Page 208 of On a Fault Line

My phone comes to life with the signal, alerting me that Mark Tanner has been in a fight and is en route to Portland General Hospital for medical intervention.

Finally…

Racing to the bedroom, I throw on some of my preselected clothes, strap my holsters to my torso and leg, and unlock my guns from the hidden lockbox.

It’s go time.

And there isn’t a cell in my body that won’t rejoice in seeing Tanner take his last breath as I steal the life out of him.

Grabbing my keys, I race out the door and into the elevator.

Hopping into the rental car that I’ve had sitting idle and ready to go for weeks, I shift it into drive and pull out onto the street.

I use the GPS tracker on my phone to see the exact location of the transport vehicle that has Mark Tanner inside. He’s just a few miles out from the prison, following the pre-discussed route and taking his time to allow me a chance to bypass his path.

Everything is coming together like clockwork.

Using the call feature on my dash, I give Graham a ring. We haven’t talked in days, and we definitely haven’t reconciled over Penny, but my loyalty still lies with the Hoffmans no matter how much they see me as the one who betrayed them.

“It’s time,” I say into the speaker.

“Penny’s missing.”

My stomach twists. “What do you meanmissing? Isn’t she at the charity event?”

“She must have left.”

“How long do you think she’s been possibly missing?”

“I don’t know…”

“I need a ballpark,” I say frantically.

“Hmm, maybe about forty-five minutes. I’m not sure.”

“Did you track her?”

“Nic and I never found the need to be that intrusive since we hired you,” Graham bites out. “And she made us promise to give her some space while she recovered.”

Recovered?

He’s making her sound like an addict, when it’s me who is addicted to her.

“Did she actually leave the event?”

“We’re not sure.”

I feel sweat beading on my forehead, and my fingers are sticking to the steering wheel as I maneuver the rental onto the streets. “Maybe she’s on a different floor or got sidetracked? Did you look in the restrooms?”

My mind races with all the possibilities. If I was there, I wouldn’t have let Penny out of my sight.

I know she would have felt obligated to help out at her dad’s charity—especially right before he retires—so it doesn’t make sense why she would leave early.

“We looked everywhere here,” Graham says. “Hold on.”

I hear chatting on the other end of the phone and Nic’s voice.

“Graham,” I say into the speaker, “don’t leave me hanging here.”

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