Standby (Open Skies Book 4) by Becca Jameson (popular e readers .TXT) 📕

all he was going yet, but Seattle for starters. “Slow down, Heather. What happened?”

He could hear several other voices in the background. Heather started rambling incoherently, not directly into the phone. She was speaking to someone else while Jake’s heart was stalling out.

“Heather,” he shouted as he got in his car.

She returned to the phone, sobbing. “I was supposed to meet her in her room and she’s not here.”

“Maybe she went to the vending machine or something,” he suggested hopefully, though he didn’t feel hopeful. He knew something was terribly wrong. He started driving toward the airport.

She spoke to someone else again.

“Who’s there with you?”

“The hotel manager and the police just got here.”

Jake’s blood ran cold. Fuck.

“Jake. He took her. I know he did,” she managed with a steadier voice. “Nothing is missing from her room. Her purse and phone are here. Even her keycard. He must have fucking checked the schedule and then flown to Seattle and waited for his opportunity.”

“Jesus. Listen, Heather. I’m on my way. I’ll find a redeye and be there as fast as I can. Let me speak to the police, okay?”

“Right. Okay.”

There was a muffled sound as she passed the phone to someone else. “This is Mark Jarvis with Seattle PD.”

“This is Jake Robinson. I’m Shayla’s boyfriend. I’m confident the man who took her is Hawke Richman. He’s been stalking her for months. She has a restraining order, but he’s relentless. He’s probably unhinged because his wife left him yesterday.”

“That’s what Ms. Kotter has relayed, sir. We’re going through Ms. Cosman’s hotel room now. I’ll have Ms. Kotter give me your number in case we find anything. I’ll check with hotel security and see if there are any cameras that might have picked this up. I’ve gotta tell you, sir, we wouldn’t normally be overly concerned with a supposed missing person who has been gone less than half an hour, but based on what you and Ms. Kotter have told me and the fact that Ms. Cosman has not returned to the room and took nothing with her, I’m inclined to believe that time is of the essence here.”

Jake blew out a relieved breath. “Thank you. Please take this seriously. I’m on the next flight out. I’ll get in touch with you as soon as I hit the ground.”

“Good.”

Jarvis must have handed the phone back to Heather because her frantic voice was back. She was sobbing. “Jake, I’m so scared.”

“I know. Take some deep breaths. I’ll be there as soon as I can. I need to hang up and call a few people, okay?”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting for you. Be careful.”

Jake ended the call and hit speed dial for Hatch.

Seconds later Hatch was on the line. “Sup, Tank?”

“Richman kidnapped Shayla.”

“Fuck. I’m on my way. Where we going?”

“Seattle.”

“Meet you at the airport.” Hatch hung up before Jake could utter another word. He’d known Hatch would drop everything. It’s what they did. Jake didn’t bother calling Kraft or Sweets or either of the other newer employees. Hatch would fill them in.

Instead, Jake called Raeann next.

“Jake?” Her voice was trembling. “I just got off the phone with Heather. What can I do?”

“Can you get ahold of Hawke’s wife for me? See if she knows anything. I’m almost at the airport. I need to focus on getting a flight and getting to the gate. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

“Yes, of course.” Raeann’s voice cracked. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I know. Stay calm. Call Marilyn. I’ll forward you her contact information. I’ll get back to you soon.” He ended the call and pulled into the parking garage.

As soon as he had the car parked, he sent Raeann a text with Marilyn’s info, and then he grabbed his bag and jogged toward the entrance. “There better be a fucking flight out in the next hour,” he muttered to himself. If there wasn’t, he’d charter something, but he’d rather fly commercial if possible.

His phone rang as he entered the airport. It was Hatch.

As soon as Jake connected, Hatch spoke. “I’m here. Parking. Where are you?”

“Just got inside. Looking at the board for a flight.” He scanned the outbound list of flights, relieved when he found one. It was even on Shayla’s airline. “Open Skies. Ten twenty-four departure. I’m getting tickets now.”

“I’ll meet you at the baggage check.”

Jake rushed to the counter. He didn’t bother telling the woman one of Open Skies employees had kidnapped another employee. He simply paid for the tickets, declared his firearm, and gave her his bag.

When he spun around, Hatch was running toward him. Breathing heavily, he handed his bag to the woman.

Jake passed him a second firearm form, which Hatch hastily filled out and returned to the woman.

“Have a nice flight,” she cheerfully exclaimed as she set their bags on the conveyor belt.

Jake handed Hatch his ticket and they rushed toward security. “I’ll fill you in when we board.”

Hatch nodded.

There were only five minutes to spare when they reached the gate, and Jake used those to call Raeann.

She answered immediately. “Jake. I haven’t been able to reach Marilyn yet. I left a voice message and several texts.”

Shit. “Okay. We’re about to board the plane. Leave me a message if you find out anything.”

“I will. Be careful.”

Ten minutes later, they were in their seats. Luckily the flight was not full. Jake told Hatch everything he knew while the plane took off.

“Lord. That’s not a lot to go on. Needle in a haystack.”

“Let’s hope they got something on the security cameras.”

Hatch nodded. “For all the good that will do. Even if they have ten angles, all it will prove is what we already know. We can’t know where Richman took her after he left the hotel.”

Hatch was right, but Jake had to hope there would be some kind of tip to go on. Otherwise, he was going to lose his mind in a matter of hours. He glanced at Jake again. “Maybe he didn’t leave the hotel at all. Maybe he’s holding her