“No signs of a break-in,” Ian said. “We tried calling her phone, found it in our bedroom. Nothing that says struggle either, but I can’t imagine Coco hurting a fly.”
“I don’t think she would if she had any other choice, but sheisa fighter. If someone were taking her against her will, I have to believe she wouldn’t go without kicking and screaming and clawing their eyes out.”
Hudson was right. Their little girl was so sweet she could give a guy a toothache just by looking at her, but if someone were trying to drag her away from them? He couldn’t picture her not fighting tooth and nail and making a hell of a racket. Unless…
“What if… What if someone did take her, but not by force? What if they talked her into it?”
“Bribe her you mean? She’s not gonna follow someone to their van in a dark alley because they offered her candy or told her they had a puppy. Girl’s got a serious case of stranger danger. Or did you mean threaten her? With what? She’s never seemed particularly concerned with her own safety. That girl would set herself on fire before she’d—oh, shit,” Ian swore.
“Yeah,” Ryker said, scrubbing his hand through his hair. “What if Judah found her, stalked her until he knew she was alone, and then told her he’d hurt us if she didn’t leave with him?”
“That’s three against one,” Hudson argued, “and I could take that piece of shit one-handed.”
“Not if he had a gun,” Ryker muttered, seeing the whole scene playing out in his mind, imagining that fierce little girl being willing to give up her own life for the three of them. For him, after what he’d done. She was too good for him. But if they could get her back, he would spend every day of the rest of his life trying to be a man she deserved, a man who deserved her.
He took a deep breath to settle himself and then said, “I’ll be home in an hour. Go over the loft with a fine-tooth comb and see if you can’t find anything. Call Fable Morganson over at CCPD. Can’t file a missing persons report yet because she hasn’t been gone for long enough but Fable might be able to help under the radar. I’ll call some people while I’m driving, see if she said anything to anyone that might help.”