Page 45 of Strike Fast

“Fuck,” his team leader barked. “Aw, Jesus, Reid—is there anything we can do?”

His eyes stung. “I’ll let you know. But I’ll be unavailable for…until we get her back.”

“Of course, man. Understood. You needanything, you let one of us know. I’ll alert the guys. We’ll all be praying for her.”

“Thanks,” Reid said hoarsely and hung up, his throat too tight to get any more words out. He was fucking sick with apprehension, his stomach a roiling mass of terror.

It seemed to take forever for him to reach the mall. Half a dozen cop cars were already on scene, and he picked out Sarah immediately standing on the curb out front of the sandwich shop.

Reid jerked the Mustang to a stop just outside the police tape and leaped out, barely remembering to slam his door shut. A cop came at him, hand upraised in warning. “I’m Autumn’s father,” Reid called out, holding open his wallet to show his agency ID as he shoved his way past. His eyes locked with Sarah’s, and the terror grew sharper.

Sarah’s face crumpled and she launched herself at him. Reid caught her, crushing her close to his chest while she lost it. “She’s gone,” she sobbed out, shaking so hard it made Reid’s teeth rattle. “My baby’s gone and it’s all my fault!”

“No, don’t say that,” he managed, his own eyes burning as he looked to the detective, a middle-aged Hispanic man dressed in a suit standing a few feet away. He needed fucking answers. “What’ve you guys got so far?”

“Several eyewitness accounts, and we’re running the surveillance video now. We’ve already put out an amber alert for her.”

Good, because Sarah’s Lexus was probably their best hope of finding them. With that many people alerted to look out for the car during daylight hours in this populated an area, chances were good someone would spot it. He just prayed someone did before the asshole who’d taken Autumn could hurt her. “What did the perp look like?”

“Hispanic. Mid-twenties. Tats on his neck. Possibly a gang member.”

Fuuuuck.Reid swallowed hard, his blood pressure nose diving.

“Our forensics people are trying to see if they can get a match to anyone in our database. The tats should help.”

Reid’s brain spun. Every second that ticked by was its own separate agony. Autumn had just been abducted by some gangbanger asshole and there was not a goddamn thing Reid could do to help her. When he thought of how scared she must be and what could happen to her… Christ, it killed him to not be able to protect her. “What about the FBI?” he grated out.

“They’re monitoring the case and will send agents to us to assist, but for the time being, it’s our investigation.”

Sarah took a long, shuddering breath and went limp against his chest, exhausted. Reid scooped her up before she could fall and carried her to a bench out front of the sandwich shop. “We’re gonna find her,” he vowed, fighting back the grief and terror ripping at his insides. “We’ll find her and she’ll be okay. The asshole probably just wanted the car. He’s probably already ditched Autumn a few blocks from here. She’s smart, Sarah. Real smart. She’ll get to a phone and call us.”

The words had just left his mouth when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Reid all but dumped Sarah off his lap and yanked his phone out, his heart plummeting when he saw Maka’s number. Reid shoved it back into his pocket and wrapped an arm around Sarah’s shuddering shoulders. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now except Autumn.

Sarah didn’t say anything, just leaned her body into his and hitched in jerky breaths, her acceptance of his embrace testament to how distraught she was. “Have you called Max?” he asked her.

She nodded. “He’s c-coming.”

Reid didn’t exactly love the guy, but right now they needed all the help they could get, so it was all hands on deck. Sitting here doing nothing was slowly eating a hole through his gut, but what else could he do? Jumping back in his car and driving around like a madman looking for Sarah’s Lexus, was pointless.

His phone vibrated again. He snatched it up, clenched his jaw when he saw Khan’s number. He appreciated his teammates worrying about Autumn, but there was no way he was talking to anyone right now.

Unless Tess called him. God, he wanted to hear her voice so bad, tell her what happened, but he didn’t think he’d be able to hold it together if he did. He’d never been this raw and afraid, not even during combat or when he’d found Jason hanging in that shower.

He swallowed hard, struggling against the rise of tears that burned the back of his eyes. Losing it wouldn’t change anything, and it wouldn’t help find Autumn. He had to hold it together, be the strong one.

Max finally arrived and took Sarah from him. Reid talked to the lead detective some more, then agreed to go down to the station with him. The asshole should have dumped Autumn by now if he’d only been interested in the car. Why hadn’t she gotten to a phone and called him yet?

Maybe he wanted more than just the car.

The idea scared the living shit out of him.

Sarah and Max met him at the police station a few minutes later. Because of his position as a DEA agent and his security clearance, the detective allowed Reid to view the security footage with him in his office.

Reid’s stomach clamped tight as he watched the thug approach the Lexus and smash in the driver’s window before climbing in. And the asshole was armed, the butt of a pistol sticking out of the back of his waistband.

Arms folded across his chest, Reid squeezed his hands into fists, wanting to punch something. To scream. His little girl had no chance against that motherfucker.

The detective stopped the video feed and studied Reid. “Maybe you should sit down for a bit.”

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