“I’m taking you away from here, away from those meddling Chase boys. Now be a good girl and walk out of here. I don’t want anyone getting suspicious.” He yanked her upright and held her by the hair and she tried to kick him but got the leg of the table instead and knocked it over. Weeping now, she tried to grab at the doorway to hold on but he elbowed her in the face and the darkness fell over her again.

After two hours Kyle began to really get worried. “What could be taking so long? She said she’d be back in less than an hour and it’s been nearly two.” Kyle grumbled to Matt and Shane. Most likely she’d bumped into Liv and they were chatting about the engagement and he was worrying over nothing. Still, he had a strange feeling about it that only got worse as the minutes passed.

“Why don’t we take a drive over there? Maybe she had problems with the pipes. If so, you know how she is, she’s probably trying to do it all herself,” Matt said laughing.

“Yeah, let’s. It’s not like her to not call if she’s going to be held up.”

They pulled up and saw the Saturn in the drive. “She’s still here.”

“Stay here,” Shane said and was out of the car before it had stopped. Kyle, sensing that something was wrong got out too, following his brother. The front door was wide open and the table near the entry was on its side, the glass vase and bowl that sat upon it, broken, pieces all over the place.

There was blood on the doorjamb. A bloody handprint. “Jesus. Where is she?” Kyle meant to yell but it came out as a whisper. He was suddenly cold.

“Go back to Matt’s car. Call the station on your cell phone and tell them I said to send out a car with two officers. On the double.” Reaching back, he took his gun out of the shoulder holster he had on.

“No, I’m coming in.”

Shane turned and shoved Kyle, hard. “No you are not, damn it. This is my job, Kyle. Do what I tell you and do it now. You’re endangering me and her by not listening.” He turned away, closing the discussion and slowly walked into the house.

Matt approached and Kyle turned and ran to him. “Call the station now! Tell them that Shane said to send out a car with two officers, on the double.” Matt nodded and got on his cell phone. Kyle began to pace.

Back in the house, Shane walked up the stairs. The sight of the blood on the light colored carpet runner sped his heart. He crept along, listening for any sound but heard none. Entering Maggie’s bedroom and saw the bedside table had been overturned and blood on the floor and then on the wall near the door, as if someone had grabbed it to hold on and pull away from someone dragging them. He walked in carefully, not wanting to disturb evidence and he saw Maggie’s engagement ring on the center of the bed. He swept the rest of the room and the upstairs but found nothing. By the time he came downstairs, the other officers had arrived and had gone through the first floor.

Kyle couldn’t seem to stop shaking as he waited out on the front lawn. Matt was with him, an arm around his shoulder. Seeing Shane come out of the house broke Kyle’s stillness and he ran over. “Where is she, Shane? Is she all right?”

“She’s not here. Kyle, I’m going to tell you what I saw in there but I need you to hold it together, okay?” Stunned, Kyle nodded and Shane exhaled and continued. “There’s blood in several places. Her ring is on the bed. There was a garment bag of clothes but it’s on the floor like she dropped it. Kyle, it looks like there was a struggle. There’s a blood trail from the bedroom, down the stairs and to the front door. The officers are taking blood samples so that we can run a match. Thank goodness we got that grant money to have better lab equipment here, but it will still take time to identify the blood and the bloody handprints at the doorway. Kyle, the handprints are very small though. I’m guessing they’re Maggie’s. I think she was attacked and taken.”

Kyle’s eyes went wild, his heart threatened to burst through his chest in terror for her. “No! Damn it, Shane, find her!”

Shane grabbed Kyle’s upper arms and got in his face. “Keep it together, Kyle. She was still alive when he got her to the door. That handprint shows she tried to fight. She won’t give up, Kyle, remember that.”

“It’s Alex, you know that! Find him.”

“I think so, too. I’ve called the judge and asked for a warrant to search Alex’s apartment and he granted it. We’re going to go over there now.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

“No, Kyle, you can’t. This is police business. I can’t take the risk of you losing it and messing with evidence. Go back to the condo or to Mom and Dad’s. Heck, raise a search party. But do not to go Alex Parsons’ house.” He paused. “We will find her, Kyle.”

He turned and stalked off, getting into the squad car he took with another officer recently arrived.

Matt hugged his brother tightly. “Let’s go back to Mom and Dad’s to get people out looking. We’ll drive Nan and Pop to your place in case she shows up and Grammy and Gramps can stay at Mom’s in case she comes there.”

Polly was beside herself but Edward and Peter helped by organizing everyone. Polly stayed back with her parents and Nan and Pop went over to the condo to wait there. They split up and took opposite sides of town to search. They all had cell phones with them and a description of Alex’s car.

Shane called in to tell Kyle that Alex had taken a suitcase and some clothes. Dee was at the bank, checking the records to see if he’d pulled any large amounts of cash out of his account recently.