Page 66 of Dangerous Obsession

The color video was crystal-clear and gut-wrenching.

A man in a dark ball cap tossed a brick, and it smashed through the front window. Poor Shayna—her back to the street—jumped and was showered with broken glass. She dropped whatever she was holding, and it landed atop the shards. You couldn’t see the man’s face when he jumped up into the window display area, but he wrapped his arms around her from behind and trapped them at her sides.

Viking exploded into action, picked up his phone, and tapped the screen. “Sammy, I need your help.”

Marigold missed whatever else he said, because her attention was hyperfocused on the terrifying video.

Shayna kicked and fought against the man’s hold, threw her head back and bashed his face so hard his cap flew off and he dropped her. She landed on her hands and knees and started to clamber across the jagged glass. The bastard twisted his hand in her hair and forced her to her feet.

Marigold clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out and concentrated on the man.Dammit!The angle sucked, and she couldn’t make out his face.

He drew back his arm and smacked Shayna across the face so hard, her body spun away from him, and she collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Marigold sucked in a breath. Something about the way the man moved …

He hefted an unconscious Shayna over his shoulder—hanks of her long hair clung to the blood smeared across her face—then he pivoted and faced the camera.

Marigold’s eyes widened with recognition. The tablet slipped from her numb fingers and bounced on the carpet. It felt like all of the oxygen had been spontaneously sucked from the room, and she forgot how to breathe. Her head began to ache, and she forced air into her lungs, then reached down and lifted the tablet.

The video had paused, and Cliff Barnum stared back at her, taunting her with a smug grin. Heknewshe would see the video—wantedher to see it.

“Oh, my God.” No wonder her skin crawled when he drew back his arm. She’d been on the receiving end of his abuse enough times to recognize the motion.

She watched as he carried Shayna to the back of a sedan. The trunk lid lifted, and he tossed her in like a sack of garbage. He hurried to the driver’s door, climbed in, and took off.

Marigold lifted tear-filled eyes to Viking.

“I’ll have to call you back.” He ended the call, rushed over, and sat next to her. “What is it?”

She opened her mouth, but no words came, so he gently removed the tablet from her hands to look at the screen.

“Fucking son of a bitch.” Viking rarely cursed, so she knew this had to be bad.

He tapped his phone and put it on speaker when Sammy answered.

“The guy in the video is Cliff Barnum, and I’m pretty sure he’s driving Greg’s car.” He zoomed in on the front bumper and rattled off the license plate number. “He has Shayna McCutcheon in the trunk.”

“Shit.” Keys clicked furiously in the background. Sammy knew Shayna from when she’d run a background check on her. “Yeah, that’s Whitcomb’s car. I’ll check the CCTVs in the area and track his progress.”

“If it’s okay with Marigold, I’ll give you access to her cameras, too.” He turned to her, eyebrows lifted, waiting for her approval.

“Oh … absolutely.” Marigold knew Sammy could easily tap into her system but appreciated being asked. Besides, she trusted her completely.

Viking’s phone beeped, and Marigold glanced over at the screen.

“Calliope is on the other line. Let me call you back.” He ended his call with Sammy and accepted Calliope’s.

“Dammit, Viking, I lost him. I lost Barnum.” Her voice was elevated, and her anger vibrated through the phone. “I followed him to a diner and waited across the street while he went inside. After an hour and forty-three minutes, my gut told me something wasn’t right. I jogged across the street and was just at the door to the place when Greg Whitcomb walked out and almost plowed into me. I detained him, told him I was a detective working undercover, and flashed my alternate identification.” To protect their true identities, all OSI’s operators carried fake ID while working an assignment. “I walked him across to my car and pretty much interrogated the kid right there on the street. He swore he didn’t know anything. Said Barnum called him early this morning and asked him to meet for breakfast. He told him to park behind the restaurant, paid him a hundred bucks to trade cars with him for a few hours, and left about thirty minutes ago. I cuffed the kid, shoved him into the back seat of my car and went back to the restaurant. There’s a back door held open with a concrete block. Barnum must’ve gone out that way and driven off down the alley behind the buildings.”

Viking gave her a quick update on what happened at the store.

Calliope cursed under her breath.

Marigold chewed the inside of her cheek, and her knee bobbed up and down.

“Where’s the kid now?” Viking cupped his hand over her knee and kissed her cheek.

“He’s still in the back seat of my car.” Calliope’s frustration filtered through the phone. “The idiot keeps whining about knowing his rights and how I can’t hold him. I swear, it is seriously taking every ounce of control I possess not to punch him in his stupid face.”

---