Page 122 of Cruel Dominion

That’s it.

That was how the fuckers got in. How they got her out.

“Paulson, do we have the plates?”

“Got it. Texting to you now.”

“Start searching every motel in a hundred mile radius.”

“That will take?—”

“I don’t care how long it takes, just fucking do it. Start with the most likely suspects and work your way north. I’ll start to the south.”

“On it now.”

I hung up, rushing back outside to my car. Summer followed me out.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“To find Anna. If they have her, then they’re bringing her to him.”

“To her ex?”

The panic in Summer’s voice was not fucking helping me right now.

“He’s been staying in motels outside the city. That’s where he’ll have her.”

She gasped. “Oh my god.”

Summer chased me all the way to my car, like a stubborn puppy.

“How do you know which motel he’ll be in?”

“I don’t. Until my PI has a better answer, I’ll go to them all.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” she said fiercely.

“No.” There was no time to waste arguing. Summer would be a liability, just slowing me down. Summer’s heels clattered insistently behind me on the pavement. I opened my driver’s side door, and saw a flash of baby blue underneath me.

Summer had dived into my seat. She glared stubbornly up at me.

“You’re not the only one who cares about Anna. Maybe I can help.”

“Get the fuck out of my car.”

“I can help you search the motels. We can check twice as many rooms in half the time.”

Logical.

“Fine,” I barked. “But I won’t slow down for you, and you might see some shit you wish you could unsee. I don’t have time for hysterics.”

Summer nodded and scrambled into the passenger seat. “I promise, no hysterics. I watch true crime documentaries to relax. I won’t slow you down.”

I wondered how long it would be until she broke that promise.

Neither of us spoke while I drove to the first location in a long list Paulson had sent via text—the most likely suspects based on the parameters of every last motel Josh had stayed at leading up to today.

The first was a shitty motel in the part of town where I grew up. Back in the day, my dad used to meet his loan shark here. I doubted it’d gotten much classier since the last time I’d walked by it.

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