Page 31 of Gray

“Not yet. I’m looking.” Gray’s phone buzzed in his hand. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to go speak with the manager and ask about the camera footage,” Ford said. “If they won’t help us, guess that’s another thing West will hack into.”

“Roger that.”

Gray was already sliding back into the mode of an operator. They might not be on foreign soil, tracking down terrorists, but they’d approach the kidnapping with the same focus and intensity. Just because they weren’t in uniform anymore didn’t mean they weren’t still an elite team of former soldiers.

“Does Jett have her license plate number?” Luke asked.

“Negative. If Lena’s car is here, we’ll relay that intel to the team. West can track her movements this afternoon on the traffic cams and see if she was being followed. Of course, if we have footage of her being abducted in the parking lot—”

He cut off. He didn’t want to watch that, but if she’d been forced into a vehicle, they needed a description of it. A plate number.

“We’ll find her,” Luke assured him.

Gray clenched his jaw. He didn’t doubt they’d find her eventually, but in what condition? Ivan Rogers had toyed with Lena before, drugging and groping her. Taunting her with all the disgusting ways he wanted to use her body. Gray had thehorrible feeling that if Ivan got his hands on her again, he wouldn’t mess around this time. Would Lena be raped? Killed?

Nausea roiled through him.

“There!” he shouted, suddenly spotting her car in an end row. It wasn’t necessarily secluded, but it wasn’t in the middle of the parking lot either. If they’d abducted her right from the lot, it would be the perfect location.

Luke sped up, his car racing down the row to her vehicle.

Gray jumped out, leaving the passenger door open as he rushed toward Lena’s car. His stomach dropped as he saw her coat lying on the ground, and shit. Were those goddamn zip ties hanging from her side mirror? It’s like they’d put them there to taunt her.

His mind flashed back to the night he’d arrived at her home. The zip ties in the driveway. Lena thinking she’d heard something go bump in the night. Had that bastard Ivan Rogers been watching her all this time?

Gray bent and picked up her coat, her floral scent slamming into him. A torrent of memories accosted him. Lena was good and sweet and pure. Innocent.

She was now in the hands of monsters.

“We should check inside the vehicle,” Luke said, his voice grim. He palmed the keys that had been discarded on the ground beside the coat, frowning at the zip ties lying on the ground. Gray nodded, feeling sick, but watched as his buddy popped the trunk. Relief, sharp and instant, washed over him as he saw only the food Lena had picked up. The cake. The party platter. Aside from her personal things found on the ground, there wasn’t a sign of a struggle. There was no blood on the pavement. No broken glass. No markings at all on the vehicle, just those fucking zip ties. AndLena wasn’t inside the trunk of her car, forced in there by Ivan or his men. Gray had been half terrified that they’d find her body.

Lena had simply vanished.

Luke was already scanning the parking lot. “I’m going to speak with Ford and the grocery store manager. Let’s review the surveillance footage, focusing on this area of the lot. If we know who took her, West can check the traffic cams. If they were on foot, we’ll have a description of the men. They had to usher her somewhere, and there’s a number of businesses around who no doubt have their own surveillance systems.”

“We have no idea where she is,” Gray choked out. The cool winter air bit into him, and for once, he hated the chill, the cold air on his skin. Lena was out there without her own coat, being held against her will. Was she cold? Scared? Hungry or injured?

Luke gripped his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. “We’re going to find her. Lena is tough as hell. She’ll stay strong until we get to her.”

“She shouldn’t have to go through any of this,” Gray said with a shake of his head. “Go find Ford. I’ll search the area around her car for any additional clues. Let’s check with any witnesses on a possible description of the vehicle. The SUVs they drove in the first abduction were seized by the Feds or destroyed in the propane tank explosion.”

“Pretty sure those belonged to Cronin and Levins anyway,” Luke said. “Rogers no doubt has his own vehicles. He got away the first time.”

“He sure as fuck won’t get away now,” Gray seethed. His phone buzzed, and he saw Jett’s name flash on the screen. “Yeah, boss?”

“West got a ping on the location of Lena’s cell phone.”

“What?” he asked in shock.

“The anonymous texter had all of our cell numbers. He sent her photo to the entire team. Lena is bright, but she’s not going to have the number of every single man on the team memorized. Even if she did, she’s under extreme duress.”

“He has her cell phone.”

“Affirmative. I asked West to track the origin of the anonymous texts, but we quickly realized that Ivan Rogers must have her cell phone with him—or he did at some point.”

Gray scanned the area by her car again, surprised at what he’d missed. Lena always carried her purse with her. He opened her door, looking at the driver’s side and passenger seat, then the back. They’d already looked inside the trunk. “Her purse isn’t here either. He must have taken it when he abducted her.”

---