Page 46 of SEAL's Secret

“No,” she said, wishing more than anything that this home did have alarms. No one would know when they broke in the back, and she had nowhere to run. Tony was right beside her, and she didn’t doubt he’d shoot her before she reached the vegetation surrounding the home. Tony aimed his gun at the glass patio doors, shooting right through one. She screamed, and he chuckled. “Show me where the bag is, Ms. O’Connell. I’m done wasting time.”

Chapter 27

Hudson’s stomach dropped as he watched the footage from the camera across the street. Layton was limp. Unconscious. Being carried by a middle-aged man almost like a rag doll. “She fainted!” the man holding her called out. Was someone else on the street? No one was in the camera’s line of vision, but the asshole touching her was clearly talking to someone. “She’ll be okay. I need to get her home so she can rest.”

Rage roared through him as he saw the guy plop Layton into the front seat. No one ran to stop him. He rounded the car to the driver’s side, climbed in, and drove off in a matter of seconds.

“Let’s get a plate,” Wyatt said. They zoomed in and were able to see a blurry image. An HPD officer watching the footage with them was already radioing in a BOLO. Tags. Make. Model. A description of Layton and the man kidnapping her.

Hudson’s blood boiled as they replayed the footage. He didn’t know who the asshole manhandling his girl was yet, but he wanted to end him right then and there. He’d knocked her out. Carried her in his arms. And kidnapped her, driving her away from the scene like it was just another day.

“How could nobody see this?” Austin asked in disbelief.

“Someone did,” Aaron pointed out. “He was talking to someone on camera.”

“We’ll go door-to-door,” another HPD officer said, radioing the others. There were police cars lining the street now, the entire area a crime scene. Hudson was so angry he could hardly think straight. Too much time was passing, and his girl was out there, alone. Scared. He wasn’t the praying sort, but at the moment, heprayed she was alive and unhurt. He’d never forgive himself if something happened to Layton.

Wyatt spoke quietly to a uniformed officer and then turned back toward them. “The vehicle was reported stolen this morning. We don’t have an ID on the driver who kidnapped Layton, because it’s not registered to him.”

“God damn it!” Hudson yelled.

“They’ll check the traffic cams to see if they can determine what direction they went. We know exactly what time he took her thanks to the surveillance footage.”

“That could take hours to check all the traffic feeds,” Hudson fumed. “That’s time we don’t have.”

“Why would he specifically want Layton?” Aaron asked. He eyed his teammates. “This sounds gruesome, but if he simply wanted to assault her, why move her to another location? She’s unconscious in the footage but otherwise appears unharmed. She’s fully clothed. It wasn’t a robbery because everything else was left here. He kidnapped her intentionally for some nefarious purpose.”

“Maybe he plans to keep her,” Wyatt said, his voice dark.

Hudson’s stomach dropped. If the kidnapper planned to hide her away, using Layton for his own sick purposes…Hudson hardly wanted to imagine what she’d be going through. How long it would take to find her. But who would specifically target Layton? The man had pulled up in the vehicle, gone inside the open house, and then returned only minutes later with her in his arms, unconscious. He’d had a plan and executed it quickly.

“The hang-ups,” Hudson suddenly said. “She was getting a lot of calls from a client back in D.C. He kept insisting she show hima property again. It almost seemed like borderline harassment. She even changed her work cell number.”

“You got a name?” Wyatt asked.

“No,” Hudson said, a sudden burst of adrenaline rushing through him. “But we could get the phone records. Maybe there’s even missed calls still listed on her cell. She has her new phone with her, which he destroyed, but I bet the old one is still at her house. Let’s see if we can track down this motherfucker.”

“How do we know it’s him?” Aaron asked. “I don’t want you to get your hopes up. What if some other prick went after her?”

“It’s him. Something was off about that entire situation. She wouldn’t have changed her number if the phone calls weren’t constant. She made it seem like not a big deal, but I should’ve known. There’s no reason for a former client to continuously call Layton. I should’ve done something.”

“It’s not your fault,” Wyatt countered.

“Maybe not, but it will be my fault if we don’t get to her in time. If we can ID the caller, we can run his name and see if his photo matches the man kidnapping Layton. Let’s roll.”

***

An hour later, they’d obtained the name of the man they believed to have Layton—Tony Harris, a recently fired federal contractor who lived and worked in Northern Virginia. His number had been easy to trace given he kept calling from his personal cell. Layton’s old phone had been right on her dresser, and it killed Hudson to be in her bedroom without her. The space was feminine and pretty, just like her. It even smelled like jasmine, and just the whiff of the floral scent had made his chest ache.

He was relieved that he’d remembered exactly where her old cell was. That had saved them some time. As soon as they’d powered it up, they could easily see which number had been calling her the most. Hudson couldn’t get into her voicemail, but it didn’t matter. The texts were there. The missed calls. He knew in his gut that Tony Harris was their man.

“She showed him a home in Virginia several times,” Hudson told his teammates, scrubbing a hand over his jaw. “Another realtor could’ve helped him once she moved to Hawaii if he wanted to buy the place. He had no good reason to keep calling her.”

“Maybe he was stalking Layton,” Austin said in a low voice. “According to the background check, he’s single. This guy flew all the way to Oahu and tracked her down. That’s some kind of desperate.”

Hudson stilled, his blood pressure spiking. “Well, it’s easy enough for anyone to do. Her name and photograph are on her website. She probably told her clients where she was moving. Hell, Callie took a video of her the other day and posted it online. He found her. Kidnapped her,” he said, his voice low and deadly. “The question is, why? What’s his end game?”

The men exchanged looks. There was no good answer. Did he think she had money and was going to demand a ransom? Did he have some sick obsession with her? There were a number of twisted reasons he could’ve taken her, and it made Hudson sick to even consider them.

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