“I don’t know where she is!” Carson was tempted to pull the weapon he had strapped to his ankle, but that wouldn’t help the situation. Besides, this was a friend, the only guy who’d ever made Carson feel like he could be someone. Feel like he was important. He’d given him his identity and he could take it away.
Carson drew in a calming breath. “Come on, man, I thought she was at the hospital, but no one could tell me where she was. There was no Rachel MacCallum brought in. The other girls were there, but I couldn’t get to them to ask if they knew what happened to Rachel. They had people all over them. Family, cops, just too many. I’m not worried about them talking, though. We’re too careful. There’s no way they can provide any information that would lead the cops to us.”
“I’m not worried about the others. They can be replaced. Rachel can’t. She’s the means to the end goal—and she has to stay alive until we reach that goal.”
“I know,” Carson said, subdued. His friend was right. Without Rachel, their bargaining power was gone. “I’ll find her.”
His partner raked a hand through his hair. “This could be a disaster.”
Carson wracked his brain trying to put a positive spin on the situation. Desperate, he blurted, “Okay, so, the lost income hurts. We’ll have to build up the inventory again, but the auction can go on as planned with the remaining girls. No one knows anything. Everything is under control.”
“She knows what you look like.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t matter since she knows me as someone else. She doesn’t know my real name.”
The man in front of him calmed slightly. “Right. That’s true.”
“So chill.”
“I won’t chill until he’s dead. And that girl was our ticket to make sure that would happen.”
“Hey, I didn’t put her on the truck,” Carson said. “Manny did.”
“So, Manny’s calling the shots now?”
“Look, the other girl—Skye—wouldn’t shut up. I thought about drugging her but didn’t want to do that since the auction was so close. Rachel was able to keep her calm and quiet. Stillman and the others were supposed to bring her back as soon as they delivered the rest of ’em.”
“Stupid. Unbelievably stupid,” he muttered.
“Take it up with Manny.”
“Oh, I plan to.” The quiet words sent a chill up Carson’s spine. His friend had always had a reputation for ruthlessness, but lately, he’d taken that to a new level. But Carson owed him and that was that. Not to mention the fact that he was also the means to an end—making as much money as possible. So, as loyal as he was to this guy, he was even more loyal to his own bank account. Just the thought stiffened his resolve.
“How much insulin is left?” his friend asked.
“Not much. One pod, I think. And her PDM is in the office.”
“Hmm. Well, we don’t need much. If her father doesn’t do as ordered, it’s a moot point. It’s not like we need her alive for the auction. No one would buy her with the high-maintenance medical issues she has.”
“Maybe,” Carson said. “You never know. She’s one of the prettiest ones we’ve ever had.”
“Right.” His eyes narrowed as he thought. “That’s actually true. And we don’t have to tell anyone she’s got the issues. I’ll think about it.”
“So, what do I need to do now?”
“Find the girl.”
“I can do that.”
“You might want to start at the hospital again. That’s the first place they’ll take them. She’s got to be there. Maybe she just wasn’t processed when you were asking about her.”
“All right, I’ll try again.”
“And this time, make sure you don’t fail.” A pause. “You know I love you like a brother, but I can’t have any weak links. Make sure you cover your tracks.”
Carson shivered at the unspoken threat. He knew the man would make good on it. He’d watched him kill before. One minute he’d been sharing a drink with the man at the bar. Ten minutes later, in the alley out back, he’d put a bullet in the same man’s head.
Maybe it was time to get out while he could.
4
Before Beth could explain about the shirt, the doctor had come in to examine her. After prescribing her more insulin and praising her that her sugar levels were only slightly elevated, he left the room.
Beth let out a breath. “Your cousin disappeared?” she asked.
“Yes. Wearing that shirt. So, please. Tell me?”
“It was in a box at the house,” she said slowly. “He told me to find something. This was scrunched up at the bottom, but it was the most decent thing in there.” She shuddered. Tears flooded her eyes and she looked away. After several long silent moments, the tears disappeared and a blank, fixed look covered her features.
A coping mechanism, Chloe thought. Survival mode.
When Beth recovered her composure, she remained quiet, her eyes staring at the wall.
“Who told you to get something to wear? And where’s the house?” Chloe asked.
Beth shook her head. “It doesn’t matter about the house. They change locations every few weeks—and you can be sure as soon as they heard about the wreck and us being found, they cleared out. And I don’t know where to tell you to begin looking anyway. It could be anywhere.” She tilted her head. “Although, it’s probably within an hour’s drive from here.”
“Yeah. Okay. So . . . what about the ‘who’?”
“I . . . um . . . don’t know his real name. One of them went by Manny.” She looked away, then at her watch again.
“Do you know a girl named Penny St. John?”
Beth hesitated. “Is she your cousin? The one the shirt belongs to?”
“Yes. Do you know her?” Hope sprouted.
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t remember her name anyway. What does she look like?”
Chloe pulled up the last picture of Penny on her cell phone. Wearing the same shirt Beth had on.
She held the screen so Beth could see it.
“Wow. I see what you mean. It is the same shirt.”
“Penny disappeared six months ago. She left to go on a date and never came home. How did they get you?”
Beth’s laugh held no humor. “There was this really cute guy. Nice. I’d known him for a couple of weeks, but wasn’t interested in dating him. I already had someone I had my eye on.” A hint of a smile curved her lips, then disappeared. “My friend thought I was crazy not to return his interest. Anyway, she texted and told me to meet her at ‘our place.’” She wiggled her fingers around the two words. “That she had a surprise for my birthday.”
“Where exactly is your place?”
“On the steps near the big fountain in Finlay Park.”
“I’m familiar with it. What happened when you got there?”
“Linds had a blanket on one of the steps with some special sugar-free cupcakes and balloons. She yelled, ‘Surprise!’ when I walked up. And at first, I thought it was cool and sweet. But then Carson and another guy came over to us.”
A chill swept Chloe. She knew that name. “Carson who?”
“Langston.”
“Whoa.” The room spun for a moment and Chloe blinked to steady her gaze.
The girl frowned at her. “What is it?”
“Carson Langston was the name of the guy my cousin was last seen with. We’ve looked everywhere for him, but it’s like he dropped off the face of the planet.”
“It probably isn’t his real name.”
“Yeah. We figured that, but didn’t have a face or any other name to go by. He was a definite dead end.”
“The other guy’s name was Manny, but I didn’t catch a last name. Anyway, their appearance kind of ruined the moment, but I was like, whatever. So, we actually ended up having a pretty good time. I could tell Linds was proud of herself, and while I wasn’t crazy about the guys being there, I didn’t want to sound ungrateful. When we were ready to leave, they insisted on walking us to our cars and after that it’s all pretty fuzzy.”
The cars. Had they been found? She made a mental note to ask.
“How did he knock you out?”
“I’m not sure. I remember something wet hit me in the face. When I woke up, I was in a cage.” Her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared. “Like an animal. Lindsey was next to me.”
She glanced at the clock on the wall once more. Her face crumpled and Chloe moved to take the girl into her arms. Beth leaned against her and sobbed.
“Tell me who to call, honey. Your mom?”
She shook her head and the tears continued to flow. “She’s dead.”
“Your dad, then.”