Page 75 of Evidence of Truth

She wiggled her wrists and ankles, but they were tied too tightly. Anne prayed she wasn’t making any noise because she had a feeling Martin would kill them on the spot.

Anne closed her eyes. She needed to be rested for what was to come. However, she wasn’t going down without a fight. Whatever tomorrow brought, she was determined to get them both out of here, or at least Silas. No matter what it cost her.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Killian woke the following day with a sense of excitement. Today, he’d see Anne. He looked out his window. The rain had lightened some, but it was still dark and dreary.

He made some coffee, sat at his kitchen table, and dialed Anne’s number. After a few rings, it went straight to voicemail. She must be in the shower and not hear it. He left a message.

There was some picking up and cleaning to do in the condo to pass the time.

An hour later, Killian checked his phone. There were no calls or voicemails from Anne. Weird. She was always so prompt and knew that he would call today.

Had something happened to Anne? Silas?

Killian decided to give her another hour to respond. Then he’d swing by her place to make sure everything was okay. He made some eggs and toast but couldn’t eat, so he tossed them in the disposal.

The dial on his watch ticked slowly. Had five minutes passed?

No. Only a minute.

Killian was peering out the windows, walking around the condo and busying himself, trying not to think about Anne and whether something was wrong.

Is this what love did to a person? In the past, he never worried about anyone except himself. Killian didn’t want that past anymore. He wanted to worry about those he loved and for them to worry about him.

His thoughts seesawed from Anne dying to she just ran out to the store and forgot her phone. He couldn’t stop looking at the time and nervously turned on the TV, then turned it off.

In short, he was driving himself crazy—time for action. Killian picked up his keys and a rain jacket and headed toward Anne’s house. It took a little longer since there was some flooding on the road. Although most people were driving cautiously, there was always that one asshole who was too important to wait and almost caused an accident.

Finally, he arrived at Anne’s house. Her car wasn’t in the driveway. She probably parked it in the garage. That is, if she were home.

Killian got out of the truck and strode up to the door. No lights were on in the house. No activity. He rang the doorbell. Waited. No one answered. Strange. He knocked loudly for a minute. Still, no one answered. Could she have gone out? He walked back to the garage and peered in the newly repaired window with glass protection.

No car.

Walking around back and onto the patio, Killian peered through the sliding glass doors. Quiet.

He rubbed his forehead. What was going on? Where could she be? Had something happened?

He could pull up the security feed to see when she came home or left. Although it felt stalkerish, Killian’s mind raced with concern. Opening the app on his phone, he searched for the feed from last night.

She never came home or was even dropped off. His heart started racing, and his stomach churned. He swallowed hard and then took deep breaths. Panicking would not help. Then he pulled up the feed from early morning. Again. She never came home.

Something happened. Something bad. Anne wasn’t answering her phone and never came home. It didn’t take a genius to know something wasn’t right.

* * *

Killian was desperate. He’d driven by the school and saw Anne’s car parked there. No doubt about it, she and Silas were in danger. He called Sam. She was going to call in all employees not on jobs to meet at the KnightGuard Security office.

He arrived just as Pete locked his car. They man-hugged and walked into the building.

“We’ll find them,” said Pete. He’d met the dark-haired man a couple of times. Killian had heard how his wife, Julie, was kidnapped by a man obsessed with her and forced her to strip at a sleazy club downtown. KnightGuard found her, and the rumor was that Sam had a hand in the guy taking his life. He could believe that. Killian knew when they found the man who kidnapped Anne and Silas he wouldn’t be alive for long.

Killian nodded and clenched his fists. He didn’t trust himself to speak right now. His mind was flying in every direction, conjuring up every worst scenario. He felt hollow inside—powerless.

In all his years in the service, he’d never felt like this.

The guys were meeting in Sam’s office. Killian was to update them on what he’d found out.

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