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“Keep going, Ms. Holden,” the detective says, rolling his hand a little to keep me moving.
“I came to in a car, but I have no idea how long I was in there for,” I start, but the detective adds, “Yes, that part we have a solid timeline on. We know almost down to the minute when you were abducted and then how long it took your captor to drive over the border into Nevada.
“I was at the Redwood Motel,” I now say, the detective nodding his head, noting that. “He handcuffed me to an old pipe under the sink. I kicked at the pipe till it came loose and then I used the ceramic lid on the toilet tank to escape. I hit him over the head with it when he came through the door.”
“Did you get a good look at him then?” Detective Simmons asks.
I shake my head, “No, he was still wearing the mask, and while I knocked him out, I was too afraid to check who he was. My biggest concern was just getting away from him.”
“I understand that. You then got in the car and drove to the fire station, is that correct?”
“Yes, he left the car running and the keys were in the cupholder, so I just left. I drove until I felt like I was safe. The first place I came across was the fire station.”
“Okay, that all matches up with what we were told by the fire station attendant,” the detective comments, again, taking a few notes. “We have the surveillance video from the hotel where the car was initially stolen. I have someone going through it. Hopefully we can get something from that.”
“I hope so. I never thought for a second that it was a stolen car. I honestly didn’t even think about that. I really hoped it was his car.”
“A guy like this, someone brazen enough to kidnap someone, isn’t going to use their own car, Zoey,” the detective says, a little humor to his words. “Now, is there anyone you feel like could possibly have wanted to hurt you? Anyone who might have been angry about something?”
I shake my head almost immediately without giving it much thought.
“How about at work? Anyone you’ve upset recently? Anyone outside of work? I notice you were at a work conference in Seattle. Did you meet anyone there?”
He’s rapid-fire tossing out the questions and that’s when a name pops into my head. But again, I tell myself it couldn’t possibly be her, but like the detective said, it could be anyone I interacted with in the last few months.
“Casey Kitterman,” I blurt out. “She works for me. Well, I guess she works for Ethan, but I’m her direct supervisor. She was gossiping about me, and I called her out on it. I also wouldn’t give her a recommendation for a job she wanted to interview for.”
It can’t possibly be Casey.
Or maybe it is.
CHAPTER11
ETHAN
It’s late by the time we finally walk out of the station, and I’m exhausted even though it was Zoey doing all the talking. As we reach the car, I stop and pull her into my arms. “You okay?”
She nods, her head resting on my chest as she wraps her arms around my waist. “Yeah, just glad it’s over. Sort of anyway.”
I exhale, kissing the top of her head. “I wish it really was over, but I get the feeling this isn’t going to be done anytime soon,” I reply, knowing that until this asshole is caught, it won’t ever feel over, even if Zoey is safe and back with me.
“I know,” she sighs.
“And I should fucking fire Casey for the bullshit she pulled with you,” I say, my anger once again flaring as Zoey’s words from earlier ring in my head. I cannot believe one of my employees was gossiping about us. And not only that, but that she had the nerve to accuse Zoey of holding that against her when she tried to get a better job at the lodge. A job she isn’t even fucking qualified for. She should be out the door right now. And if I find out she’s behind what happened to Zoey, fuck me, there will be hell to pay.
“Ethan,” Zoey warns, her arms tightening. “You can’t do that.”
“Yeah, babe, I can,” I say, running a hand down her spine. “And I fucking should.”
Zoey smiles, shaking her head as she pulls back and looks up at me. “You know what Detective Simmons said. We need to keep a low profile and act like everything is normal so he can keep an eye on things, see who reacts to me being back.”
I huff out a breath, not liking the detective’s suggestion one single bit. The guy even had the nerve to suggest Zoey and I don’t see each other either for a while, at which point I put my foot down, insisting that isn’t an option. In the end he asked if we could continue to keep our relationship on the downlow like we were doing before her abduction.
As much as I hated the idea of that, I also got it, because I can see how Detective Simmons wanted the opportunity to watch the people around us and see who might have cause to orchestrate something like this. Try and see who is watching us when they aren’t supposed to be.
“God, I fucking hate this,” I sigh.
“Me too,” Zoey says, her hand moving to my cheek. “But it’s over for today, so let’s go home.”
