Page 93 of Rekindle My Heart

Chapter 20

The house was dark, and Ryan could hear Karma going crazy on the other side of the door. He rang the bell again. Nothing.

Cupping his hands around his face, he peered into the windows. Where was she?

When she darted from the car, she’d cut between the houses like she did years ago. He jumped back into the car and in ten minutes was knocking on her parents’ door.

Mr. Randall answered, “Yes.”

“Hello, sir, I don’t know if you remember me.”

“Sure do. You were practically joined at the hip with our daughter.”

Sarah. Ryan dropped his eyes. “Yes, my condolences.”

“Thank you, but I was talking about the other daughter.” He stepped back and let him in.

Ryan followed. “Speaking of her, is Erica here by chance?”

“No, I haven’t seen her today. Let me ask Ruth.” He called for his wife.

Ruth Randall’s smile dropped when she saw who stood in her living room. “Hello, Ryan. It’s been a while.”

He nodded. Now was not the time to get into it. “I’m looking for Erica. Have you spoken with her tonight?”

“No, why?” The color in her cheeks fell away.

He ran his hands through his hair. Expecting eyes watched him. Shit. He didn’t want to get into this with her parents.

“Is she alright?” Ruth pulled out her phone, dialed, then chewed on her thumbnail. “Erica. Erica, pick up. It’s important.”

Her father grabbed the phone. “Honey, it’s Dad. Call us.”

“She could be fine. I just, we had a fight. Well, not a fight, but… she stormed out, and I can’t get ahold of her.”

“I didn’t realize you two were in communication.” Ruth tapped out a text on her phone. Most likely to Erica.

“We reconnected through a work project.” He wasn’t going to say more. He handed her his card before he turned to leave. “Please call me if you hear from her. I was just at her house, and Karma was the only one home.”

Mr. Randall grabbed his keys. “I’m going to check on Karma.”

“I’ll go with you,” Ruth said.

The door closed behind Ryan. “Where would she go?”

He thought about the events since she’d joined the task force. Her air mask quit working. Not a bone in his body felt that was an accident.

Then he was shot at. Or were they aiming at the tire? An experienced shooter like Sarge could hit both those tires with clean shots. If not for his quick reaction time, the truck could have killed him. It would look like an accident. Who would expect someone to shoot out the tires?

He did.

Then the assault and erasing of her laptop files.

Now she was missing.

Fuck. He slammed his fist on the steering wheel. He scrolled through his phone, and Walker Evans’s number popped up. He tapped the name.

“Hello.” His voice vibrated through the car’s speakers.