Faceless (Sinister Secrets Book 2) by Candle Sutton (best motivational novels txt) 📕

video up, he zoomed in on the abduction.

The image pixelized, but he was able to make out the man jabbing something in Cummings’ neck.

He checked the timestamp again, then watched until Cummings stopped struggling.

Thirty-two seconds.

Not a lot of drugs had that quick of a turnaround time.

The video continued to roll. As the van pulled up, he zoomed in on the license plate.

The image was too blurry for him to make anything out, but maybe the tech guys could clean it up. They were practically miracle workers.

He paused the video as the van pulled away and turned to his team.

“Looks a lot like the other abductions.” Sid leaned back with his fingers laced behind his neck.

With her attention locked on the monitor, Kevyn’s forehead wrinkled and her lips pursed slightly. “It does… but there’s something…”

Dak turned his attention back to the video. Had she noticed something unusual?

Backing the video up, he replayed it. Nothing new stood out to him. He refocused on Kevyn. “You see anything?”

She slowly shook her head. “Something’s bothering me, but I don’t know what it is.”

“It’ll probably come to you when you least expect it.” Felicia grinned. “Like in the middle of the night. That’s how it usually works for me.”

Kevyn didn’t look convinced, but they didn’t have time to wait for her to figure it out.

“Felicia, take a look at our vic’s financials. Sid, you get her social media, family, and friends. Kev, you track her movements. We’ll reconvene when JD gets here.” While they all focused on the latest vic, he wasn’t quite done looking at Noelle Orson. So far, she was the anomaly. Maybe her abduction could point them to the location of their remaining vics.

Or maybe he was chasing his tail.

There was only one way to find out.

₪   ₪   ₪

Stacy Cummings didn’t have much of a life outside of work.

Sounded hauntingly familiar. Kevyn pushed the thought aside.

The work schedule she’d gotten from Cummings’ boss showed Cummings working at the bar from 4:30pm-1:00am for the last four days. Today should have been her day off.

No telling how she would have spent it if she hadn’t been abducted.

The GPS on Cummings’ cell phone confirmed that she had only been to work, her apartment, and a corner coffee shop during the last two days.

A visit to the coffee shop was in order, not that she expected to find any leads there.

If only she could figure out what was bothering her about the Cummings abduction! It felt important, but she couldn’t nail it down.

She’d watched the video four more times. The feeling that she was missing something persisted, even though she couldn’t figure out what that something was.

Maybe if she watched the videos from all four abductions back-to-back. Maybe that would help.

She returned to the conference room and closed the door, then cued up the video for Jason Boggess’ abduction. Slowing the speed slightly, she leaned against the table and watched the action unfold.

The cocky swagger, the waiting van, the injection and swift abduction. Nothing new.

Next, she watched the Andrews abduction.

No cocky swagger, but still a waiting van, injection, and swift abduction.

She brought up the Orson video. No waiting van, just like with Cummings. The van jerked to a stop beside Orson, the man jumped out and forced her inside…

Wait!

Her skin tingled and her muscles jerked as she launched off the table.

That was it!

She backed the video up and watched it again.

Noelle looked across the parking lot. In the direction of the van. Before it drove toward her.

Almost like she knew it was there?

Maybe she’d heard it coming, yet she didn’t seem concerned or alarmed.

As the man jumped from the back of the van, Kevyn slowed the video further and zoomed in.

The low-resolution of the video blurred the faces beyond recognition. Even so, the video clearly showed Orson looking at her unmasked attacker.

Orson saw him. For more than just a brief look.

So why had Orson lied and said she hadn’t gotten a good look?

She watched as the abductor gripped Orson’s forearms and shoved her into the waiting van.

Was it her imagination or did it look like Orson was actually working with him instead of fighting him?

A rock settled in her stomach.

Had the whole abduction been staged?

It would certainly explain Noelle Orson’s disposition at the hospital, the way she hadn’t seemed too worried about the attackers returning.

But why? What would Noelle Orson hope to gain by staging her own kidnapping?

She restarted the video.

No denying it. Noelle Orson not only saw her kidnapper, she seemed to know they were coming and also didn’t seem to resist like she should have.

Now that she looked more closely, the abductor in this video didn’t look like the one from the previous two videos. While the men who’d abducted Boggess and Andrews were both built like football players, this guy had a more average build.

She switched over to Stacy Cummings’ abduction, focusing in on the build of the abductor. Large. Like the Boggess and Andrews abductions.

But not like Orson’s.

It was always possible that the abductions were the work of a large crew, but there were too many things that didn’t add up with Orson’s abduction.

Not the least of which being her quick release.

She settled back against the table with a jarring thud that made her tailbone hurt.

What did it all mean?

₪   ₪   ₪

“Got her.”

Tio looked up, frowning at Zane’s announcement. Zane had already told him that they’d abducted the latest target last night. Why did he feel the need to announce it again? “You told me that this morning.”

Zane’s head wagged atop his thick neck. “Not that one. Mitch’s girl.”

What? Now that was interesting.

Less interesting was that Zane had