That wasn’t quite the way she’d handled herself when she and Seth had broken up. No book, movie, or bracing talk could fix her blues. Then, a few weeks later, her dad had suffered an aneurysm during his daily jog. That time had been the lowest point in her life. The relationship she’d had with her dad was special. Not a day went by that she didn’t miss him.
She had eventually been able to overcome the sadness, immersing herself in her work and getting on with her life. Now when she thought about her him, though there was still the sense of missing him, she could smile at the wonderful, warm memories she had of the man who’d always been her hero.
With Seth, that hadn’t been possible. Though losing him had felt like a death and she had mourned the loss of the bright future she’d envisioned for them, she had never been able to look back and think fondly of their time together. There had been too much bitterness and bewilderment. Way too much pain.
When she’d seen him again, she’d told herself this was an opportunity to finally put her past to rest, to put him behind her for good. But what had she done? She’d slept with him, become involved with his problems with his family, and had done the one thing she had promised herself she would never do. She had fallen back in love with a man who had no intention of having a future with her now, any more than he had five years ago.
Had she really told herself she was smarter and wiser? If she had, Honor knew she’d lied. When it came to Seth Cavanaugh, there was no smart, no wise. There was just this inevitable, deeply abiding, and hopeless love she would never overcome.
twenty-four
“I don’t see anyone suitable, Father. I might as well leave.”
Alden held back a disgusted sigh. He knew it wasn’t Tabitha’s fault they hadn’t found the right one yet, but her whiny voice was wearing on his already frayed patience. Time was running out. Almost five full days of hunting and still no real prospects. They had to find someone soon or he would have to return home empty-handed. That had never happened before, and he refused to consider that within this mass of female flesh, there wasn’t at least one young woman who would meet his community’s needs.
“Father, did you hear me?”
Swallowing the biting comment that came to his mind, Alden feigned patience. “Just one more sweep around the room, my love, and then you can come back to me.”
As Tabitha made her way through the large room filled with women, Alden strained his eyes. This event had been his most hopeful one. The advertisement for shy, young women new to the area and looking for friendships had seemed tailor-made for them. However, Tabitha had already been there for over an hour, and other than a vague interest in a couple of girls, there’d be no one remotely viable.
Having her stay long at any event was never a good idea. As attractive as she was, people always wanted to talk with her, ask her questions, even flirt with her. She deterred them well—his angel really wasn’t much of a conversationalist. However, he didn’t like to chance it for too long.
And once they found the right girl, attracting attention was out of the question. If someone remembered her conversing with a person who’d disappeared, people would begin to talk, become wary. Tabitha often disguised herself, but at some point, there could be speculation. Thankfully, this would be the last time they hunted at a college campus for a long while. He hadn’t yet decided on next year’s venue.
Tabitha’s loud, disgusted huff hurt his ear, but it was her whiny “I see no one and my feet are beginning to ache” that set his teeth on edge.
Giving his own, less obvious huff, Alden relented. “All right, yes, you may leave. We’ll start again tomorrow morning. I just hope—” His heart kicked up an excited beat as he caught sight of the beauty headed toward the camera. “Wait. See the reddish-blond-haired girl with freckles?”
“Where?”
“Walking toward you. What about her?”
There was silence as Tabitha evaluated the girl. “Perhaps. Let me get closer.”
Alden leaned forward, his heart pounding unusually loud in his chest. The girl had a freshness to her that he hadn’t seen in a while. From what he could tell, she wore no makeup and her clothes, though they fit well enough, were cheaply made and looked worn. The expression on her face was one of loneliness, almost desperation. She would soon learn that he had a cure for both.
Accompanying his interest was an unexpected surge of arousal. Usually while on a hunt, he was looking for women to add to the community, not occupy his bed. Suddenly, he wanted to make an exception. “I believe I would be very interested in knowing more about her.”
“I can think of no man in the community who she would suit. I thought we’d agreed to find a mate for Brother Baker. This woman does not seem his type.”
“That’s not for you to decide,” Alden snapped. “Stop stalling and go talk to her.”
“Yes, Father.” Though her tone had a sulky edge to it, she knew better than to argue.
Mesmerized, Alden was spellbound as the young woman’s face became clearer on his television screen. Fresh, delicate, and innocent, but with a sensual beauty. Oh yes, he definitely wanted to know more about this one. He waited in anticipation as his daughter made contact.
“Hi, I’m Tabitha. Are you new to Camden, too?”
The soft, almost childish voice stopped Honor in the middle of making her exit. Having decided that the party was a bust, she was anxious to try out a couple of more places before calling it a night.
Hating to be rude to such a sweet and shy-sounding person, she turned and smiled. The young woman was lovely. Long, white-blond hair fell halfway down her back; full, pouty lips held just a hint of pink lip gloss, and sky-blue eyes sparkled. She might be shy, but Honor figured it’d take the young men of Camden only about five minutes before they started asking her out.
Honor shook the girl’s delicate hand. “I’m Maggie. And yes, this is my first year here.”
“Mine, too.” Tabitha looked around the room and then said, “Want to go sit on the porch, where it’s not so noisy, and talk?”
Telling herself there was no way someone who looked like she belonged on a doll shelf could be helping abduct young women, Honor nevertheless said, “Sure.” She knew better than to make a judgment on appearance alone.
Seth growled in her ear, “What do you think?”
As they walked through small groups of laughing and chatting girls, toward a door that led outside, Honor carefully assessed Tabitha. She’d seen more than her share of people pretending to be one thing when they were something else. Could this lovely girl really be the lure or was she just lonely and in need of a friend? Time would tell.
Tabitha opened the door and smiled, allowing Honor to go first. In that moment, Honor felt an unusual chill wash over her. Of course, she’d been working all day. Could be exhaustion. She went out onto the porch and sat on the top step, anxious to see where this discussion would lead.
Tabitha sat down beside her and gave her another sweet smile. “Where are you from?”
“Outside Cheyenne,” Honor answered. “What about you?”
“I’m from here.” She gestured vaguely with her hand. “I live just up the road.”
“Oh, then you must know lots of people at Camden.”
Tabitha grimaced. “Not really. I went to school out of state for a couple of years, but my parents wanted me to come home.”
“It must be nice to have family so close. It’s just my dad and me at home, but I really miss him.”
“Oh, it is.” The girl glanced at her watch. “In fact, I’m supposed to be home soon.” She jumped to her feet. “I’d better go.”
Honor gave her a kind smile and stood beside her. Apparently it had been exhaustion making her suspect someone so harmless-looking. The poor girl was just lonely and in need of a friend. “It was nice to meet you, Tabitha.”
Instead of returning the farewell with something equally bland, Tabitha gave her a distracted, almost worried look as she walked away. Figuring the girl was concerned about getting home late, Honor turned away. With her foot on the first step, she opened her mouth, ready to tell Seth where to meet her. A hand on her arm had her twisting around. Tabitha stood before her. “Would you like to come have dinner with my family?”
Another chill washed over her, this time even stronger.
Seth cautioned quietly in her ear, “Careful. Don’t seem too eager.”
“Oh, thanks,” Honor said. “I didn’t know what they’d be serving tonight, so I ate before I came. It was nice to meet you, though.”
Tabitha looked out to the dark street and then back at Honor. “Do you mind walking me to my car? My parents made me promise not to walk by myself in the dark.”
Confirmation settled into Honor’s mind. “Sure. I’d be glad to.”
Tabitha’s expression was one of such apparent relief, for an instant Honor doubted her suspicions.
As they headed down the steps and out onto the walkway, Tabitha gushed, “Thank you so much. And then I’ll drive you to your car. That way, we’ll both be safe.”
Honor eyed her carefully. There was almost a desperate tone in the girl’s voice. Or maybe a fearful one?
“My car’s down that street and around the corner. I didn’t get to park as close as I wanted. It’s really dark out tonight, isn’t it?”
As Tabitha continued a chatty monologue, Honor heard Seth’s reassuring voice in her ear: “Looks like this is it. I’m going to pass by slowly. Whatever happens, sweetheart, I’m right behind you. You need me, I can be there in seconds.”
Though her adrenaline was spiking, a surge of warmth and love went through her. She knew how difficult this must be for Seth. Despite that, his voice never changed from its even, normal tone.
She continued alongside Tabitha until the girl made an abrupt stop in a particularly dark area of the sidewalk. “Wow,” Honor said, “this is a really dark place to have parked.” She looked up at the dim streetlight. “I wonder why—” Sudden, acute pain speared through Honor’s body. She let out a strangled cry as her legs collapsed and she dropped to the ground. As her entire body jerked with agony and every muscle spasmed out of control, her mind told her she’d been Tasered. Having no choice, she rode it out.
In the midst of the agony, she heard Seth in her ear. “What happened? It’s too dark for me to see you. Do you need me to help? Talk to me if you can.”
She and Seth had decided upon several keywords to relay her status—innocuous ones that no one would suspect. But damn, she couldn’t remember the one to tell him she was fine, that everything was going according to plan. The pain was unbelievable. She’d been Tasered once before, but this seemed a hell of a lot worse. Dammit, what was the word?
A sting at her neck barely gave her a warning before a cloak of numbness began to wrap her in a terrifying, paralyzing embrace. Her vision blurred, tunneled toward darkness. Screams formed in her head … a calm voice stopped them. Told her to calm down and think. She had to alert Seth …
Think, Honor. Think!
Struggling with all her might, Honor stretched, searching for the correct word. What was …? And then it came to her … so very fitting.
Praying that her brain was communicating the right one to her rapidly numbing mouth, she mumbled a garbled “Bastard.”
And then darkness took her.
* * *
Gripping his Glock in one hand, Seth grabbed the door handle of the Jeep with the other, ready to push it open. Only ten yards away from her.
Ten fucking yards!
And he didn’t do a damn thing but watch. Never had he felt more helpless.
Though it was dark, he could see the shadowed movement of bodies—two people, plus Honor. Unable to make out any facial features, he waited … listened. When Honor’s fractured voice finally mumbled, “Bastard,” he gripped the door handle tighter. That was their agreed-upon word … that meant she was fine, but dammit …
“Take her feet,” a male voice whispered harshly. “Hurry. I think I hear someone coming.” A heavy door slammed shut, and several long seconds later, a midsized RV pulled onto the road.
Every instinct screamed at Seth to go after her, to save her. He couldn’t. This was what they’d hoped for, planned for. But never had he imagined the gut-wrenching horror of hearing the pain in her voice and being unable to do a damn thing.
Pushing past the fear, he followed the RV at a discreet distance as it maneuvered through the light traffic. He’d tailed enough people in his day to know how to stay out of sight. And while he followed, Seth listened intently.
“Why this one, Father? She doesn’t seem our type.”
“I believe you’re wrong. You fought me on this, daughter. I could hear the defiance in your voice. You almost let her escape. Your insubordination won’t go unpunished.”
“But I—”
“Silence! We have a long trip ahead of us and there’s a snowstorm headed our way. We’ll talk of this when we arrive home. Secure the female.”
“Yes, Father.”
Father and daughter … holy hell
.
Seth heard heavy breathing and obvious exertion. The girl, Tabitha, must be maneuvering Honor’s unconscious body. A couple of minutes later, he heard the girl softly humming a familiar-sounding tune.
Grabbing his cellphone, he punched a button for McCall. The instant the LCR leader answered, Seth said, “Honor’s been taken. I’m following them.”
“She got her tracker on?”
“Yes.”
“How’d it go down?”
“We were right. Bastard had a young woman lure her. The freaks are calling each other father and daughter. I couldn’t see what was going on. From the sound of it, I think she was Tasered and then maybe drugged.” Seth clenched his jaw, determined to hold it together. “Her speech indicated that she was in pain and was having trouble thinking coherently or forming words.”
“An effective way to disarm anyone.”
“Yeah. He’s traveling north in an RV. I only got a partial plate.” Seth gave the first three numbers of the tag. “Wyoming tags.”
“Hopefully, he does live in the state then.”
“He told his daughter they had a long drive ahead of them, so we’ll see. There’s some sort of dissension between them. She told him Honor didn’t seem their type. He disagreed and told her she’d be punished for defying him.”
McCall grunted. “Sounds like she may be a victim, too.”
“Could be.”
“He also said that a snowstorm was coming. Can you check that? Maybe that’ll help narrow down where he’s headed.”
“Hold on.”
His eyes on the taillights of the vehicle ahead of him, Seth did his best to focus on the job at hand. Thinking about Honor, what she’d gone through and might still have to endure, would do little good. Best he could do was remember that she was a trained professional … that she could take care of herself. And that very soon, both she and Kelli would be home safely.
“Damn.”
McCall’s growling curse gave Seth a new cause for concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Entire state’s under a winter storm warning, but the northern part is going to get hit the hardest. High winds and heavy snowfall.”
Seth had gear in his backpack that could see him through rough weather. Would the RV be able to make it if the weather turned severe? The mental image of watching helplessly as the large vehicle slid off a mountainside chilled him. Seth tried to shrug it off. He had enough to deal with; thinking about what could go wrong wouldn’t help a damn bit.
“Okay,” McCall said. “I’m calling the entire team in. The jet will be on standby in Casper. The instant you can detect his destination, let me know.”
“Will do.”
His hands tight on the wheel, Seth stayed five car lengths behind the RV. Assuming the mic on Honor’s wristwatch was still working and she was within the sound of the bastard’s voice, he’d be able to hear if the man thought he was being followed.