Page 40 of Obsession

My heart is pounding a mile a minute, and my brain is working overtime as I run through scenarios of how I will catch and kill whoever dared to assault one of my employees in my own backyard.

Where the hell is Parker?

My gun is in the car.

I’m running towards Megan when I see her assailant pick her limp body up and throw her into the car, which has stopped right next to them, and climb inside. The whole street is empty, but I manage to get most of the license plate numbers before the car roars off.

Parker is a minute behind, and I jump into the car, growling, “Drive!”

I’m loading the piece I keep in a gun box underneath the passenger seat when I see the car turn right before it disappears around the corner. We follow after it, but when we reach the street, it’s as if it has vanished off the road.

Parker stops the car, his face pale. “Who the hell would take Megan?”

I don’t answer him, reaching for my phone and getting out of the car. I have a direct line to some of the most powerful people in this country, people who owe me favors. I don’t care what time it is as I stand in the middle of the empty road; the phone is pressed to my ear.

The person who picks up on the other side sounds sleep-addled and I say, cooly, “Wake up, Commissioner. I need you to do something for me.

It takes two hours of police barricades over a 50-square-mile block radius, every car being checked and traffic cam footagebeing reviewed before the first sign of the car is found. It’s in the system as a stolen vehicle, but one of the traffic cams caught it, turning it into an area that has primarily empty warehouses.

“We’ll take it from here,” I tell the police commissioner whom I dragged out of bed to accomplish this. The various cars surrounding the road and cutting off any escape routes belong to me now.

The commissioner, an older man with grey temples and crow's feet, looks uneasy. “My debt is paid, Middleton.”

“Is it?”

“You’ve spent two hours of Los Angeles Police overtime and a plethora of resources to find one employee. We’re done.”

I’ve spent many years making shady deals and trades to have powerful people at my disposal, but the commissioner is probably right. This was a big favor I called in, and normally, I wouldn’t have wasted it on searching for one of my employees, but...this is different.

This is Megan.

“Your attention on this matter is appreciated. Sorry I dragged you out of bed.”

“Just try to make sure this doesn’t make the news.”

“It won’t,” I murmur. “It never does.”

When the commissioner drives away, I signal to my men. It’s all hands on deck. I have my entire team here, even Vaughn.

“There are a number of empty factories and warehouses on this road, all slated for demolition. She’s got to be here somewhere,” I say. “Find her.”

Lars and Parker organize the men while Vaughn and I enter the first warehouse. We’re both armed and move softly, years of practice under our belts.

“It doesn’t seem anyone’s here,” he says, quietly, his voice grim.

He’s not wrong. There’s nothing disturbed here, and the only sound I hear is of him breathing.

“Let’s do one more quick sweep and then move on to the next one.”

We find nothing at the first warehouse.

The next one is also empty.

But it’s the third one where we hit the jackpot.

“There’s a car here,” Vaughn whispers, jerking his head towards a corner. It takes me a minute to see it since it’s concealed by the dark shadows of the wooden structure above it.

“Keep a lookout,” I instruct as I keep to the shadows and make my way toward the vehicle.

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