“Remember the letters, Annabella.” I place my hand on the wall as the panic attack starts to take over. I do remember them. The threats that were made. They scared the hell out of me. Jackson would never talk to me that way. “Annabella?” I open my mouth, but no words come out. “I’ve sent a car for you. They’re outside. Grab your bag and go. Do you hear me?”
I do hear her, but I can’t respond. I drop the phone, stumbling my way toward the bathroom. The world spins while at the same time the sensation of it exploding all around hits me. I can’t pull it all back inside of me. It’s too much and getting harder to breathe. I need my medication so I can think straight at least.
Somehow, I make it to the bathroom, my knees hitting the floor as I pull open the cabinet under the sink. I knock everything over, unable to find what I need.
“Bells?” Suddenly Marly is there on her knees next to me. “Are you okay?” I can’t respond no matter how hard I try. I can’t find the words. The world is closing in around me.
We both turn toward the bathroom door when the unmistakable sound of a gun cocks.
“Annabella Cane, you’re coming with me,” the man in all black says.
“Who the fuck are you?” Marly shouts at him like he doesn’t have a gun in his hand.
“I’m her security.”
“No, you’re not,” Marly snaps back at him.
“Nina sent me.” He grabs my arm to try and pull me up from the floor.
“My meds.” I finally get some words past my lips before the world goes black.
CHAPTER19
JACKSON
My phone blowsup the minute I land in Northpoint. I get a dozen notifications—all from my sister. I thumb the latest one open.
CALL ME PLEASE IM FREAKING OUT
I don’t bother to read the others. “What’s up?” I ask when she answers on the first ring.
“Why don’t you have Wi-Fi on the plane? You’re supposed to be watching her at all times!” Marly cries.
“This flight didn’t have internet service. What’s going on?” I grab my pack and wait impatiently for the cabin door to open.
“They took her.”
“Who is they?” I don’t need an explanation forher.
“I don’t know. Men in suits showed up and said that they were her security, which I knew was a fucking lie because you’re her security, but they had a gun, and I didn’t know what to do and—”
She gets cut off and a new voice echoes in my ear. “Ted Lemon, your neighbor here. Marly’s in a state so I’m going to take over. David and I were out walking the dog, well, carrying because Fluffy just does not like the exercise, but that’s getting away from the important point. I know, Dave, I’m getting to the point. Like I was saying, we were walking by Bell’s house, and there was this black sedan out front, but you know what? It didn’t have license plates, which Dave thought was so odd. The next thing we know, some giant of a man was walking out of the house with Bell in his arms.”
“She was passed out,” yells Marly in the background.
“Yes, Marly says that Bell had passed out, not that the men hit her. We tried to stop them, but they pushed us aside. Dave even has a bruise on his face from some motherfucker’s elbow.”
There’s a gasp in the background. “I shouldn’t have used that word. I’m sorry, but every time I look at Dave, I get so upset.”
The cabin door opens, and I bolt out. Todd, from the company, is waiting for me at the exit. “I’ve got a car ready.”
“Debrief,” I bark as we run to the waiting SUV.
“Two black Acuras, based on surveillance footage. The camera we placed at the intersection indicates that they went north. We tapped—” He pauses as we both jump into the vehicle. “Go,” he orders the driver. “We tapped into some of the traffic control cameras and found them heading toward the airport.”
“Fucking Nina Townes,” I growl. “Where are they now? Must not be at the airport if we’re driving in the opposite direction.”
“We thought it was the airport, but we lost eyes on them. There’s a lot of signal congestion around here, and our tech team wasn’t able to keep the tracer. Later on, we found the two vehicles at a storage park fifteen minutes east of the airport. We checked all the airline manifests, and there was no passenger with the name Annabella Cane.”