Shattered (LOST #3)(21)

He brought the phone to his mouth. “Hurry up,” he told her. “See if you can find the girl before she dies.”

“Who is this?”

Ah, it wouldn’t be that easy. Her question was really an insult. She was the profiler. She was the one who had to figure all of this shit out.

“She’s lost,” he taunted, “so come and find her.”

SHE’S LOST, SO come and find her. He’d hung up on her. The man’s words rang in her ears as Sarah slowly lowered her phone. She knew the woman in that picture—the woman who looked so terrified was Molly Guthrie. Sarah knew because she’d been researching Eddie Guthrie online, and she’d stumbled onto the guy’s social media pages. He’d had so many pictures of his sister Molly posted. Only Molly had been smiling in those photographs.

She hadn’t been tied to a chair with blood sliding down her face. She sure hadn’t been screaming in terror.

“What’s going on?” Jax demanded. “Sarah?”

“I—I have to call the police.” She’d stuttered. She tried to never stutter. Never show any weakness but . . .

Molly had been screaming.

And then Sarah could almost hear her father’s voice whispering in her mind . . .

No one is screaming. No one at all.

She pushed away from Jax. Her movements were too quick and jerky, and when she looked to the left, she saw Wade stepping out of the elevator. Gabe was with him. She ran toward them, aware that Jax was right on her heels.

When he saw her rushing toward him, Wade’s eyes widened. “Sarah?”

She didn’t speak, not then. Fear was closing her throat. She shoved her phone toward him—her phone and the picture of a terrified Molly.

Gabe crowded in behind Wade. “What in the hell is going on?” Gabe demanded.

“That’s the same thing I wanted to know,” Jax said.

Her breath heaved out. “We have to find her.” Come and find her. “Before he kills her.”

AS A GENERAL rule, Jax liked to avoid police stations. And cops. Cops tended to piss him off, and as for the police stations . . . well, he’d already spent more than enough time in them.

But he’d tagged along with the LOST group, driven by both curiosity and an odd urge to stay near Sarah. He didn’t like it when fear flashed in Sarah’s dark eyes. He rather thought he fucking hated it when her skin paled and the shadows beneath her gorgeous eyes deepened.

There had been fear in her eyes when he first saw her at the hotel room. He’d turned toward her, and the fear had been the first thing he noticed. Surely the others must have seen it, too?

And now that same fear seemed to cling to Sarah as she talked with the cops. Two detectives. Guys he’d met before, in different ways.

One guy was Detective Brent West, a fairly decent detective, even if the guy had a tendency to stick to the rules a bit too much. Jax had done a few favors for Brent over the years. Or rather, he’d done some favors for Brent’s family. So now Brent knew to . . . keep him in the loop on certain cases.

The other detective was Lincoln Cross, and Jax’s encounters with Cross had hardly been what he’d call positive. Especially in light of the news he’d recently gotten about the guy’s activities. You’re going to be paying for that, Detective. Don’t think you’ll escape.

“Let me get this straight,” Cross said as he lifted his hands. The guy hadn’t made direct eye contact with Jax. He kept focusing on Sarah and Gabe. They were all in a conference room down at the PD. “You’re saying Molly Guthrie has been abducted? And that the man who took her called you?”

“Yes—and I’ve said that same thing five times!” Impatience bit through Sarah’s words. “Now, we’re wasting time. I came to you first because I knew the cops needed to be involved.” Ah, she was definitely getting pissed by their lack of action. Jax could tell it in her sharpening voice. “But if you’re not doing anything, then my team can be out there, hitting the streets! Every moment counts in an abduction case, Detectives, and you both know that.”

A muscle jerked in Brent’s jaw. Yeah, he knew it. Jax also thought the guy would have preferred to be out in the street, searching for the victim, right then. But Cross was the lead there. Dick that he was.

“The first forty-eight hours are the most important,” Gabe said, his voice devoid of emotion. “We don’t usually get involved in a case this early, and while we have the time, we damn well need to be moving.”

“You’re involved . . .” Cross began, “because the abductor just up and called Dr. Jacobs. Odd, isn’t it? I mean, I think that’s odd.”

Jax was surprised the guy could think.

“Odd or not, it happened.” Sarah jumped from her chair. “Now are you going to do anything? Put out an APB? Go to Molly’s house? Hunt for her before that guy cuts her into little pieces?”

Jax saw Brent wince. It also looked like Brent was sweating.

“We’ll investigate,” Cross said through gritted teeth. “I do know how to do my job.”

“Do you?” Jax just couldn’t resist.

He didn’t think Cross’s jaw could clench much harder, but the detective muttered, “I’ll send a patrol over to the woman’s house right now.”