“Savannah said she’s not picking up.”
Or she can’t. Kyle banished that thought from his head. She was fine. It was all a case of him overreacting. But there was a sick feeling twisting in his gut. Why hadn’t she reached out to anyone?
This was all his fault. He never should’ve let her walk away. Had something happened to her? Kyle supposed the next step would be to check the hospitals, but he was sure if there had been an emergency, he or Trent would have been notified.
“Could that security friend of yours in Las Vegas run her credit cards? Maybe we could figure out what hotel she’s staying at.” If Kyle knew where she was staying he could stop worrying.
“You don’t think that’s a little extreme?”
“May I remind you that someone sent her a teddy bear with a camera in it. Not to mention that her being out of contact for this long is unusual.”
Trent paused for a couple seconds after considering Kyle’s words. “I’ll give Logan at Wolfe Security a call.”
Feeling no less agitated despite their plan, Kyle shot Nate a message and then began to pace. Twenty minutes later, Trent called back.
“Logan ran her credit cards, and got a hit on a couple charges in Barstow. One of those was at a gas station. Which wouldn’t be unusual if she drove back to Las Vegas, except it seems she turned in her car at LAX last night.”
“She turned in her rental, but she didn’t get on a plane.” How had she gotten to Barstow? “What’s going on?”
“What if she had her wallet stolen?” Trent suggested.
“Then she wouldn’t have been able to get a hotel room and I’m sure she would’ve called you or Savannah.”
“Maybe she got a ride from someone back to Vegas.”
“Who?” And why would she do something like that? Especially without telling anyone? Kyle grabbed his keys and headed for the door. “I’m catching the first available flight to Vegas. It has to be where she was going.”
“Are you sure you’re not overreacting?” Trent asked.
Was it crazy to think something might have happened to her? That her stalker had tracked her down in LA and kidnapped her? Maybe this was all just a huge misunderstanding, but Kyle’s gut told him something was wrong.
Kyle shook his head. “There are too many weird things going on.”
After a brief pause, Trent asked, “Should we call the police?”
And tell them what?
“I want to,” Kyle said. “But it hasn’t been forty-eight hours and Nate hasn’t responded to my text or voice mail. As soon as I hear from him, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, can you send me Logan’s number?”
By the time Nate called back half an hour later, Kyle had spoken with the security expert and had been reassured that they’d check into video footage from the Barstow gas station and send a car to Trent’s Las Vegas house to see if she’d arrived there. Despite Logan’s calm demeanor and crisp efficiency, Kyle wasn’t at all reassured.
“Neither Mia nor I have heard from her,” Nate said. “How long has she been missing?”
“She texted me last night that she was heading to a hotel. That was around midnight.” He went on to explain how Logan had tracked her credit card to LAX and then Barstow. “It’s as if she’s heading back to Vegas by car. We just don’t know the exact circumstances.”
The slow pace of traffic on I-405 south had given him ample time to work himself into the beginnings of an anxiety attack.
Nate latched onto Kyle’s concern. “You’re thinking she’s been abducted?”
“I’m thinking the logical explanation is whoever’s been stalking her finally made his move.” Kyle let that sink in for a second. “It’s not like her to disappear without saying anything to anyone.”
“No, it’s not. Have you thought about calling the cops?”
“Yes, but she hasn’t been gone long enough for them to start looking for her.”
At the moment, Kyle was regretting not reporting the previous strange incidents to the cops, but with all the crime that happened in Las Vegas every day, who could say if they’d even look into something as obscure as a few anonymous gifts?
Damn it. He never should’ve left her alone last night. He’d thought she was safe in LA. What had possessed her to take off for Vegas without saying anything to anyone? It just wasn’t like her, making the possibility that she’d been kidnapped much more likely.