The Omen’s nose wrinkles at my unfiltered recollection and Oren snickers from the corner. When The Omen doesn’t interrupt this time, I continue taking him through the full sequence of events..
“After I built our fire, I realized it’d been too long and she should’ve been back already; she only needed to gather up her weapons. When I went to look for her, I saw her phone smashed on the ground, but there was no sign of her.”
I pause, trying to gather my thoughts as panic tries to claw its way through the icy control I’m struggling to maintain.
“I ran back to the cabin and saw a vehicle, but I can’t remember what it looked like. Everything at that point becomes a blur. They rigged my car to explode, and the force threw me into a tree.”
The Omen watches me, his face an unreadable mask as I retrace the events from last night.
“I tried to get to her,” I croak, shaking my head, unable to look him in the eye as reality sets in. “Malia had destroyed my phone, so our only communication to the outside world was hers. They blew up my only transportation. The only thing I could think to do that would get someone’s attention in the middle of nowhere was start a big-ass fire. The cabin is gone.”
The Omen nods.
“Elijah Castello has handled the situation in North Carolina with the house, fire marshal, and medic you kidnapped.”
He eyes me, then takes a step closer.
“The cabin was destroyed, but it served its purpose. Had you not done what you did, Malia would be gone, you could be dead, and we would have nothing to go on.”
“How would they have been able to get the jump on her?” Oren mumbles from the corner. “That’s what I can’t figure out. It’s not like she wouldn’t be able to get out of an ambush.”
The Omen rubs his chin in thought.
“They would have had to incapacitate her somehow,” he says. “If they went at her head-on, Liam would have heard some sort of struggle and there would have been a body, even if they restrained her. No sign of blood where you found her phone?”
I shake my head.
“None. I didn’t notice any signs of struggle, but I also wasn’t looking that deep.”
“Tranq,” Oren offers.
The Omen dips his chin.
“It’s possible. Clean and quiet, and it would put her down quickly and without a fight.”
Oren and The Omen talk back and forth about how someone could sneak up on Malia like that. If they had to completely disable her to do that, how are they going to deal with her when she wakes up from being tranquilized?
I don’t know which frightens me the most: knowing these people were able to get to Malia, or that she could be drugged and who knows what is happening to her while she’s incapacitated.
“We need Deavers,” I interrupt their conversation.
“You need to rest,” The Omen counters. “You need to sleep.”
I snort. “I have a concussion.”
The Omen hums. “Then you need to shower, lie down, and rest for a few hours. Until we know where to start, there’s not much we can do. Hazel is working on looking into street cams in the towns around the cabin.”
“First off, I just gave you a place to start. Wayne Deavers,” I snap. “You know? The man that was stuffing your wife. Second, you don’t have anything to go on with the vehicle Malia was taken in.”
He huffs out a laugh.
“I should shake his hand before you kill him, but he’s only a pissant who wouldn’t be privy to anything Tawny was up to. Someone she could use but keep under her heel. Both surrounding towns only have one stop sign, it won’t be hard to find the vehicle.”
“Then I wouldn’t bet on anyone having that type of security,” I say flatly.
The Omen purses his lips, his annoyance the first emotion I’ve seen him display since he walked into the room.
“I’ll grab Deavers while you rest, Li,” Oren says before The Omen can respond, stopping the argument between his boss and me before it can start.