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KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. “Come on Maggie, let me in. I’ve missed you.”He’s got to be fucking kidding me!

I shook with fear and anger as I pulled my SIG out of the bag and loaded a few rounds into a mag before slapping it into the gun.

The sound of the wood cracking as my door shattered rattled my bones. I jumped up and raised my gun.

That’s not my father. I aimed my pistol at the tall guy in a black suit. “Get out!” My squeaking voice wasn’t fooling anyone as I tried to yell.

My father walked in behind the black suit guy. I turned towards him, my gun moved with me and was pointing at my father instead of the real threat. Which was a mistake.

“You won’t shoot us, will you, Maggie?” The black suit guy taunted me as he closed the distance between us. “I can see you shaking. You’re too scared to pull the—”

I whipped around to face him and pulled the trigger. CRACK! The sound echoed through the apartment, making my ears ring.

Black suit guy grabbed his side. “You bitch! You shot me.” He closed the distance with two quick steps and knocked the gun out of my shaking hands before punching me in the face. My hands flew to my face as I kneeled down. My eyes watered from the pain.

I tried to crawl towards my gun, but he grabbed my hair and yanked me up. He pushed me towards another guy in a black suit, who was waiting at the door. He was shorter than the one I shot, but no less menacing.

I bit the shorter guy when he put his hand over my mouth. He yelped before slapping me on the side of my head. My eyes watered again from the pain. He wrapped an arm around my neck, cutting off my air so I couldn’t scream, and dragged me outside. I fought against his arm, trying to remember what I should do. I was panicking and couldn’t think straight. There wasn’t much time for them to get me in the black van. Even in Texas, a gunshot would attract attention. The tall guy put duct tape over my mouth. I stumbled forward when the short guy released me. I bent over, hands clutching my bruised throat as I tried to fill my lungs with oxygen.

Short guy yanked me back up by my hair. The duct tape muffled my scream. I head-butted him when he tried to tape my hands behind my back.Damn that —

Everything went dark.

Chapter 47

Jack

Beth called me to tell me some guy had come in earlier and asked about Meg. He told Lisa he was Meg’s father, and he wanted to surprise her but lost the slip of paper with her address. Lisa didn’t know not to say anything, so she told him where Meg was staying.

“When? What did he look like?” I jumped up and ran to Jamie’s office. AJ followed on my heels. I put my hand over the speaker, “Jamie, pull up the feed at Meg’s.”

“He came in a little over an hour ago. She said he’s tall and skinny with short brown and grey hair.”

“Okay, thanks for letting us know.” I hung up just as Jamie said, "Fuck." He turned to dad, “Get Doug.”

I was grateful today was one of those rare occasions when all of us were in the office, I had a feeling we'd need all hands on deck.

I ran around his desk and stared at the monitor, my knees almost gave out as I watched an unmarked black van was speeding out of the parking lot.

Jamie reversed the feed until we saw the van pulling in. A man, fitting the description Beth had given me, got out of the van. He looked back and nodded before knocked on her door. He looked jumpy, and his impatience grew the longer he waited for Meg to answer.

“He told Lisa he’s Meg’s father.” I said.

“I’ll verify with facial recognition.” Doug volunteered.

“Good. Janerek, run the plate.” Dad ordered.

We watched as the man pounded on her door again. He turned toward the van and shrugged.I wish we had audio.Another man, dressed in a black suit, approached the door and pushed her father out of the way. He shattered the door with one well-placed kick. They went inside, out of view, while a third stood in the doorway.

“Come on, Meg, please tell me your gun was loaded. You can do this. Drop these guys.” I didn’t realize I was praying out loud until I felt my father’s hand on my shoulder.

My heart stopped when we saw a muzzle flash. I didn't need words to know the depth of my father's support, he said it all with a squeeze of my shoulder. His strength was the only thing between me and full blown panic. The third guy, who’d been guarding the door, rushed in.

“Fuck. We need to go.” I started toward the door.

My dad grabbed me and held me by the shoulders. “We will, Jack, but first we need more information. They were leaving when we turned on the feed, so rushing in won’t help her. We don’t know who they are or where they’re going. Take a deep breath. Once we have more information, we’ll make a plan and go.”

“What if she’s dead in the apartment and we can’t see her?”

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