Page 78 of Cornered

“What did he look like?”

The driver wrinkled his face in concentration. “It was dark, man. I don’t know. I think he was a White guy. No facial hair. He had very white teeth, I remember that. He was probably six feet?”

He made his last comment a question, and Donovan didn’t try to get more of a description. “You didn’t happen to notice anything about the car, did you? Make, model, tag number?”

“Nah. He parked close but not that close. And out of thelights. It was an SUV. Smallish. Not like a Suburban. More like a RAV4. Maybe? Dark?”

His description gave them nothing to go on. Eyewitnesses were notoriously inaccurate, and the only thing this guy seemed confident about was that it wasn’t a car, van, or truck.

“Did you notice which direction he went?” Donovan didn’t expect an answer, but this time he was in for a surprise.

“Yeah. He went back toward Gossamer Falls. I kept going toward Canton. Until I was pulled over.” At this the driver frowned. “Which was completely bogus. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Donovan let all his fury and frustration bleed into his voice. “A woman is missing and you are the last person known to have seen her.”

The driver paled. “I didn’t hurt her.”

“You didn’t help her, either.”

At that point, Gray had stepped in. The driver had been allowed to go home, but it was with the understanding that he might be facing charges.

Donovan had gone outside to try to pull himself together ... just in time to come face-to-face with Cassie’s mom and dad. Her mom had been crying. Her dad looked like someone was burning him alive from the inside out.

“I’m so sorry.” What else could he say? “So sorry.” His own voice broke.

And then John Quinn III pulled him into a bear hug. “Gray told us what happened. Wasn’t your fault, son.”

Smaller hands around his back, a softer voice murmuring against him, “There’s no blame here. Nothing you could have done.”

He wiped at his eyes. “I’m going to find her.” To consider any other outcome was a fast track to a nightmare.

The hours that followed had been fruitless. He still believedthat he would get her back, but now he couldn’t stop the gnawing terror that threatened to overwhelm him.

He would find her. And no matter what, he would stay by her side.

CASSIE’S MOUTH FELTlike someone had forced her to eat cocoa powder. Her head pounded. And her stomach churned.

She blinked and tried to shift into a more comfortable position. There was a weird lump under her back. Had she gone to sleep on a pile of clothes or something?

She went to roll over onto her left side but came face-to-face with the back of a leather sofa. She didn’t own a leather sofa.

She attempted another swallow, and her tongue glued itself to the roof of her mouth. The split second of panic at the unexpected issue cleared a few cobwebs from her mind.

And a whole new level of panic washed over her.

Where was she? Why was she on a couch? What had happened to her? Her mind frantically searched for the last memory she could claim and came up alarmingly blank. She tried to slow her breathing and focus.

The concentration sent a shock of pain through her head, and she remembered she’d been at work and she had a headache. And ... nothing.

Voices filtered through to her consciousness, and she strained to hear what they were saying.

“You imbecile.” Male. The voice wasn’t deep and resonant. It had a thin tone that was familiar. The unmistakable sound of a hand meeting flesh. “What exactly was your plan?”

“You said you wanted her out of the picture.” Male. Not Southern. And slurred. Maybe the slap she’d heard hadn’t been the first one he’d been subjected to. A coughing sound. Then spitting. “I’m bleeding.”

“A busted lip is the least of your worries.” The first voice. “Again, what are you planning to do with her? I told you I wanted her off the property. I didn’t say anything about kidnapping her.”

“She wouldn’t quit.” The second male was angry. And defensive.

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