t go running outta here half-cocked. Right now, you don’t know where she is. She needs you clear-headed, working the problem. She needs you to get all the intelligence we can gather. It’s the only way to find her and keep her safe.”

Matt looked into the eyes of his friend, seeing anguish war with the anger that was there.

“I’ve just got…,” Shane’s voice cracked and he dropped his eyes for a moment.

They both looked up as the chief came around the corner looking for them. “Got more. The girl Suzanne was found in her apartment. She’s alive but had been tasered as well and tied up. That person must have used her phone to text in this morning so that no one would be looking for her.”

“Jesus, fuck,” Shane bit out, realizing how organized this operation had been.

“There’s more,” the chief said, causing Shane and Matt to focus their eyes on him again.

“Dr. Carl Odgen. His mother died a few months ago. There is no apartment that he shared with her. It’s just his stuff and not much of it. He’s missing too.”

“So he’s an imposter? Not even a vet?” Matt growled.

“No, he’s a licensed veterinarian. We don’t know at this time what his involvement is. We just know he doesn’t live with his mother and he’s missing.”

Matt and Shane looked at each other, trying to fit the pieces together.

“If Carl was part of the gang, he had plenty of opportunity to hurt Annie. Hell, even at the markets the other day he could have helped take her. It doesn’t add up.”

“Men,” the chief said, calling their attention back to him. “I don’t usually agree with partnering with a security agency, but I want you two over at Alverez Security. We need everything we can get.” With that, the chief turned and walked back into the briefing room while Matt and Shane charged out of the building.

*     *     *

Annie was lying
in the back of another panel van, bouncing on the hard metal floor, her arms and shoulders screaming with pain from being tied behind her back. Tape covered her mouth so that she couldn’t make a sound. Her kidnappers had changed vans twice; each time the drivers had stayed the same. The young man who had tasered her kept looking back over his shoulder.

She lost all sense of direction, not having any idea where they were going.
Oh, please let Leon be all right. And let Shane get hold of the security tapes. But they’ve changed vans. The license plates will be different.

Just then the van made a sharp turn and the road became very bumpy. She felt every jostle, every pothole, every movement of the van as her head banged against the metal floor once again. A movement to her side had her jerking her head around. The young man had crawled out of his seat and into the back of the van.

Heart pounding, she could feel bile rising, but tried to force it down, knowing with her mouth taped shut she could choke.

“You’re very pretty, doctor,” he said, eyes glittering as they stared at her chest. He reached out a finger and traced her jaw down to her neck, then down further as he slid his hand over her breast and squeezed. “You and me, we could have a lot of fun,” he said.

“Marco! Stop feeling up the girl and get your ass back up here,” the driver yelled.

The one called Marco scowled as his gaze shot between the driver and Annie. His eyes drifted back down to her heaving breasts. Giving one final squeeze, he crawled back up to the front of the van and sat back down in his seat.

Silent tears slid down her face onto the cold metal floor as despair washed over her. She had no idea where the end of the road was going to be, but she began to realize that she was heading toward hell.

S
hane and Matt
were ushered immediately into Alverez Security. The outside of the brick building located on the edge of the city was unassuming, belying the high-tech equipment on the inside. They entered through an ordinary door leading into what looked like the reception area of any business. A polite, professionally dressed woman sat at the reception desk, and as soon as they entered she pointed to the wooden doors behind her.

“Gentlemen, you may go through. You are expected.”

They pushed open the doors and encountered a short hallway with offices on one side and a conference room on the other. Heavy steel doors were at the end of the hall. As soon as they entered the hall, a young man with wire-rim glasses met them.

“Shane, Matt. Follow me, please. Tony’s waiting.” He led them through the steel doors and they couldn’t help but feel shocked at the difference. The side they came from was a normal business office. On this side, computer stations were all around a large room, with a few doors leading out from it. Electronic maps were on the walls with a group of men standing around one of them. Tony looked over and headed their way.

Reaching them, he grasped Shane by the shoulders, looking him directly in the eyes. “We’ll find her man. We’re on it. Your force is on it. We’ll get her back.”

The gaze that met his was ice. Cold. Deadly. Nodding in understanding, Tony led them to the back where a group of men were working. Two on computers, three on secure phones with one of them marking the maps.

“What have you got,” Shane growled, recognizing Jobe at the map. Jobe met his gaze, regret in his eyes.

“Her cell phone was on her person. We’ve traced it to the western side of town, continuing to head west toward Jefferstown, and we’re plotting the coordinates now. It matches the information we pulled from her clinic computer where she had been doing some research. We also have the information from the county vet emails she received.”

Tony asked, “Where was your investigation?”

Matt took over answering, knowing that Shane was holding on by a thread. “We know that we have lost Gerard Washington. It appears that he was the top drug king in this area, but when we took down most of his organization he left town. Pissed, but he left. My guess is we are looking for Xavier Thomas. He was the one who was hurt the most in the dismantling. Gerard is high enough he can settle somewhere with his millions or start over. Xavier lost face when we grabbed everyone else and we know he’s still in the area. He is trying to keep the drug running business going in hopes to recoup his money, and his prestige with the higher-ups, and using the dogs was lucrative for him.”

One of the men hung up his phone as Tony looked his way. Shane noticed the silent communication among the men working for Tony’s security business. Without any other direction, the man began reporting. “Secure emails are coming in from the veterinarians that Doctor Donavan had been in touch with. I’ve forwarded this on to Vinny,” he said, as he nodded toward another man sitting at a computer. “He’s feeding this into the map coordinates.”

“Good to go, Gabe,” Tony said as he turned his attention to the man called Vinny.

Shane, feeling overwhelmed by emotion, forced his racing mind to focus. His eyes swung from Gabe to Vinny, then back again.

Gabe noticed and acknowledged with a head nod. “Yeah, twins,” was the only explanation necessary.

Vinny’s fingers were quickly flying over the keyboard, his eyes occasionally glancing at the map displayed on the wall. As all of the men gathered closer, three red circles appeared. “That’s the area we are looking at, based on the information we have from the possible puppy-mill sites.”

The signal on the map indicating her cell phone location was not at any of those locations, although it was close to two of them.

“What about her cell?” Shane asked.

Neville, the young man that had escorted them in, spoke up. “She could have dropped it or it could have been found, or maybe they are holding her in a separate location.”

“I’ve got that much,” Shane growled. “I want to know what else you can tell me.” By this time his patience was wearing thin when all he wanted to do was hit something. Someone.

“Well, if she still has her clothes, then it could still be with her, but out of signal range.”

Matt and Tony barely grabbed Shane by the arms as the launched himself at Neville.

“You goddamn mother-fucker,” Shane raged.

Neville gave a squeak before jumping back behind Gabe. “I…I didn’t mean…I’m sure she still…um…has her…um…clothes.”

Tony intervened. “Neville, out. Finish up in the office.” Swinging around on Shane, he got in his face. “You gotta hold your shit together man. We have to look at all possibilities to make sure we go in smart. You can’t handle this, you get locked down here in this building when we roll. You got me?”

Shane’s arms were still held by Matt, but his icy glare was on Tony. “You try locking me down and I’ll tear this place apart. You. Got. Me?”

The men in the room were silent as the battle of wills continued. Shane’s rage was broken into by Matt’s voice in his ear. “Man, you gotta hold on for her.” At that, Shane jerked as if punched. Matt continued, “No matter what, she needs you. She needs you focused. She needs to know you’ll not only find her, but take care of her no matter what has happened.”

With those words, Shane slumped back, visibly shaken. Shaking his head to gain focus, he looked at Tony. “I got this,” he said simply, looking from Tony to the other men in the room.

They nodded in return, and then the group went back to the map, plotting out their strategy as Matt coordinated their information with the chief.

*     *     *

The bumping of
the van became worse and the sound of tree limbs hitting the sides of the van could be heard. The realization that they were going deeper and deeper into the woods dawned on Annie.
Oh, Jesus. Will Shane ever find me?
The sound of dogs barking in the distance interrupted her thoughts. The noise became louder and the van finally came to a jerking halt, rolling her body painfully onto her strained shoulder. Looking up, she saw Marco and the driver getting out. Just a few seconds later the side panel door slid open and Marco’s leering face leaned in as he grabbed her feet and pulled her toward him.

She tried to kick out at him, but within seconds he flashed his knife at her.

“I can slit you like the dog bitches we got,” he said, his eyes glittering.

Her eyes widened in fear and she stilled her legs. The desire to defend herself combatted with her desire to stay alive. Looking into his malice-filled eyes her breath caught in her throat and her bravado left. Fear wrapped its icy cold tentacles around her as he drug her the rest of the way out, the knife held closely to her chest.