DONOVAN (Gray Wolf Security, #1)(160)

“Adrienne’s gone.”

Jacob’s eyes widened slightly, but that was his only reaction. He didn’t seem upset.

“Well, it was just some sort of game, wasn’t it?”

“What?”

“Your relationship. Wasn’t she just pretending to be your girlfriend so she could find out who was behind those emails?”

“What?” I cocked my head slightly, trying to follow my brother’s line of thought. “Someone kidnapped her, Jacob.”

That got the reaction I had been looking for. He stood up, knocking his office chair back a few feet.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“We were in San Antonio. I stepped out of the room, and she just disappeared.”

“No,” Jacob said, shaking his head as he began to pace the room.

Sergio brushed past me and walked into the room, walking around it like he belonged there. I knew he was looking for any signs of trouble, but it was hard to tell if he was on our side or not by the way he moved. When Jacob caught sight of him, he jumped sideways like a cat startled by an intrusion.

“What is this?”

“Sergio. He works for Ruben Garcia.”

“Ruben Garcia.”

“Adrienne’s dad.”

“Yeah, I know.” I was a little surprised, but Jacob simply shrugged. “I checked into her after you told me about her the other day. I probably know more about her than you do.”

I wanted to argue, but, somehow, I had the impression he was probably right. Adrienne wasn’t the easiest person to know. But I preferred to learn about her at her pace than to go behind her back and investigate her the way I was sure Jacob had done.

“Why would someone kidnap her?”

I shrugged. “I’m assuming it has something to do with the company. Whoever’s been sending those emails clearly did it for a reason. Maybe they think they can get what they want by blackmailing me.”

“Have they made demands?”

“Not yet. But I got these texts on Adrienne’s phone.”

I pulled the texts up and handed the phone to Jacob. He glanced at them, not even giving them much of a look, then handed the phone back.

“Why did they text her phone and not yours?”

I hadn’t thought about that. My thoughts had been all about Adrienne on the drive back down here.

“I don’t know,” I said as the thought slowly crossed my mind. Sergio stepped out of Jacob’s bedroom, drawing a dark look from Jacob as he stood against the connecting room between the sitting room and the bedroom itself.

“Could it be that it’s because it’s someone you know? Someone whose number might show up on your caller ID?”

“Do you think so?”

“Can’t your boss trace a number?” Jacob asked Sergio.

Sergio just shrugged.

I pulled up the text messages again. There was no number, suggesting it was blocked. But I did see for the first time that the two I’d received the night before weren’t the only two from this number. There were several more from the night before.

I know who you are. I can find you whenever I wish, the first one read. It was marked 8:09 pm, which meant Adrienne received it while we were at dinner.

And then she responded.

Who is this?

You’ll find out soon enough if you don’t back down.

“She knew last night.”

“What?”

We were having dinner with my parents last night. It was a quiet dinner, just Adrienne and me, my parents, and friends of my mother’s. We were nearly finished when Adrienne asked me to take her home. I was unhappy being there in the first place because my mother had played the guilt card to get me there. She only wanted me to talk to her friend about the Alzheimer’s drug because his wife suffered from the disease. But we could offer no help to them. Her disease was far too advanced to benefit from the drug when it was released years into the future. It was a fool’s errand. I was only more than happy to have an excuse to leave.

I should have known Adrienne wouldn’t have asked me to leave lightly. I should have known she had a reason. Why hadn’t I noticed these texts sooner?

“Shit!”

“What?” Jacob asked again, snatching the phone from me. He read the text, then looked at me, his eyes narrowed with concern. “I’m guessing she didn’t tell you about these?”

“She wanted to leave the party early. I didn’t know why.”

“You didn’t ask.”

“I thought she was just tired.”

“Adrienne doesn’t strike me as the kind of person who gets tired easily.”

Sergio snorted. I glanced at him, but I really wasn’t interested in what he had to say. I wasn’t interested in what anyone who thought they knew her better had to say right now.

“Who sent those texts to her?”

Jacob shook his head. “I have no idea. The number was blocked.”

“But we need to find out. If we knew who sent them, we’d know who has her.”

“Obviously. But I’m sure it was a burner phone.”

“Then why not send the demands to my phone?”

Jacob shook his head. “I don’t know.” He went back to his desk and sat down, the phone still in his hands. “Why would someone take Adrienne?”