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Trent let the video play out until the van used the north exit too and headed east, same direction as the car.
The time stamp showed 4:50 AM.
“Son of a…” Malone spun, a hand on the top of his head. “Did we just see what I think we did?”
The sergeant didn’t require an answer. What they had just watched was self-explanatory.
Katherine Graves had been abducted, and poor Leah Bernard had lost her life as nothing more than collateral damage.
SIX
Katherine jostled with every bump in the road, every uneven patch the tires ran over. She was left unrestrained in the back, a mistake on the part of her captor. As soon as the back doors were flung open, she was going to launch herself at him. Unless he had a gun on her, which was probable.
That poor sweet girl at the counter didn’t stand a chance. Katherine didn’t think she’d ever be able to erase her look of sheer terror and shock when she was shot the first time. She clearly recalled the sadness that dulled her eyes and shadowed her expression when the second bullet struck her. She had known she was going to die. Regrets over adventures she’d never have flashed across her face, more tangible than science could ever explain. It wasn’t even a concept Katherine would normally entertain.
Katherine gasped as the recollection pierced her soul, and she grieved the young woman she never knew. She’d clearly been a gentle soul with her cheery greeting and holiday-themed headband. She didn’t deserve to go out like she had. That was for sure.
But Katherine’s thoughts were also on what the man had planned for her. It couldn’t be good. To start, he hadn’t hesitated to kill a young woman to get to her.
And while being a cop most of her adult life meant she’d learned to stay calm under pressure, right now, threads of her sanity were barely hanging on. She was freaking out.
Being a cop left one with a slew of enemies, and she had her fair share. She’d even received threats before. Maybe she should have taken them more seriously. Just like she’d dismissed the sensation of being watched recently as paranoia.
Her mind served up a slideshow of suspects, but it did her little good. Until she understood what he wanted, she’d be left guessing at motive and his endgame.
And where is he taking me?
It felt like they’d been driving for a long time, but with her nattering mind, the passage of time wasn’t reliable. There were no windows back here, making it a black cube and robbing her of situational awareness. She didn’t know if five minutes had passed or an hour. This didn’t help calm her mind any. Instead, it had her conjuring up an isolated area so remote that no one would hear her screams for help. She trembled thinking that if he’d wanted to kill her, she’d already be dead. His plans for her must be even worse. The possibilities of torture and sexual assault paraded through her mind. Or a violent death by drowning, being burned alive, or suffocated. Another option was a drawn-out death from neglect, thirst, or starvation. She could be stuffed in a box and left to wait until the oxygen ran out!
Shivers tore through her, and tears rushed down her cheeks.
Will this be how I go out?
She hated how her mind was working against her. If she was going to survive long enough to escape, she needed to get it together.
Think, Kat, think!
A few deep breaths had panic subsiding just enough to afford her some objectivity. The entire scenario at the gas station spoke to an orchestrated attack. Two accomplices working together. The shooter had been calm when he shot that girl, and it had her speculating whether he had killed someone before today.
Katherine pinched her eyes shut. Focus, focus, focus. Who would want me dead?
But her thoughts were going wild, making it hard to pluck out any one person. Maybe she needed to consider another possibility. After all, some aspects testified to a professional criminal while other elements did not.
One, they struck in a public place with cameras. Why not target her at home? This was obviously not random. They must have followed her from home, but she hadn’t noticed a tail.
Two, they had left a body behind for the police to find.
And speaking of they, there were two of them. The second one’s size told her it was likely a woman, possibly the man’s girlfriend. It was all the uncertainty that attacked Katherine’s sanity, threatening to topple her reasoning. And she needed her head, to keep her wits about her. Continuing to paint hypotheticals would drive her crazy. She had to focus on what she knew, even if it was little.
The pair had abducted her and were willing to kill to get to her.
If she could muster some patience, she’d discover who they were and what they wanted soon enough. As her anxiety about herself eased some, her concerns shifted elsewhere.
Poor Aunt May!
She’d be expecting her at the diner. When she found out what happened, how would she handle the news? Who would be telling her? Katherine wished it was Amanda. They had butted heads when she’d first transferred to the Prince William County PD, but she had quickly grown to respect the detective. Her partner, Trent Stenson, too.
Yes, she needed them on this. Neither of them would stop until…
