Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Emerson nervously tapped the passenger window frame with her fingers as Callum rounded the car and slid into the driver’s seat. She was nervous but trying like hell to calm her racing heart.

The commissioned piece was on its way to its new owner. Callum had gotten a call as she was finishing her transaction, and he’d stepped outside the small facility. She’d taken advantage of his moment of distraction and quickly used the ATM next door, withdrawing as much money as she could.

The handbag at her feet was almost empty. The cash and her phone were both in her pocket. The bag was just for show. Part of the plan she’d frantically scrambled to come up with.

Escaping Callum’s watchful gaze wouldn’t be easy. But this would work. It had to.

Before they’d left the Airbnb, she’d sent a text message to Mrs. Henry. She hated involving the older woman, but she had no one else. She’d also texted Rowan. Her ex-husband would help her.

Thank God for both of them. There was no way she could have done this on her own.

She wasn’t thinking long term. The here and now was critical. If she left, Levi would follow. And she needed that to happen. Because Levi killing Tyler and his friends, or Tyler and his team capturing and doing God knew what to Levi…

Nope, those outcomes didn’t work for her. She couldn’t live with herself if anyone died.

The scenery out the window changed without Emerson really seeing a thing beyond movement. She had to focus on the plan and not on the fact that she was leaving Tyler. God, he’d stolen into her heart so quickly. And she would likely never see him again.

She closed her eyes and begged her mind to accept that reality.

“Hey.”

Her eyes popped open at Callum’s gentle word. She swung her head around to look at him. He’d pulled out of the parking lot.

“You okay?” he asked.

She swallowed. Time to set the last piece of her plan into action. “I haven’t really eaten today. Any chance we can grab some food?”

He nodded. “The Grind is just down—”

“Actually, could we stop at the other café? The one down the road, Brown Bird? You guys are always at The Grind, and I don’t really feel up to running into anyone today.”

He’d probably assume she was talking about Tyler, but she meant all the guys. Plus, she was sure Jason had security-proofed The Grind. She’d been to the other café. Knew there was a window in the bathroom above the basin, near the ceiling…and it had been ajar during her visit, proof that she could open it easily enough.

His eyes softened. “Sure. But we can never breathe a word of this to Courtney.”

He smiled at her, and a flood of guilt riddled her chest. “Deal.”

She nibbled her bottom lip as Callum pulled onto the street with the café. Nerves trickled her spine, and thoughts of Tyler once again tried to change her mind. She didn’t let them.

Once Callum was parked, she grabbed her handbag and climbed out of the car. He stepped into the café first, his gaze sweeping the shop, no doubt taking in every person, before heading toward the back corner booth.

He sat with his back to the wall. When he placed his phone on the table, she shot a quick look at the time. Two minutes. That’s how long she had until Mrs. Henry got there.

She lifted the menu, trying to appear like she was reading.

A waitress stopped at their table, her gaze brushing over Callum with interest. “Hi, I’m Kasey. What can I get you both?”

She didn’t even catch what Callum said. A buzzing had started in her ears. Fear that maybe this wouldn’t work.

The waitress’s attention turned to her. She read the first item on the list. “A cobb salad, please.”

Emerson waited until the woman left the table before looking at Callum. “I might just pop into the bathroom.”

He nodded.

Strategically, she left her bag on the bench seat. Because women didn’t run without their purses, right?

She gave him another smile, then with legs that weren’t quite steady, she pushed up from the booth and beelined for the bathroom. The second she was inside, the air whooshed from her chest.

The window was ajar, just like last time. And not only that, but the bathroom was empty.

Quickly, she climbed onto the sink and grabbed the windowsill. She had to move fast. Callum wouldn’t wait for long before he came looking for her. She had to be gone by then.

The screen unlatched easily, and she pulled it out. The second she set it down, she hoisted herself up and through, then dropped to the ground with a quiet thud. Slight pain shot up her legs, but she ignored it and ran to the end of the alley.

Another exhale of relief left her lips when she spotted Mrs. Henry’s red car on the side of the street, idling. Emerson slid into the passenger side. Right away, the woman pulled from the curb.

“Are you okay, dear?”

She’d told Mrs. Henry she needed to get out of town quickly. That it was a life-or-death situation, and if Tyler found out the reason, he’d be in danger. None of it was a lie.

“I am now.” She touched Mrs. Henry’s arm. “Thank you so much.”

“Of course. I grabbed your bag from the cabin like you asked. Are you sure you want me to take you to Economy Car Rentals and not the police?”

“Yes. Getting out of town is the best option right now.”

Worry flickered over the woman’s face, but she nodded.

Before Emerson could talk herself out of it, she whipped out her phone and typed in the text she’d been wanting to send all day. A text she’d held off on because it would alert Tyler that she was leaving.

But now, before she disappeared, she needed to tell him…

I’m sorry it didn’t end the way we were hoping, Tyler. I’ll always wish things could have been different. I’d like to cancel the contract to locate and bring in Levi. Thank you for the time you put into the search. And thank you for giving me a part of yourself, even if only for a short amount of time. I’ll take that with me and cherish it forever. Em x

She hesitated for several agonizing minutes…then hit send.

Once that was done, she switched the cell off. She had no idea if he could trace her location when it was on, and she couldn’t take the chance.

Thank God Rowan had organized the car and accommodations for her. The hotel was a couple of hours away. And even though driving away from Tyler would kill her, it would be worse if she stayed and something happened to him, or he did something she could never forgive.

Steve was speaking to the team through a video call, but Tyler could barely concentrate. He kept glancing at his damn phone, his fingers twitching to pick it up and text Emerson. Call her. Anything to connect with her. He’d expected to do so before now, but this meeting was last minute.

“The incident was in Hailey, Idaho.”

Tyler dragged his attention back to Steve, his brows creasing. “That’s close to us.”

“Really close,” Steve agreed. “And the timeline doesn’t fit his MO. It’s only been four days since the last victims were found.”

“So he’s accelerating his timeline,” Blake said quietly. “Why?”

Steve scrubbed a hand through his hair. “My question too.”

Jason leaned forward. “Tell us about the victims.”

“Victim one was nineteen-year-old Chloe Jarvis. She was charged with hitting and killing three pedestrians with a car, including an infant. She was given three years’ probation instead of jail time. Victim two was her older sister. Only, she didn’t die in the fire.”

There was a small moment of surprised silence before Flynn spoke. “So she can tell us about the people who took her?”

“Unfortunately, not. Or not at the moment, at least. She was running, possibly in shock or fear, when she stepped straight onto a road and was hit by a GMC Sierra. She’s in intensive care.”

Tyler cursed under his breath.

“How were they kidnapped?” Liam asked.

“Chloe was taken from inside her home. No neighbors heard or saw anything. But there was blood on the floor, probably from the laceration we found on her head.” Steve shuffled through papers. “Her sister, Lauren, who’s currently in intensive care, was leaving her retail job. Never made it to her car. But when the local community was made aware of the missing women, a man came forward and said he saw a guy with his arm around a woman’s waist, walking to a white sedan in the parking lot of her workplace. The day and time matches. He said the woman was leaning heavily on the man. When Lauren was found, she had drugs in her system.”

So they had two leads. The woman, if she woke up, and the witness.

“Just a sedan?” Blake asked.

Steve sighed. “He didn’t get a plate number, or the make or model.”

Damn.

Liam tapped keys on his laptop. “What did he look like?”

“Witness claims it was too dark to distinguish features and the guy was wearing a baseball cap. Body wise, he was about six feet and slim. He believes the guy was younger, though. Suggested mid-twenties.”

Which gave them almost nothing. Tyler ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

“So that’s the only evidence we have until Lauren wakes up?” Jason asked.

“No. There was also skin found under Chloe’s fingernails.”

Tyler leaned forward. “She scratched him?”

“Yes. So we have DNA, we just don’t know who it belongs to.”

That was better than nothing.

“Strange that he’s so close,” Liam said, almost talking to himself.

Really strange.

“If you give us the witness’s address, we can go talk to him.”

The guys started talking details, how they’d best be able to help, but Tyler’s attention once again drew to his phone. He needed to talk to Emerson.

He swallowed, then spent the next ten minutes trying like hell to concentrate. He was tapping his fingers on the table when his phone vibrated with a text message.

A message from Emerson.

He clicked into it.

I’m sorry it didn’t end the way we were hoping, Tyler. I’ll always wish things could have been different. I’d like to cancel the contract to locate and bring in Levi. Thank you for the time you put into the search. And thank you for giving me a part of yourself, even if only for a short amount of time. I’ll take that with me and cherish it forever. Em x

Unease trickled down his spine. Cancel the contract? He quickly read it again, his gaze catching on five particular words.

I’ll take that with me.

Take it with her where? Was she planning to leave?

He pushed to his feet, ignoring the way the guys shot curious glances his way. He was about to call Emerson when his phone rang.

Callum.

Dread crawled through his stomach.

Something was wrong.

He answered the call, putting it on speaker so his team and Steve could hear. “Tell me you have eyes on Emerson, Callum.”

“We stopped at Brown Bird for lunch, and she snuck out the bathroom window.”

His blood iced in his veins.

“I’ve checked the streets,” Callum continued, guilt and anxiety riddling his voice. “I couldn’t find her. I’m in a shop across the road now, the owner’s offered his CCTV footage from the front of his store. It has street coverage. We’re searching it now.”

Tyler’s chest rippled in frustration and fear.

“If she got into a car, give me the plates and I’ll run it through the system to find the owner,” Steve said from the screen.

The next couple minutes felt like a lifetime. His body itched to go. Move. Find her.

There was the muffled sound of Callum talking to someone else. Three minutes later and he spoke again. “Got it. She got into a red Honda Civic.”

Callum recited plate numbers, but the second he heard the description, Tyler’s muscles had stiffened. Steve started typing, but he didn’t need to. Tyler already knew who owned the car.

“Glenda Henry,” Steve and Tyler said at the same time.

Tyler cursed. “She’s my neighbor and Emerson’s Airbnb host. I’m going to call her now.”

The second Callum hung up, Tyler tried Mrs. Henry. The call went to voice mail. Dammit.

He was moving before he could stop himself. Out of the office and down the stairs. Footsteps of his team sounded behind him. As he ran, he called Emerson’s number. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t answer, but he had to try. He needed to hear her voice. He needed assurance that she was okay.

Straight to voice mail.

He ran faster. He had to find her. His gut told him if he didn’t, he wouldn’t like the outcome.