Were they behind Lolly’s disappearance?
“I’ll wait here for the cops to show up,” Arrow offered. “I have photos of her on my phone from her birthday party, I’ll give them to the cops. I’ll also call Eagle and let him know what’s going on.” Eagle Oswald was their boss and founder of Prey Security, the company he now ran with his five younger siblings.
“I’ll ask Mackenzie to start asking her friends if they know where she went,” Bear said. Being a woman, Mackenzie would be less intimidating to a bunch of seven-year-olds than a team of huge, muscled special forces operatives. “I’ll talk to the parents.”
“The rest of us will start searching the park,” Surf said with an encouraging nod.
“She can’t have been gone long,” Domino added. Only they all knew that it only took seconds to complete an abduction if done right.
Unable to stand around doing nothing productive to find his missing daughter, Mouse merely nodded at his teammates, then took off running. He was glad he wasn’t here alone today because despite his training, he was pretty sure he would have fallen apart and that could have meant the difference between life and death for his little girl.
“Lolly! Where are you?” he screamed as he ran, praying for an answer he knew might never come. His daughter had been the only reason he’d survived losing his wife. How would he survive losing his sweet little girl?
* * * * *
February 14th
5:00 P.M.
Phoebe Lynch ran like the devil was chasing her.
Maybe because that was how she felt.
It had been two months since she’d moved from California to New York City, and so far, everything had been quiet.
Well, not completely quiet. She’d had the feeling of being watched for a few weeks now and had it just a minute ago as she ran past the playground. And someone was sending her creepy letters. The letters were addressed to her place of work not her home, and while they weren’t threatening in any way, actually they were nothing more than a blank sheet of paper, they had definitely creeped her out.
Her cousin had helped her get the new job when she moved here and had even set her up in an apartment owned by her husband’s family. Since she wasn’t renting in the traditional sense, it made sense that her ex didn’t know where she was living but did know where she was working. There was no way to completely hide her identity, not unless she told her cousin everything and allowed her contacts to help.
That wasn’t something she was ready to do yet.
Part of her was hoping it would all just blow over and her life could go back to the way it had been before.
Before she met the man of her dreams.
A man who had slowly morphed into the demon of her nightmares.
Phoebe hadn’t thought she was the kind of woman who would find herself trapped in an abusive relationship. She was strong, smart, and had a good sense of self-worth. She’d worked hard through law school and gotten a family law job at one of California’s most prestigious firms. She had lots of friends, enjoyed a healthy sex life, and had strong bonds with her family. The idea of letting a man hit and control her seemed so absolutely foreign that she could hardly believe the last eighteen months hadn’t all been some horrible bad dream.
The lingering pain in her shoulder told her it was no dream.
The opposite in fact. It was horrifyingly real.
But you’re free now, she reminded herself. Hopefully.
Even as she had the thought, she knew it wasn’t true. He’d told her she would never really be free of him. That he wouldn’t let her go. That she was his and the only way out was death.
Fleeing to the other side of the country should have reassured her that she’s escaped from his clutches. It might have if it wasn’t for the letters and the feeling that someone was watching her, following her.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe she would never truly be free.
It was stupid not to have told her cousin everything, but she was embarrassed. Her cousin was so strong and had survived something so horrific it was the stuff of horror movies. Only it was no movie, and she’d almost lost her very best friend in the entire world. They were more like sisters than cousins, had grown up together, and she knew that her cousin had the resources to help free her from her ex.
But to get access to those resources, she’d have to admit how stupid she’d been not to see him for who he really was.
How weak she’d been not to leave the first time he put his hands on her.
Phoebe wasn’t ready to do that yet. Wasn’t ready for anyone to know her deepest, darkest shame. She’d turned into a person she barely recognized, one who was just a shell of the woman she used to be.
It was becoming harder to pretend that nothing had changed, that she was still the old Phoebe, the one her cousin knew and loved. Sooner or later, everything was going to come spilling out, she knew it and accepted it, but wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
There was no way her cousin would understand how Phoebe had gotten to a point where she had allowed a man to control and abuse her. She’d let down the one person she loved the most in the world, and that was motivation enough to keep her mouth shut.
If she was lucky, her ex would get bored and move on eventually.
With a sigh, she shoved away the voice in her head that told her that would never happen. That men like him didn’t let go of what they believed to be their possessions.
She’d never be free.
Ready to head back to her apartment, Phoebe pushed her body harder. Running had been her thing for as long as she could remember, it settled her, centered her, and catered to her need to always be active and busy. It had also been her life saver during the last eighteen months.
Her ex hated running, but he wanted her to look her best, so he indulged her desire to go for a nightly run after work. Those couple of hours away from him might only delay the inevitable of what happened when she got home, but they also gave her the strength to endure it.
As she approached the road, her attention was snagged by a little girl in a red beanie flanked by two large men gripping her arms and marching her along between them.
Something wasn’t right.
Phoebe didn’t know how she knew that, but her gut told her the child was in trouble.
Increasing her speed, she ran past the trio then stopped up ahead and pretended to stretch. They were on one of the roads that cut through the park and maybe a dozen or so yards from the road.
As surreptitiously as she could, Phoebe glanced around. Her gaze fell on a white van pulled up at the side of the road right where this street ended. The destination of the two men all but dragging the child between them?
Was this an abduction she was witnessing?
The little girl’s gray-blue eyes met hers for a second and she saw the terror in them. Recognized it because she knew for a fact it was the same look she’d had in her own eyes when she looked at her tormentor. There were tear tracks on the child’s face, and the two long blonde braids that peeked out from under her red beanie were messy. There was also a tear in the black dress with the hearts on it.
The child had fought.
More than Phoebe could say for herself.
Anger flared to life inside her. Her ex had started off slowly, at first, she hadn’t even noticed the signs. When she had she’d tried to leave, but when he found her, dragged her back, and punished her, she’d let her fear take over. It had become about staying alive, nothing more.