Page 53 of So Savage

Turk looked up at her, whining plaintively.

“He’s fine,” Faith said.“I promise.We need to go find Jennifer.”

“Damn it!”Marcus cursed over the radio.“House is empty.”

Faith’s heart sank further.“What?You’re sure?”

“Yes, Faith, I’m sure,” Marcus snapped.“We just cleared the whole damned property, so unless Garcia finds a mysterious hidden compartment somewhere, the house is fucking empty!”

“Keep it together, Marcus,” Faith said sternly.“Put an APB out on both of them now.Get the MPs looking for her.Call the airport police too.In fact, it might be worth calling neighboring agencies.”

"Yeah, I'll do that, Faith, but what are we gonna find?You think Martinez will survive the ass-whooping Delgado got?"

“Focus on what will go right, Detective,” Faith said, echoing her mentor’s mantra.“Not what could go wrong.”

After a brief pause, Marcus said, “You’re right.I’m sorry.It’s just… Shit!”

“I know,” Faith agreed.“This sucks.Call animal control for the dog, then meet me in the house.We’re going to set up here for now while we try to figure out where he might have taken her.Do you still have units at Kane’s house?”

“Yeah, Garland and Eli are there waiting for CSI.”

“Keep them there even if CSI finishes.And send more units to back them up.Do we know what kind of car Peter drives?”

“I’ll look it up.Let’s see, uh… Shit, we don’t have his license.”

“Stay calm, Marcus.We can ask Public Safety—”

"I know how to get a driver's license, Faith."

Faith clammed up.She was clearly not helping the situation.She resisted the urge to throw her radio into the fence, and that told her that her own emotions weren’t under control.

Turk whined and looked back at the dog.Kane clearly wasn’t here, so she decided to let Turk stay with him.“Go ahead, Turk.Protect.”

Turk sped to the downed dog’s side and stood with his head high and his ears alert.Faith jogged into the house, cursing inwardly and struggling to stay calm.

Marcus stood in the living room talking to dispatch.“…white Jeep Gladiator, Minnesota license plate HHR093.Driver is Peter Kane, thirty, Caucasian male, six-foot-four, two hundred twenty-five pounds.He is believed to have kidnapped Jennifer Martinez.There are signs of a struggle at the residence and a chemically sedated K9 in the backyard.”

When Marcus mentioned a struggle, Faith looked around and realized that the living room was indeed torn up.The tv had fallen over and the screen had shattered onto the carpet.The couch was pushed off of center, and in the dining room beyond, Faith saw that one of the chairs was on its back.

Jennifer had fought too.That worried Faith.Peter had badly beaten Delgado when she fought him.

He might not know that we’re after him.He might think he’s in the clear, and that might keep her safe until he gets where he’s going.

The problem was that Faith had no idea where he was going.For all she knew, he was already there, and Jennifer was already dead.

No!She couldn’t believe that.They’d saved people buried underground before.They could save her.They had to.

She wished desperately that wanting something badly enough guaranteed that you’d receive it, but she knew better than that.Sometimes you could do everything right and still fail.

Not this time.Please, not this time.

***

Jennifer’s head smacked against something hard.She jolted to wakefulness and reached for her rifle.“Shit!ISIS units attacking!Everyone move your asses!”

Except she didn’t reach for her rifle because her hands were bound behind her back, and she didn’t warn her squad about ISIS because she had tape over her mouth.She blinked and looked around.She wasn’t in a foxhole.She was in the backseat of a pickup truck.The man driving the truck was one of those tall, lanky-muscular types.

Her memory came flooding back to her, hearing noises outside, coming out to see Bear on the ground with a needle in his leg, hearing the whoosh as another needle missed her by inches.She'd run inside and locked the doors to call nine-one-one, but he found a way in anyway.She'd fought as well as she could, but he had jammed her in the thigh with one of those darts, and less than a minute later, she was dead to the world.

---