Page 108 of Heartsong
Carrie’s mouth fell open. “Anna, I don’t—”
“I hope the police had a good warrant because I’ve given them no probable cause. I’ve been a good employee. I had nothing to do with the heist, and I don’t deserve this.”
Anna spun on her heel and marched out of the office, her steps hurried to hide how her knees wobbled.
“Anna, wait!” Carrie called after her, but she didn’t stop.
She rushed back to the front desk, stopping only to grab her purse and coat from the lockable compartment. There were a few things stored in her employee cubby in the breakroom, but she wasn’t willing to stay longer for a hairbrush and second-favorite lip balm. She needed to get out.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Carrie hurrying for the front of the museum. They locked gazes across the vast space, and for a moment, from the shock on her pretty face and concern twisting her brows, Anna could almost believe Carrie genuinely hadn’t known.
Shaking her head, Anna strode for the front door, ignoring Carrie’s entreaties to wait.
Anna hurried up the street and ran to make the next light. Honks followed her for keeping up traffic as she hustled onto the other side long after the light turned. She looked over her shoulder to see Carrie outside the Milton Building, checking up and down the street.
Anna quickly turned and walked away, hoping traffic hid her retreat.
Her steps were fast, her heart pounding as she fished her phone from her pocket.
She still hadn’t figured out exactly what she should say to June Parkhurst, but she’d programmed the art historian’s number into her phone. Her stomach churned when the call went straight to voicemail, though it was a little relief to hear June’s voice say to leave a name and number.
“June, hi, it’s Anna Kincaid from the museum. I just quit. You’re right, you’re absolutely right, there’s something strange going on. We need to talk. Call or text me anytime.”
That done, next she dialed Frey’s number.
It rang four times like it always did and went to voicemail. Even though she knew he wouldn’t pick up, couldn’t pick up, every unanswered ring made her heart lurch with panic. She waited impatiently for the tone and breathlessly launched into what she’d just done.
“I did it, I just had to quit, I couldn’t stay there, I’m coming home early, I just need to be home and with you. I don’t know how much they know but this can’t be legal, it has to be harassment. We’ll find a new place, we’ll move somewhere better and if they keep coming at me, we’ll get a lawyer and figure it out, but they can’t just keep doing this, it has to stop sometime, and I just—” she gasped for breath, the words pouring out, “I couldn’t take it anymore. We’ll figure it out, okay? I’m telling myself that, too. We’ll figure it out together. We’ll find a way to help the others and we’ll break this fucking curse and we’ll do it on our terms, okay? No more of letting them do this, we gotta—”
Tires screeched, punching her eardrum, and Anna recoiled as sleek black metal rushed past her. The momentum of the vehicle sent her careening to the side, an SUV bouncing up onto the sidewalk just a few feet away.
Terror deeper and colder than she’d ever felt scraped through her as she watched doors fly open and men in tactical gear come pouring out before the SUV even came to a stop.
She’d only had the thought to turn, torun,when gloved hands reached for her, pulled at her coat, ripped her phone away. Anna opened her mouth to scream, but there was another hand. She bit on it, tasting leather, but it wouldn’t let her go.
The commandos caged her in and hurried her toward the waiting SUV.
Never get taken to a second location.
Anna dug in her heels and struggled for all she was worth, but there were too many. They dragged her to the SUV and threw her inside.
The doors shut behind them with a resoundingclap,and then it was dark.
30
The face staring placidly at her from the front passenger seat was all too familiar, but that didn’t mean Anna believed it. Detective Ramirez would’ve been her first guess. Then maybe the buff delivery guy. Even Gavin Gwyneth himself.
Definitely not Andrew Glendower, in his crisp coat and silk scarf.
Anna could feel the car moving, the rumble of the engine and sway of the two big men, bracketing her on either side of the bucket seat she’d been shoved into, all registering somewhere in her brain. She thought maybe they were headed in a familiar direction, knew she should be paying attention to where they were taking her, but every time she tried to look out the windshield, her gaze snagged on that clean-shaven face.
He gave her a sort of wan smile and apologized for the suddenness of it all, as if she’d have appreciated a slower, more methodical kidnapping. “It wasn’t meant to go like this, you understand,” he went on, “we wanted absolute confirmation that the creature is with you before barging in, but then you found our little bug and, well, we had no other choice.”
Anna gritted her back teeth, seething inside with a boiling rage and potent fear. Glendower, not the cops, had been the ones bugging her computer?What the actual FUCK?
Some of her rage must have shown on her face, though she tried hard to keep her expression neutral.
Glendowertskedand sighed, as if he’d done his best to reason with her. Turning to the guard next to her, he said, “Phone.”
