Page 8 of Seeking Evil

The rain picked up bouncing off the vehicles. The ground. Them.

“Why don’t you get inside where it’s dry.”

Sierra didn’t argue. She hopped inside the Jeep and dropped her backpack on the floorboard at her feet. She placed the handgun on the center console.

She couldn’t see Henry as he worked. After a couple of minutes, he returned to the driver’s side and stood beside her. “Why don’t you try and start it?”

She leaned forward and tried the engine. The same chug, chug, chug was her only response. Before she had time to say a word, a prick on her neck had her reaching for the spot. A needle. She jerked toward Henry, whose countenance had changed drastically from the kindly old grandfather figure. She struggled to make sense of it as she stared into the eyes of pure evil.

“What are you doing?” She pulled the syringe free and reached for the door handle. There wasn’t one.

Henry had the Glock before she knew what had happened. She grabbed for it. He easily dodged her attempts as the drug he’d given her took effect.

“Might as well give into it.”

Sierra’s vision blurred. Her thoughts became foggy. Whatever he’d given her acted quickly.

“You. You’re the one.”

Henry’s face distorted. She reached for the weapon again. She wasn’t going down without fighting for her life. Her backpack. Focus!

Sierra tried to focus but the world was a blur. She felt for the backpack. Her hand made contact.

“I’m a federal agent.” The words came out garbled. “FBI.” Did he understand he’d taken an FBI agent hostage?

“Doesn’t matter, girl. The FBI can’t help you now.”

Her fingers felt like spaghetti. Try as she might, she couldn’t lift the backpack.

“Have yourself a nice sleep. Rest up, girl. You’re gonna need it.” His voice sounded so distant. He was carrying her somewhere.

“No . . .” Had she actually said the word? Sierra tried to defend herself. Henry easily stopped her efforts. She was trained in hand-to-hand combat, yet fighting with whatever he’d dosed her with was impossible.

She was placed inside his vehicle. The door closed. Sierra flopped back against it. She tried to break the glass but she lacked the strength. Zeke’s handsome face appeared before her closing eyes. Her last words to Zeke ran through her mind. She’d told him she wasn’t sure they should be together.

She was wrong. “I’m sorry, Zeke . . .”

As darkness closed in around her, claiming her in its spindly arms, regrets had her wishing she had listened to him. Stayed and talked things through. Instead, she was now in the hands of a man she believed was a serial killer. and she was powerless to stop him from doing whatever he had planned for her.

Chapter Four

Zeke London tried her number again. Straight to voicemail. Like the others today. Every unanswered call sent his concern into overdrive.

“Is she still not taking your calls?” Cooper Delaney, his BAU partner and his sister’s husband, caught him checking his phone for messages.

“No.” He and Cooper were working late. Not on a case. It seemed since Sierra decided to take off, serial killers were taking a break. A smile quirked his lips. She was a force to be reckoned with.

“Here, let me try.” Cooper scrolled through his contacts and brought up Sierra’s number. He tried calling. “Voicemail.” He typed a message. Waited for a reply.

“Do you have any idea where she is?” Hannah came over to where her husband and brother worked.

Zeke shook his head. “She didn’t tell me.”

“But you know,” Hannah correctly guessed.

He blew out his breath. “Yes. She’s in Pinedale, Wyoming.”

He stared at the screensaver on his phone that was a photo he and Sierra had taken while on a trip to the beach last summer. Both were smiling at the camera.

---