Page 19 of GOAT

I just kept my mouth shut. I could tell when Konrad was going to be an unmovable wall, and today was one of those days.

Because of fucking course, it was.

“We’re all here,” Shaw told Anatoly.

“I have men looking for any news of her as we speak,” Anatoly began, cutting straight to the chase. I tightened my hands around the empty mug, staring down into it as if it held the answers of Abbie’s whereabouts. “All I know so far is that she was sent out on a call with Trent to check out a suspicious vehicle—a white van with no plates and no markings.” My gut cramped. I was pretty sure I was about to be sick. Not much bothered me anymore, but knowing she was probably alone and scared somewhere, thinking no one was coming for her, fucking tore my insides to shreds.

“Vehicle is gone. Cruiser was left where it was parked. Partner was dumped three miles away from the vehicle, beaten unconscious. Spleen ruptured. Brain bleed. Two broken legs. Stab wounds in the back.”

Christ.

“That kind of beating is personal,” Jax spoke up. “There’s anger behind that.”

Beside me, Konrad nodded in agreement. “Multiple stab wounds? Breaking bones? Yeah, Jax is right—there’s a message in that,” Konrad rumbled in agreement.

I jerked back from my chair, the mug clattering to the floor when I yanked my hands away from it. It broke into two pieces. Everyone watched me, but I just paced back and forth on the side of the table I’d been sitting at, my mind spinning.

Multiple stab wounds. Broken legs—didn’t want him to wake up and run, obviously, which meant they wanted him found. But by who? And dumping him away from the cruiser—that meant he couldn’t call for help if he woke up.

“Did Trent have his radio on him?” I asked, stopping to stare at the phone.

“No,” Anatoly said after a moment. “Cell phone and radio were gone.”

“They didn’t want him calling for help if he woke up,” I said. “They wanted him to be found.” I looked at Shaw, then Konrad. “Do you think this is retaliation against us? If someone had eyes on me and Abbie, then they would’ve seen I was somewhat nice to Trent. Could even be considered friends if someone was just watching us.”

Ace looked up at me. “Makes sense.” He looked at Shaw, then at the phone. “Where exactly was Trent found at?”

“Out on Old Washington Road,” Anatoly said after a brief pause, more than likely checking his information.

I cursed, looking at Shaw. “I take that route from Arlo’s when I work on his books. I like the scenery. It’s quiet, peaceful.” My gut churned. Vomit rose in my throat. I barely managed to swallow it back down. “They were targeted because of me.” I gripped the back of my chair, my knuckles white, my nails biting into the leather. “Abbie was taken because of me.”

CHAPTER TEN

Abbie

My head was pounding so badly, nausea swirled in my gut. Vomit rose in my throat, and I just managed to turn my head to the side in time to throw up so I wouldn’t choke on my own sick. The table beneath me was cold and sterile, and shivers began to wrack through my body when air conditioning suddenly blasted over my?—

Bare skin.

I was naked.

Why the fuck was I naked?

My heart slammed against my breastbone, fear swamping me so quickly, I drowned in it. I choked on my next breath of air, trying to move, trying to get the fuck off this table and get the hell away from wherever it was I was at, but it was hopeless.

I was bound to the fucking table.

Tears burned hotly in my eyes. A lump swelled in my throat. But I buried it all down. I would not cry. I would not succumb to the fear. I would not give in to the hopeless feeling churning my gut and threatening to stop my heart. Someone had to notice I was missing, right? Someone at the precinct would notice I was gone. Trent would notify someone, wouldn’t he? Someone would begin a search party for me. I wouldn’t be stuck here forever.

I turned my head to the other side when I heard a low groan, but my eyes stopped on the row of tools before I could locate whoever else was in the room with me—blades, scissors, forceps, clamps. More nausea built in my gut, my skin growing clammy despite the cold air still blowing on me from the vent above my table.

Where the fuck was I?

A low groan met my ears again, and I searched what I could see of the room before my eyes landed on another woman. She looked younger than me by a couple of years and much thinner. She was naked and bound just as I was, but she looked to be in a lot more pain, her eyes still not open though she was definitely coming awake.

A door to my right suddenly opened, and a man in a lab coat stepped in. His hair was dark and sprinkled with gray, and his dark eyes were hollow—lacking emotion. A shiver ran down my spine at the sight of him. I knew a predator when I saw one, and he was definitely one of the bad guys.

One of the most horrible kind.

---