Devoted to Her (Dream Date Book 2) (35 page)

“So, no one has any idea of Judith’s whereabouts?”
Hayden asked. He was sitting at a corner table in the burger joint. Amanda,
Nathan, Christopher, and Caldwell were with him. Medina was nearby, standing
guard.

“And she’s not answering her phone, either,” Amanda
said. “I’m getting more nervous by the minute.”

Hayden looked at Christopher.

“Yesterday, did Judith tell you or suggest to you
where she would be going?”

Christopher thought about it.

“No. Judith only told me that she’d see me today in
school. That tells me she had no intention of going away or something.”

Hayden rubbed his chin.

“What’s the possibility that they kidnapped Judith for
money?”

“We’ve considered that, too,” Caldwell told him. “Ms.
Tilley says that Judith’s family wouldn’t find it easy to pay a large amount of
money.”

“Has anyone received any ransom calls?”

Amanda, Christopher, and Nathan shook their heads.

“And Judith hasn’t made any enemies recently, I
assume?” Hayden asked. He got the same answer. “Has anyone contacted her family?”

“Emmy let me know that she called Judith’s parents,”
Amanda replied. “There was nothing out of the ordinary. They think everything
is still normal.”

Hayden nodded, absorbing the information.

“I believe it would be a wise idea to wiretap Ms.
Tilley’s phone. And also those of Judith’s parents, in case anyone calls for
ransom,” he said.

“If this is truly a kidnapping, would they be likely
to call Amanda?” Nathan asked.

“It’s a long shot, I admit, but Judith’s parents are
not in the city. And Ms. Tilley is relatively wealthy. I wouldn’t discard the
possibility that whoever kidnapped Judith did it because of her connection to
Ms. Tilley.”

Nathan looked at Amanda, concern etched on his face.
He grabbed her hand.

“What are the chances that this is connected to the
mugging and the hit-and-run?”

“That’s a big leap to make,” Hayden said to Nathan.
“It’s better to wait until we have more information about this situation.”

“Would it be wise to involve the police?” Christopher
asked. “Caldwell says that they have a time frame that must end before they
declare someone missing.”

“That’s true. It’s inconvenient, but understandable. There
have been plenty of subjects believed to have disappeared or gotten kidnapped.
They turned out to have just run away from unpleasant lives, eloped, or other
trivial stuff.”

The group paused, collecting their thoughts.

“I need to go to Judith’s apartment building to see if
I can learn more,” Hayden said.

“Do you need us to come with you?” Amanda asked.

“That’s up to you. I think it would be helpful if you
were there. The other tenants are more likely to speak to you than to me.”

They all stood up.

“I’ll return to Cornell,” Christopher said. “See if
Judith happens to be around.”

Amanda nodded. Then she turned to Nathan.

“I’ll be with you.”

With that, they left the restaurant. Nathan again
followed the others in his car. Since they were heading to the Cornell campus,
they would drop off Christopher there.

Caldwell parked in a lot near the dorm building.
Amanda promptly got out of the car. Nathan caught up with them.

“According to Christopher, he stopped in that road
when he brought Judith back.” Amanda pointed to the stretch of road directly in
front of the entrance to the dorm building. Hayden walked there.

“At what time was Judith dropped off?” he asked.

“It was around eight fifteen,” Amanda replied.

“Then it was already dark. The best time of day to
kidnap someone without any witnesses.”

Hayden walked around the entrance, surveying the area
for signs of a struggle. Then he looked around for a spot where someone could
hide. There was a group of bushes on either side of the entrance. Hayden walked
over to them.

“Would you be able to see me here in the dark?”

Nathan and Amanda turned to look at Hayden.

“Most likely not,” Nathan said.

“If there was a kidnapper, he or she most likely hid
here. Or also around one of the corners of the building. They probably snuck up
to Judith and silenced her.”

Hayden walked back to the group.

“When Medina questioned the tenants, did he ask them
if they heard any screams?”

“No,” Caldwell said.

“Then let’s go and find out.”

Amanda and Nathan followed Hayden inside the building.
Caldwell and Medina were also with them.

“If you excuse me, I need to use the restroom,” said
Amanda. “I’ll meet you outside afterward.”

Nathan and Hayden both nodded. She walked away in the
direction of the restroom. Amanda knew where it was, having come to visit
Judith several times in the past. Caldwell followed her.

When Amanda was inside the restroom, her smartphone
rang. She looked at the caller ID. It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” Amanda asked.

“Amanda Tilley,”
said a woman’s voice.
“You will do exactly what I tell you, or your
friends will suffer the consequences. If you’re not alone, ACT NORMAL. Now,
answer this question with a yes or a no. Are you with someone right now?”

Amanda had frozen midway through listening to the
message. She slowly looked up, staring at herself in the mirror above the sink.
Amanda glanced toward the door, wondering if Caldwell had heard the phone
ringing.

“No,” she whispered.

“That’s good, bitch. Now, I want you to come to me
alone. Find a way to escape those gorillas of yours. I’ve got Emmy and Judith
in my power.”

Amanda stared at her reflection in horror.
This
woman got to Emmy. How’s that possible?

“Do not involve anyone, especially the police, if you want
me to not hurt your friends. Is that clear?”

“Who are you?”

“Don’t ask questions. I’m going to give you my address
now. Again, come ALONE. I’ll let your friends go as soon as I have you with
me.”

After Amanda got the address, the kidnapper hung up.
She grabbed the edge of the sink, reeling. Now Amanda knew why Judith—and
Emmy—had been kidnapped. Hayden had been right. The culprit wanted Amanda.

Taking a deep breath, Amanda started to think about
how to escape. She’d already taken a somewhat long time in the restroom already.
Caldwell could get suspicious and send someone in. Amanda looked around,
considering her options. If she walked out of the restroom, it would be almost
impossible to give her bodyguards the slip.

Amanda walked to the window. It was opaque and large
enough for her to fit through it. Nervously, Amanda opened it. She looked down.
Thankfully, that restroom was on the second floor, rather than the third or
higher. Still, it would be quite a drop if Amanda were to jump. She looked
down. There was only grass to cushion her fall.

Before she could have any second thoughts, Amanda put
a leg over the edge of the window. She looked around, thankful that there
wasn’t anyone around to witness the lunacy she was about to do.

Bracing herself, Amanda moved the other leg. She was
now sitting on the edge of the window. Closing her eyes, she jumped. Amanda
managed to roll forward when her feet hit the ground. It was a maneuver she’d
seen in the movies. Unfortunately, Amanda had never done it before and it
didn’t turn out well. She hurt both her ankle and her arm. Amanda turned over
in the ground, groaning.

Get up. You don’t have any time.

Amanda used all her strength to sit up. She looked
toward the window she’d jumped from. Thankfully, Caldwell didn’t seem to be
aware of what she’d done. Before anyone could catch her, Amanda stood up. She
walked over to the parking lot and found her car, which Medina had been driving.
It was lucky that she carried a copy of her car keys. Kellan had done that for
security.

Amanda revved the engine
and hastily pulled out of the space. She barely avoided totaling one of the
cars behind her. Taking another deep breath, Amanda shifted gears and drove
forward. When she passed through the entrance to the dorm building, she was
glad to see that no one was looking for her yet.

Caldwell was starting to get impatient. He was
standing next to the restroom door. It had been ten minutes since she’d
entered. He felt worried.

As it was the woman’s restroom, Caldwell couldn’t
enter. He decided to tap on the door.

“Ms. Tilley? Is everything all right?”

There was no answer. Caldwell thought that maybe
Amanda hadn’t heard him.

“Ms. Tilley? Hello? Are you in there?”

No response came. Caldwell looked toward both sides of
the corridor. There wasn’t anyone in sight.

Feeling concerned, Caldwell pulled out his cell phone.
He called Medina.

“This is Hawk 1. Hawk 2, do you copy?”

“Copy that. What’s the status?”

“We’ve got a possible situation. There’s no response
or visual from Aurora. Over”

“Roger that. We’re on our way. Over.”

Caldwell gave Medina his position and then ended the
communication. He decided to enter the restroom after all. If something was
happening to Amanda and Caldwell didn’t act, he would feel guilty. After
tapping on the door a second time, Caldwell opened it.

“Amanda?”

Caldwell stopped when he got to the stalls. He noticed
the open window right away. Caldwell walked over to it, looking to the bottom.
He groaned, and pulled out his phone again.

“Hawk 2. Aurora is in the woods. Repeat, Aurora is in
the woods. We need to move now!”

Caldwell rushed out of the restroom. He met with
Nathan, Hayden, and Medina outside.

“Where is she?” the latter asked.

“Ms. Tilley jumped from the window. We need to go and
find her.”

“What?” Nathan asked. He and Hayden looked stunned.
They followed the bodyguards out of the building. The group made a beeline for
the parking lot and the spot where they left the car.

“I can’t believe it. She took the car,” Caldwell said.

“Where could Amanda have gone to?” Nathan asked. No
one was able to answer.

“Did you notice anything suspicious while you were
with her, Caldwell?” Medina asked.

“No. She just took a long time in the restroom. I
didn’t imagine that she could give us the slip.”

“Why?” Nathan wondered. Hayden had an idea.

“The kidnapper must have contacted her. That must be
why they took Judith. To use as bait.”

They all stood frozen on the spot, trying to think of
a plan of action.

“We should see if the police can put a BOLO on the
car,” Hayden suggested. “I’ll get in touch with Sutton.”

“Then we should go find Amanda,” said Nathan, looking
at Caldwell and Medina. “We can take my car.”

They all agreed on Nathan’s plan. Hayden left for the
police station while Nathan headed back to the apartment.

“It’s a good idea to see if Amanda went there first,”
Nathan said to Caldwell. “Maybe she wanted to pick up something before meeting
with the kidnapper.”

Nathan and the bodyguards rushed up the stairs to
Amanda’s apartment. They stopped outside the door. Nathan knocked.

“Amanda! Are you there?”

There was no answer from inside. Nathan looked back
and was surprised to see only Caldwell was with him.

“I sent Medina to the back,” he explained. “Can’t risk
Amanda pulling the same trick on us twice.”

Nathan knocked on the door again. He waited, listening
for any sounds.

“We should go in,” Caldwell suggested.

“Wait, let me try something.”

Nathan pulled out his smartphone. He dialed Amanda’s
number and waited, putting his ear to the door. Caldwell realized what Nathan
was doing.

“Either Amanda set her phone to silent, or she’s truly
not here,” the latter said. He ended the call.

“Didn’t she give you a copy of her key?” Caldwell
asked.

“She did once, but it’s only been a short time since
we reconciled. Amanda hasn’t gotten around to giving it back to me.”

Caldwell pulled something out of his pocket. Then he
walked to the door. Nathan saw Caldwell holding a lock picking tool. Nathan
looked around, hoping to see Amanda walk around the corner. Caldwell worked on
the lock for around a minute. He opened the door.

“Amanda!” said Nathan, walking in with Caldwell. They
checked every room. Nathan looked in the closet and the bathrooms as well.

“She’s not here,” Nathan told Caldwell when they met
back in the living room. “How do we find her?”