Page 45 of SEAL's Secret

He quickly brought the others up to speed, his voice strangled as he listed the items of Layton’s that had been left here.

“Sawyer’s on his way,” Wyatt said. “I’ll tell him to head straight to her office instead. Any chance she’d go to your house?” he asked Hudson.

He shook his head. “Doubtful. And without her car? Her purse, cell, and everything is here. I doubt she went anywhere of her own free will.”

“We should check anyway,” Aaron said with a frown. “Plus Emersyn’s apartment.”

“All evidence points to a kidnapping,” Hudson said, growing annoyed.

“Agreed,” Wyatt said. “But HPD is going to insist we search probable locations in case she escaped and somehow ended up back there. Of course Emersyn will know if she makes it back to her own home. Does this place have any security cameras?” he asked, his gaze sweeping the kitchen. “I didn’t notice any outside.”

“Negative,” Aaron said.

“Let’s check with the neighbors then,” Wyatt told them. “Someone’s gotta have a doorbell camera. Maybe they saw something. People would’ve been coming and going all morning during the open house, so I’m assuming if someone took her, they arrived at the end of it. The police are going to want to interview all those people, too.”

“Yeah. Too bad we don’t have a damn clue who they are,” Hudson said angrily.

Two police cars came pulling up, lights flashing and sirens wailing. Hudson’s stomach dropped. He didn’t doubt they’d eventually find Layton, because he’d never stop looking for her. But in what condition would she be?

***

Tony gripped Layton’s arm, shoving her toward the front door of the secluded property on the other side of the island. She was dazed from being knocked out earlier, her mind fuzzy. She must’ve told him the address of this place before he’d hit her over the head, but she was having a hard time even remembering exactly what she’d said. At some point during the hour-long drive, she’d awoken. Tony had bound her ankles andwrists, tying a gag over her mouth and putting her in the trunk of his vehicle.

Hadn’t any of the neighbors noticed? The home she’d shown was in a busy subdivision. Layton could hardly believe no one would’ve seen him dragging her out unconscious in broad daylight. Had he…carried her? Lied about what was going on?

She couldn’t make sense of any of it.

She sucked in a deep breath, hoping to clear her mind. At least he’d unbound her when they’d arrived. Of course, he’d also threatened to shoot her in the head.

“There’s a lockbox here,” he accused, his eyes bulging as he stared at the front door. He smelled more strongly of cigarette smoke, and she assumed he’d been smoking on the drive over. Weird that she hadn’t even noticed the scent on her clothes. Normally, she couldn’t stand the smell, but as she became more aware, she realized she needed to pay attention to everything.

“There is,” she agreed, trying to remain calm. “I was renting the property but have to move somewhere else because the owner wants to sell,” she lied. “I don’t have a key,” she said, realization dawning on her. “My purse and things were at the open house. Did you put them in your car?”

“No, I didn’t fucking bring them!” he roared.

She flinched at the sudden noise, and his grip on her arm tightened. “Never mind. We’ll go around back. It’s not the first home I’ve broken in to. If we tamper with the lockbox, it’ll be too obvious. You sure you don’t have a hidden key?”

She looked at him in surprise. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m renting, but if the owners hid a key, I have no idea where it is.”

Frowning at that piece of information, he dragged her through the wooded area. Lush trees and vegetation grew around the home, the air fragrant with flowers, but it felt like anything other than a peaceful retreat at the moment. It was isolated. Quiet. And she was alone with a crazed man. “I need that damn thumb drive!” he suddenly yelled, growing frustrated again.

She shuddered, and he glared at her, shaking her slightly as they paused on the way behind the home. “You have no idea what’s on there. None! I was going to be rich after copying those files. We’re talking millions. Millions! My efforts to secure the data are useless unless I get that damn drive back!”

“But—”

“But what?” he sneered.

She shook her head. “If it was so important, why’d you stick it in my bag?”

“You barely gave me a moment alone in that home,” he spat out. “I was holding the damn drive and didn’t want you to see it. Before I got a chance to pocket it myself, you set your bag down, so I dropped it in. Then another group came through to see the home, and you were gone.”

Layton wracked her mind, trying to remember more about the Arlington property. There hadn’t been any additional protocols used as far as security when the home was listed. Had someone who lived there stolen classified information? What else could be worth millions that Tony Harris was willing to copy onto a flash drive?

“How’d you get into the computer anyway?” she asked.

He snickered. “Easy as pie. And since you’re never getting out of here alive, I’ll tell you what was on it. Our targets overseas. There are still terror cells operating in the Middle East, and theirleaders want to know what intel we have on them. There’s a mole at NSA,” he chuckled. “And the idiot has no idea I’m on to him. I heard him talking about selling the classified information and was planning to break in. When the home suddenly went up for sale, it was too damn easy. You let me right in the front door.”

A sinister smile spread across Tony’s face as they reached the back of the secluded home in Oahu. “There aren’t alarms on this home, are there?”

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