Page 106 of Counter Attack

“Was the alarm set?”

Judith pressed her hand to her neck. “I-I’m not sure I set it after Kayla left ...”

“It wasn’t set when we returned.”

“All of this is my fault,” she said with a moan.

He didn’t want to scare them by saying a security system probably wouldn’t stop Phame. He turned to Judith. “There was a note by her bed, saying you had a mug of hot cocoa in the microwave...”

Judith nodded. “I put the note there. I knew she’d be tired when she came in.”

“Did she get the cocoa?”

“The mug wasn’t in the microwave this morning, so I guess she did.”

“I’ll check and see if it’s in her room.”

“It’s her favorite—she picked it up at a pottery shop in the Smokies—cobalt blue on the bottom with white at the top.”

Nathan pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves and a set of shoe booties he’d grabbed from his truck.

The bedroom looked exactly as it had last night, except her bed had been turned down. It didn’t look as though she’d slept in it. A blue wheel-thrown mug sat on the bedside table. Hecarefully picked it up by the edge of the handle. Empty with no ring in the bottom. Like it’d been rinsed out.

He took out his phone and dialed her number. A phone rang near the head of the bed, right beside her pillow. His heart stuttered. Beside it was a White chess pawn and a note.

Nathan backtracked to the hallway and faced Carson. “I need my kit. And get Dylan and Taylor over here.”

He double-timed it to his truck, grabbed his evidence kit, and returned to the bedroom. Nathan would normally wait for the CSIs to get there, but time was ticking. He used his phone to snap a photo, then using a pair of tweezers, he picked up the folded note and used another pair of tweezers to open it. It was a picture of a chessboard.

Nathan studied the layout of the board. With almost all the pawns and other pieces still in play, it was early in the game, but the Black queen had the White king in check. Why would Black give up his queen? Seemed like a foolhardy move to Nathan. If he were playing White, all he had to do was capture Black’s queen with his king. End of the threat.

There was a note and signature at the bottom of the page.

Check. Do you know where your queen is?

You poked the bear and now you reap its wrath even as the wind stirs the flame. If you’re smart enough, you’ll find where the bear took her. If not, she’ll die and it’ll be your fault.

Phame

Poke the bear.He’d said those words to Alexis in her office just yesterday. Somehow, Phame had planted a bug there.

Vehicles pulled up outside, and Nathan refolded the paper and returned it to where he’d found it.

“Dylan and Taylor are here,” Carson said.

“Good. Send them in.” He scanned the room, looking for more clues. It was soon obvious the only clue was in the note.

“Find anything?” Dylan asked as he and Taylor entered the bedroom.

“I found a White pawn and a note. Phame has Alexis.” It would be a while before they got to the note, so he showed them his photo. “Does anything jump out at you?”

“Any report of a fire anywhere?” Taylor asked.

“No.” Even though he had the words committed to memory, Nathan stared at the paper as though it might tell him where Alexis was. “Where would a bear take its prey?”

“It’s lair?” Dylan said. “Like a cave?”

“Maybe. But how would Phame get Alexis in a cave? She’d fight like crazy.”

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