Page 73 of Blindsided

“Thanks, and no. I don’t have allergies. I just got into the security footage. We should be able to follow where your girl went.”

I turn to tell Desmond, but he’s standing on the other side of Isaac with his jaw clenched. He’s probably pissed about Isaac calling Tillymy girl.

Without a word, we pull chairs over to sit next to Isaac in front of his computer. He scans through the footage until we see Tilly come out of Desmond’s building. Her face is blotchy, and her arms are wrapped around her middle. My heart hurts just looking at her. I glance at Des to see he’s just as affected by her tears. Good, he’s the one who caused her to cry.

“Looks like she walked down several blocks.” Isaac clicks into a new camera. “And then goes into a shop. I don’t recognize what it is, though.”

“I think that’s a coffee shop,” Desmond says. “I’ve walked past it a few times.”

Isaac tilts his head. “Understandable. Okay, let’s fast forward here and see when she leaves.”

The footage blurs forward, showing people coming and going from the shop. A couple walks out onto the sidewalk, and something about it makes me pause. “Wait. Who’s that?”

Isaac goes back a few seconds, and I watch in horror as some guy holds Tilly around the waist. Her head is resting against his shoulder as he guides her down the street.

“Who the fuck is that?” Desmond growls. It’s exactly what I’m wondering.

“Let’s see where they go.” Isaac clicks through the cameras, following them as they walk down the street until the guy stops next to a silver sedan. He helps Tilly into the back seat of the car. My stomach drops as I watch Tilly’s body flop over as if she can’t hold herself up.

“Oh, my God,” I whisper. “That’s her stalker. It has to be.”

“Do you recognize him?” Isaac asks. I take in his nondescript features and shake my head.

Desmond leans forward to get a better look, but he also shakes his head.

“I can run his plate. It probably won’t be registered to him, but it could be a start.”

“Do whatever is necessary to find this guy. He’s already had her for too long.” Desmond’s words sound gravelly as he shoots out of his chair and takes off down the hallway toward his bedroom. I glance at the time stamp on the camera. Tilly was taken at four in the afternoon, which means he’s already had her for five hours now. There are entirely too many things that could’ve been done to her in that time.

I sigh. “Thank you, Isaac.”

“I’ll dig until we find this bastard.” He nods. I appreciate his determination more than I can say at the moment.

I work on cleaning the kitchen to give myself something to do while we wait. Desmond hasn’t come out of his room, although I can’t blame him. I’d hide back there if this was my place, too. The stress is starting to become too much.

I’m drying my hands off when someone knocks on the door. I give it a few seconds to see if Des is going to come and answer it, but when he doesn’t show, I decide to do it myself.

An older woman stands on the other side, and I raise my eyebrow at her in question.

“Oh, hi. I’m Veronica. Tilly’s agent?”

“Veronica! I’m sorry. I forgot you were coming over here.” I move out of the doorway to let her in. I should’ve known who this was. Tilly’s description of her agent is spot-on, which makes me want to laugh. And subsequently makes me miss her more.

“I just put the pizza away, but I can reheat some pieces if you’re hungry,” I offer.

She scrunches her nose in disgust. “No, thank you. I ate before I came over here. Have the police found anything?” Veronica’s eyes drift to Isaac, and I’d say she’s frowning at him, but her forehead doesn’t move, so I’m not entirely sure.

“Not as far as I’m aware. Our friend, Isaac”—I nod toward him—“is helping us search. We know someone took her. Now we’re running a trace of his plate number.”

Veronica nods. “Good. I’m glad to know something is happening. Did you know the man?”

I shake my head. “Neither did Desmond.”

Veronica clasps her hands together. “I wish I could be more help. I feel useless. I did give the police my statement.”

I invite Veronica into the living room to wait. “I’m guessing they didn’t give an update?”

“No, but they assured me they were taking this seriously.”

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