Mending Hearts (The American Soldier Collection 11)

“Do you remember that night a couple of weeks ago we came in here and those guys were hitting on Alana?”

“Yeah, we got rid of them.”

“Well, later on, some guy was at the end of the bar talking to Alana. He was playing with die, rolling it between his fingers.”

“Really?” Jim asked as his cell phone rang.

Jaxon started asking Gabe about the man and the dice.

Jim stood up and locked gazes with Gunner.

“What’s going on?”

“We got a name, fingerprints, and a suspect. He lives in Tranquility.”

“What does he look like? Who is he?” Gabe asked as Gunner walked over.

Jaxon explained what Gabe had shared about the man with the die.

“Hold that thought,” Gunner said and then pulled up an e-mail on his phone.

“Did he look like this guy?” Gunner asked.

Geno and Gator looked at it.

“That’s him,” Geno said.

“Oh shit, Alana,” Gabe said just as Gunner’s phone rang and Kenny and Jim’s radio’s went off.

“There’s a disturbance at the boutique. The silent alarm went off by the back door,” Gunner told them.

“Alana. Oh shit, he could be trying to take Alana,” Gabe shouted.

“Let’s move,” Jaxon yelled, and they all hurried out to their trucks. Gabe was scared out of his mind.

“I never should have allowed her to go there tonight. It’s not even her regular shift,” Jaxon carried on as he hopped into his truck. Gunner, Jim, and Kenny were already squealing out of the parking lot, lights flashing and heading into Tranquility.

“I hope we’re not too late. God, let us get to her in time,” Jeb said, and they drove in silence as each of them tried to call and text her.

* * * *

Alana struggled to get free. Neil had been so busy tying her hands up that he hadn’t even seen her cell phone. His focus was on her breasts, and she knew she needed to keep him from seeing her cell. As he drove out of town, she heard the sirens and could hear the police cars passing by them. She had been right. The silent alarm had gone off.

She needed to get her phone on and call the guys before the signal was lost.

“Why are you doing this? Where are you taking me?” she asked as she moved her hands to her back pocket and tried to remember what buttons to press to get a call out.

She thought she heard a deep voice and panicked, thinking that it was one of the guys, and they were yelling to her through the phone. If she didn’t cover that up, then Neil would know she’d made the call. He looked at her, and she knew she must have looked crazy with fear.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this, Neil. What did I ever do to you?” she asked and turned so that her body was against the side door.

“I chose you, Alana. You and I are meant for one another. I told you this before.”

“When?”

“At the fair when I bumped into you. Now stop asking me fucking questions. I need to concentrate. We have to get to the cabin.”

“What cabin? Where?”