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

“It was definitely Hawke. Several surveillance cameras caught him carrying Shayla down the stairwell and into the parking garage. She was drugged.” Her voice hitched on a sob as if repeating this again tonight brought it all back to her.

“Shit,” Jake muttered, glancing at Hatch. They both knew that if Hawke had gotten that sloppy, he didn’t care who saw him. Plus, now they knew Hawke had definitely removed Shayla from the hotel. It was a bad sign.

“The cops don’t have any idea where he went next. He had a rental car. They have the plate and the information. It’s on all the highway signs. But it’s the middle of the night. Who’s going to see the signs? Whoever looks at them anyway?” Her voice was rising with every sentence. He couldn’t blame her, and she wasn’t wrong. It was a fucking longshot.

“Heather, listen to me.” He waited a moment for her to suck in a breath. “I have a lead. It’s a good lead. We’re headed there now. I want you to try and relax.”

“Oh, thank God. How did you get a lead?”

“His wife left a message. Hawke has a hunting cabin about an hour outside of the city.”

He could hear Heather’s breath whoosh out. “That has to be where he took her then. Please. God.”

“That’s my hope.”

“Are you going to call the police?”

“No. Not yet. I’ll call Jarvis when we get closer. I don’t want the cops beating us there and fucking things up.”

Heather’s breath hitched. “Right. You’re like a former GI Joe. I forgot. Good. Okay. Find her, Jake. Okay?”

“Doing my best. Sit tight. I’ll call you back when I know more.”

“’K. Thanks.” She ended the call.

Jake rubbed his temples. “We both know this could end badly,” he murmured.

“Don’t think like that. Yes, we know Hawke is totally unhinged. He has thrown in all his chips. It’s bad. I’m not going to lie, but there’s a good chance he’s still toying with her. He wouldn’t take her to his cabin and then immediately harm her. If he simply wanted her dead, he could have killed her in the hotel room.”

Jake closed his eyes and took deep breaths. “When you say ‘toying’ you mean raping. When you say ‘harm’ you mean mutilating. These are not good euphemisms. But you’re right. Hopefully, he didn’t intend to kill her the moment they arrived.”

“Guarantee it. We’re going to find her. She’s going to be okay. I can feel it. In my gut.”

Jake glanced at Hatch. The man’s gut was usually right. No denying that fact. And since Jake had little else on which to place his hope, he’d take it.

It took forty-five minutes before they came to a right turn on a gravel road. The last several miles would be rough according to the GPS. On top of that, they would want to abandon the car well before they arrived so they could take Hawke unaware.

Thinking they might lose cell reception, Jake finally made the call to Jarvis. He wasn’t surprised to get the man’s voicemail, and in fact, he’d been hoping so. The last thing he wanted was for the damn cops to come swooping in with lights and sirens and cause an unhinged man to tip over the edge and get reckless.

After leaving a message, he put his phone on silent and slid it into his pocket. He grabbed the two gun cases from the back seat next and handed Hatch his.

Jake swallowed back emotions he rarely experienced and faced his friend. “I’m going to go ahead and thank you right now. Not everyone has a friend who would drop everything and run for the airport. You give new meaning to the phrase, ‘bringing the shovel to help bury the bodies.’”

Hatch chuckled and shot Jake a glance. “Stop. You’d do the same for me, and you know it. In fact, you have.”

Jake didn’t say anything else. He needed a few moments of silence.

Finally, Hatch pulled the car over to the side of the gravel road and shut off the engine. “Let’s do the rest on foot.”

Jake nodded. “Agreed.”

Thank God he’d stuffed a jacket in his bag. It was fucking cold outside. He figured he wouldn’t notice it much as soon as they started moving between the physical activity and the adrenaline rush though.

“Should be about a quarter-mile up. I didn’t see any other structures on this section of road, so hopefully, we won’t pick up company,” Jake informed Hatch as he removed his gun from the case and palmed it. He watched as Hatch opened his case and grabbed several items. The man was more prepared for every eventuality. Thank God.

Time to get on the move.

Chapter 23

Shayla stared at the locked door. How long before Hawke stormed back in to see if she was awake? She was seriously concerned about what he had planned. He must have carried her out of the hotel, limp and drugged. When would someone figure out she was missing? Tomorrow when she didn’t show up at work?

Suddenly she bolted upright. No. That wasn’t true. Heather was coming to her room to watch movies. She would have realized Shayla was missing within minutes of her disappearance. Thank God. Then what?

She could only imagine how freaked out Heather would’ve been when she couldn’t find Shayla. Would the hotel staff open the door for her? Please, God. She had to pray that someone had already called the police hours ago.

That was good. Heather would’ve called Jake too. Immediately. Maybe he was on his way to Seattle. He would do that. She knew it. No way would he sit at home and wait for someone to find her. Not a chance.

Again, she wondered how long she’d been here. She had no clue. Only that it was night. She had to assume she was still in the Seattle area, or at least Washington. Surely it was still the same day.

Suddenly, the door busted open again, this time slamming into the wall. “Good. You’re up.” Hawke strolled into the