Page 81 of Shadow of Doubt
Something woke Colin. He’d dozed off and jerked to his feet. How had he fallen asleep? Rookie mistake. Big, huge mistake. He should probably have had either Reid or Dev join him, but he didn’t figure there was any point in two men losing sleep. Too late now, and hopefully no damage had been done.
So what had woken him?
He glanced around the condo. At the rooms, with the moonlight filtering through the linen drapes and across the room.
Nothing odd.
Both bedroom doors were closed. No lights coming from beneath.
He went to the main exit to check the security of the lock. Found the deadbolt open.
What?Had Reid or Dev gone somewhere?
He jogged across the large space to their room. Pushed open the door.
Both men came to a quick sitting position.
“What is it?” Dev asked.
“The front door’s unlocked,” Colin said.
Reid swung his legs over the side of his bed. “And Brooklyn?”
Colin didn’t wait for Reid to get out of bed but turned and bolted down the hallway to the other bedroom. He knocked and waited for Brooklyn to answer. She didn’t respond.
His brain started imagining the worst, but she was probably just soundly asleep. He flung the door open. Ran his gaze over the room.
Her bed was empty. The adjoining bathroom door stood open, no lights on.
Was she in there?
“Brooklyn,” he called out.
No response. He raced across the room to the bathroom. Flipped on the lights. Searched. She wasn’t in there.
She wasn’t in the condo.
He scanned the bedroom again. Spotted a cell phone sitting on the nightstand. Hers? Who else’s would it be? He had to confirm. He dialed it. The ringer trilled in the quiet. His heart sank.
Reid and Dev joined him at the door.
He turned to look at them. “She’s gone. She’s not here. I don’t know where she is.”
Panic invaded his body. His legs were like rubber, and he could barely remain standing.
Reid took a step closer. “She has to be in the building, right? She doesn’t have the ability to access the fingerprint scanners at the exit doors, and the security is set up to require prints to enterandexit.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Dev said. “Maybe she went somewhere with one of the partners. Like with Nick. He’s likely up at this time of night, and they could be working on something together.”
“I would’ve heard him come up to get her,” Colin said.
“Not if she wanted to be quiet to let you sleep.”
“Okay, right. She’s likely with Nick.” Colin said the words, but they rang hollow even to him. Phone still in hand, he dialed Nick.
He answered, his voice deep. “Yo. What you need?”
“Is Brooklyn with you?” Colin fired into the phone like the sharp report of a bullet.
