“You’re hurting me,” she protested, yanking her arm back in an effort to free herself. “Let me go.”
He was strong, but adrenaline raged through her, fueled by her narrow escape. She kicked out at him, continuing to demand that he release her. Panic took ahold of her, turning her into a mindless, desperate animal. She needed to get away.
And then he let her go. Melody had a moment of searing relief before the left side of her face exploded in blinding pain. The impact of his hand against her cheek sent her stumbling backward. Her shoulder struck the wall leading into the living room and sent more pain blasting through her body.
Her father had struck her once. Not long after her mother had left. Melody had gone into a frenzy at the realization that she was being left behind and had screamed at her father, blaming him. At first he’d argued back, telling her to shut up and then to go to her room. But she’d been wild with grief and afraid of being abandoned. Looking back, Melody could barely remember what had been the exact trigger that caused her father to lash out and strike her.
It was all a blur of fear and pain. She’d never forgiven him, but probably as he’d intended, she respected his authority from that moment until she left LA to attend Juilliard at age eighteen.
“You made me do that,” Craig said, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward the stairs.
Melody refused to respond. Her face stung, but she kept her spine straight, unwilling to let him know how hurt and afraid she was. This was not the moment to aggravate him further.
Instead, she retreated to that same place inside her where she’d gone the day her father had hit her. She went there to survive and plan.
* * *
As Kyle stepped out of the gangway and into the Las Vegas airport, he received a text from Melody.
Everything is fine with me. Not ready to talk yet.
This should’ve eased his mind, but he couldn’t shake the anxiety as he texted her back.
Where are you?
Staying at a hotel. I don’t want to see you.
And right there he knew it wasn’t Melody.
His phone rang as he was contemplating how to respond. It was the security expert, Logan Wolfe.
“We’ve got her at that Barstow gas station with someone,” Logan said to Kyle. “We’re having trouble reading the license plate on their car, but we have a good picture of both Melody and the guy she’s with from a camera inside the station. I’m texting a photo to you. Do you recognize him?”
Kyle glanced down at his phone’s screen and saw the photo. It was off security footage and not the best quality, but something about the guy seemed familiar. One thing was clear: Melody wasn’t afraid of the guy.
“I don’t. I’ll forward the photo to Trent and Nate. Maybe they’ll have better luck. In the meantime, I got a text from Melody saying she’s okay, but I’m pretty sure she’s not sending the message. She claims she’s staying at a hotel.”
“And we know she was on the road between LA and Las Vegas last night. You think it’s the guy she’s with?”
“It would make sense if he’s got her.” Kyle was surprised how steady he sounded.
Damn it. Who was this guy? When Kyle got ahold of him, he was going to put him down.
Kyle’s hands shook as he sent off the photo to Trent and Nate and hoped they were both standing by.
“Thanks for all your help, Logan.”
“We’ll keep at the security footage. My guys have some pretty sophisticated software. Hopefully they’ll make some progress on the license plate.”
“I’ll let you know if Trent or Nate recognizes the guy.” Before he could sign off, he had a text back from Nate. “Wait a second. Nate says it’s Craig Jameson. He’s a sound engineer at his recording studio.” Kyle tried to picture the guy and couldn’t.
“We’ll check him out and get back to you.”
Kyle was staring at the picture when his phone lit up with Nate’s number. He answered immediately. “Who is this guy?”
“Nobody. I mean he’s totally normal. Dull even.” Nate paused and Kyle could imagine him shaking his head, equally baffled. “I’m racking my brain, but can’t think of a single instance when he said or did anything inappropriate. Around Melody or anyone else.”
“So he just snapped?”