Page 94 of Still Afraid

Chloe skirted the large hunk of debris that blocked her view of where the clothing rack had pinned Richard.

The top of the wall was no longer there, but a small blood stain streaked the spot where Richard had been. The clothing rack was there, moved to the side. But no Richard.

Unless he had been swept up into the tornado, this wasn’t over.

She had no way of knowing. Inching forward, wary of every corner and pile of debris, she looked for evidence of their captor. She was as afraid of finding a dead body as she was of finding him alive. It was probably too much to hope they’d find him trapped but alive.

Aaron went around from the other direction, and Chloe kicked at debris, glad she was wearing tennis shoes and not flip-flops. She moved toward where Richard had been. Maybe they’d find a cell phone in the office area, or perhaps they’d be lucky and a landline would still be connected.

She needed to find a weapon of some sort in case Richard appeared out of nowhere. Her knife must have flown out of her hand at some point, or she’d dropped it. Too much had happened to know when it left her grasp.

For all the debris, she didn’t see anything useful as a weapon, and she didn’t find Richard’s gun either.

She neared the corner where a partial wall remained, closing the office off from what was once the stock room.

The gun. She spotted it under a fallen-over shelf, five feet past the door. In a burst of speed, she went for it, but only two steps in, she was jerked out of her motion. Hands yanked her against a broad chest. Richard.

“I’ve got you now.”

Chloe’s stomach churned. What was she going to do?

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Josh’s phone rang and, after Bonnie handed it to him, he answered it without looking at who the caller was.

“Are you guys safe?” It was Buck.

“Hunkering down in my guest bathroom.”

“Good. There’s a nasty tornado not far from you. Reports are coming in of extensive damage, and it’s still on the ground, so stay put.”

“We’re keeping an eye on it too.”

“I’m calling because I have news.”

“Let me put you on speaker.” Josh clicked the speaker icon. “Go ahead.”

“Between a search of Aaron’s apartment down in Chattanooga and talking to some of his friends, we were able to find some connections worth following up on. One of his buddies who had been camping with him last weekend wasn’t super cooperative at first, but caved quickly. He gave us the most important lead. It’s a local tycoon who apparently has his tentacles in many arenas.”

“Cut to the chase, Buck,” Jesse said.

“Richard Montego.”

“Wait, what? Seriously.” Josh couldn’t believe it. Could the guy demanding money from him for the wedding venue be connected to Aaron?

“According to this friend, Aaron had been bragging about taking something from Montego after they’d worked a job for him.”

“The drugs.”

“Presumably.” Buck cleared his throat. “But that’s to be figured out later. Right now we’re making a list of all properties associated with Montego so we can search them once the weather clears.”

“Thanks, Buck.”

“Wish I could be out doing more right now. We’ll find her, Josh.”

“Buck?” The strain in Bonnie’s voice wrecked Josh. “Is Gabe safe?”

“I just heard from him over the radio. He’s good.”