Page 48 of A Damaged Soul
"You can't go in there." A woman's high squeal penetrated the walls.
"Watch me, lady," Matthew growled right before storming into the small space. "What do we know?"
"She was taken from in here," I told my team leader. "Her purse and phone were found here." I pointed down to where I was standing.
"I noticed cameras when I walked through this place. I'll have Parker pull the footage." That was all he said before turning on his heel and walking right back out.
I turned my focus back to a crying Molly. "We're going to find her," I said with complete honesty because there was no outcome where I didn't find the woman I was falling in love with.
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
I was in love with Elle.
The realization didn't freak me out like I thought it would have. Instead it filled me with hope.
"We'll find her, and we'll bring her back," I reiterated for the two of us. Molly merely nodded as tears continued to flow down her face.
"Let's get back out there before the cops arrest me for being in here." I didn't want to give anyone a reason for taking me away from the one thing I needed to do, and that was find Elle.
By the time we made it back out to the bar, the cops were already talking to the bartender. I completely bypassed them and headed straight for Matthew who was seated at a high-top table with the rest of my team.
"What did you find out?"
"Recognize this man?" Parker handed me the tablet. I didn't need more than a brief glance to know exactly who took Elle from me.
"That's the guy I rescued Elle from the first night we met. He followed her into the bar and wouldn't leave her alone, so I pretended to be her boyfriend." I handed the tablet over to Molly. "Did you see him tonight?"
Unlike me, Molly took her time to really look at the guy. "No, but I wasn't paying much attention to our surroundings. I was focused on spending time with Elle tonight."
Handing the tablet back to Parker, I asked, "Can you follow his movements?"
"I've already started. This place has cameras in the parking lot, so I was able to get a picture of the vehicle and a partial plate. I'm running it through the system now. Should have something soon."
Just as he finished talking, a beeping sound alerted us that a search finished. "Look at that, we have a name. Bernard Thomas."
No wonder the guy felt the need to get jacked with a name like that. "Do we have a place of residence?"
"Yup." Parker continued to tap away at the screen. "But I doubt that's where he took Elle. It appears he lives with his elderly grandmother."
"I wouldn't discount anything at this point." My gut was telling me that's where he took her, and I never went against my gut.
"Elle doesn't have time to wait. We check the house first while you track his movements."
Normally I wouldn't take charge. I preferred to leave that to Matthew or Black, but right now, this was my woman, and I didn't need anyone telling me we couldn't go after her.
We loaded up into two vehicles and set off to find Elle.
Hang on, beautiful. I'm coming for you.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Elle
I was tempted to pull the little glowing handle that would release the trunk but decided against it. Jumping from a moving car probably wouldn't end well for me. This wasn't the movies and there was no scenario where I would come out of that kind of situation without seriously being hurt.
I just had to hope that brains would beat brawn because it was clear Musclehead didn't have many brain cells to work with. The only reason he managed to get me into the car was because I hadn't wanted anyone else to get hurt at my expense.
I was in the middle of planning my escape when the car stopped. We hadn't been driving for that long, so wherever we were was still within the Boston city limits.
