Page 22 of Stripped Bare

At least, now, they knew why there’d been no threads left to tug on.Traffickers would know the consequence of leaving any discernable trail.What Stace didn’t know was how or where they’d crossed paths with her sister.They’d obviously tried to use her medical training to treat whatever illness was being spread in the group they’d taken.Only now, according to Ally’s vision, Chloe was sick too.

“How long do you think we have?”Stace finally ventured to put her fear into words.“How long do you think Chloe has?She’s sick, running a fever.”

“It sounded like what Ally saw was in the moment and not the past,” Shep answered.“If that’s true, it would mean Chloe just fell sick.”He stood from where he’d been sitting for the last few hours and pulled Stace up and into a tight hug.“Don’t lose faith.Ally gave us our first and only lead.”He leaned back to look into her eyes.“She found her.Chloe is alive, and it’s only a matter of time before we find her.”

“Why would these men take her to help the others?”Stace asked, drawing away to pace the room.“That’s what I don’t understand.We both know how these operations work.The people they take are nothing more than a commodity to them.If they get sick, they’re easily replaced.Why go to the effort of kidnapping someone to help the ones who are sick?Why a nursing student?I swear if we find this guy I will take extreme pleasure in hurting him for what he’s done.To my sister and those people.”

“He’s not the villain you see him as,” Ally said softly from the doorway.Stace’s eyes flew to her, and she was happy to see a little color in Ally’s face.Blake stood close behind her, his body embracing hers while Ally leaned back into him.

“Are you okay?”Stace asked.

“I’m fine now,” Ally offered with a nod

“I’m so sorry I touched you,” Stace said as Shep slipped his arm around her waist.“I never meant to hurt you.”

Ally moved forward and took Stace’s hands in hers.“You were only trying to help me.I appreciate that.The connection was strong, very strong, and I know why.Before I was pulled from the connection, I was able to connect not just with Chloe but with the man who took her, as well.We share the same gift.”

“He’s psychic, too?”Stace asked.

“Clairvoyant, and yes,” Ally said.“That’s how I know he isn’t a bad man.”

“He kidnapped my sister,” Stace countered.“That makes him bad in my book.”

“He first saw your sister in a little café she visits just off campus,” Ally shared.“He witnessed her save a man from choking one day and overheard her and a friend talking about nursing school.The friend said Chloe should go on to medical school like she wanted and become a doctor.”

“I didn’t know Chloe was thinking about medical school,” Stace admitted.

“She loves you, respects you and wants to make you as proud of her as she is of you,” Ally said.

“You picked up on all that?”Stace asked.

“Your sister was thinking of you when we connected,” Ally admitted softly.

Stace did her best to fight the tears that wanted to spill.Chloe was thinking of her?Was she wanting her sister to come save her?“I’m already proud of her.”

“I can tell,” Ally assured her.“This man, he used his gift to find people who have been taken and are being held against their will.He has a group that helps him go in and rescue them.This time, the people were all sick.They were left in an abandoned truck bed, discarded like garbage.He was desperate to save them, so desperate that he followed your sister and, with the help of two of his men, took her, hoping she’d know how to treat them.Instead, Chloe became ill.”

“Because he knew she was in school for nursing and was thinking of medical school?”Stace asked, shaking her head.“Why not a doctor from somewhere else?A paramedic or someone already trained?”

“Because he saw your sister and from what I could tell,” Ally sighed and shook her head, “I think he was hoping to find a companion soul in Chloe, someone to work at his side, helping him.He never anticipated Chloe getting sick.He wouldn’t have taken her if he’d suspected that would happen.”

“But he did take her,” Stace said, hardening herself against the softness she was starting to feel for this guy.There would be time to forgive him later, after her sister was found and recovered from whatever illness she now had.“We have to find her.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Ally promised.“Right before I lost the connection, I connected with him.He showed me where they were, where he’d hidden them.I didn’t get to see everything, but hopefully, I got enough for us to find them.”

“Oh, God,” Stace said.“I’ll never forgive myself if my actions keep us from finding Chloe.”

Ally shook her head.“They won’t, and it isn’t only Chloe.He’s leaving the people there in hopes we can get them the help he couldn’t.”

“Wait.He’s gone?”Shep asked, and Stace felt his hand against the small of her back, a firm support.

“He’s gone,” Ally nodded.“He’s moved on to find another group.”

Stace understood what he was doing, believed in it with all her heart, but she couldn’t, no wouldn’t, be able to forgive him until she saw Chloe laughing and smiling once more.

“We have pictures of several sites we found.The most promising are spread across the table.”Shep pointed toward where he and Stace had laid out their hours of research.“Maybe, you’ll be able to recognize something from one of the pictures.”

Ally immediately turned to the table.She leaned close, taking her time and studying every photo.She picked up several and shuffled through the stack of photos and information before setting them down.Stace felt the clock ticking and worried her bottom lip between her teeth, watching as Ally finally narrowed it down to two sites.

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