“I’m very disappointed in you, Gracie Lynn. I thought after that last lesson I was forced to teach you that you’d be more circumspect in the company you keep.”
No, it couldn’t be. Gracie struggled harder, kicking out with her legs, using her fingernails to claw at the hand clasped tightly over her mouth and nose. She heard him curse, but he didn’t release her. She fought harder, tried to kick him in the shin, but her legs felt like rubber. What was wrong with her? Suddenly, her vision blurred. Oh, God, he’d drugged her. Gracie felt herself being lifted into the air, and then there was nothing but darkness.
29
“Jesus, this guy is seriously twisted, Wade.”
Wade stared around the smal , dark room, anger twisting his gut at the sight before him. The wal s were papered with pictures of Gracie. Al four wal s were covered with them. Gracie heading to work. Gracie talking on the cel phone at the market. Gracie coming in and out of her apartment. Wade stepped closer to the bed, staring at the wal above the oak headboard. “Fuck, these are from outside her bedroom window!”
Jonas came closer and cursed. “He’s been watching her. A lot.”
Wade fisted his hands at his sides. “I’m going to kil him, Jonas. There won’t be anything left for Henderson, because I’m going to gut the bastard.”
Jonas grunted in agreement, then frowned as he looked around the room once more. “Look at the bed, Wade. The nightstand. The dresser.
Unless I’m misreading the message here—and I highly doubt that I am—he’s readied the place for her.”
Wade walked over to the nightstand. A pink brush with the tag stil on it sat next to the phone. A bottle of light pink fingernail polish and matching lipstick were placed on a little silver tray. On the bed lay a long white dress. Demure white heels were placed on the floor directly in front of the dress. Wade turned to Jonas. “What the hel ? Lusk think he’s going to marry her?”
Jonas pointed to a bottle of champagne on the dresser across from the bed; a box of condoms sat next to it. “I think that’s the plan. As crazy as it sounds, I think he’s set the stage for their wedding night.”
“Son of a bitch.”
Wade’s cel phone started to vibrate, interrupting his building rage. He yanked it out of the holder on his front jeans pocket and flipped it open. It was a message from Gracie, letting him know she was looking forward to their lunch date. Damn, how was he going to tel her about this? The pictures of her in various stages of undress alone would make her feel violated, much less the crazy scene he was staring at now.
Wade sent her a quick text, tel ing her he missed her. He’d have to think of a way to explain al this. Knowing how upsetting it would be for her had Wade cursing. Again.
“She’s been through enough,” Wade bit out. “These pictures are going to . . .” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.
Jonas slapped him on the back. “Let’s get some pictures of our own, then we’l head to the station and fil Henderson in on what we’ve found.”
Wade waited as Jonas walked around the room taking several shots of the bed, the dresser, the wal s. After he’d finished, they headed out the back door. They’d parked a street over, careful not to be seen. When they’d realized Lusk wasn’t home, Jonas had gone to work on the lock. It’d only taken a few seconds to get inside.
After they reached the truck and were on their way, Wade said, “We can’t just walk into Henderson’s office and show him pictures that we took of Lusk’s bedroom, which were taken after we broke into his house, by the way.”
Jonas shrugged. “He doesn’t have to know how we managed to get the pictures. For al he knows, we befriended Lusk, and the man invited us into his home.”
“Fuck it. I don’t care what we have to do or say. I just want this guy taken care of.”
“One way or the other he wil be,” Jonas promised, his voice ice-cold.
“One way or the other,” Wade repeated the vow as he gripped the steering wheel and took the corner faster than he should have. The prickly feeling, the one that told him something bad was about to happen, hadn’t gone away.
Within minutes they were standing in Detective Henderson’s office, watching as the seasoned detective flipped through the pictures on the digital camera. They’d already fil ed him in on everything they’d learned about the market George worked at, which Gracie visited every Monday, like clockwork. Once the detective reached the end of the pictures, he quietly placed the camera on the desk and looked up. “How did you say you came to be in Lusk’s bedroom?”
“We didn’t,” Wade ground out, not bothering to explain further. He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as Lusk was arrested. Keeping the freak away from Gracie was his number one objective. Nothing else mattered.
A muscle in the detective’s jaw jumped angrily as he pushed away from his desk and stood. “You say he works at the market that Gracie goes to every Monday. Does she remember him?”
Wade raked his fingers through his hair, his instincts firing at him that something wasn’t quite right. “No. Gracie has no idea what he even looks like.”
The detective let out a breath. “Is there anything else I should know before we investigate this guy?”
Wade couldn’t have heard him right. “Investigate?” Wade yel ed, as he stepped forward and planted his hands on the desk. “He needs to be behind bars, detective. Drag his ass in for questioning!”
“We can’t pul random people off the street just because you say so, Harrison!” he yel ed back. “It doesn’t work that way. We need probable cause.”
Jonas pointed to the camera. “Did you see those pictures? He’s set the stage. He’s going to take her. My guess is soon.”