refused to let the only witness help you find Mary, before it’s too late.”
His voice was clipped and angry when he replied. “What time should I tell Zack to pick you up?”
Chapter Seven
Zack cursed beneath his breath as he strode through the large glass doors into Naples Municipal Airport. People gave him curious looks as he passed them, no doubt because of his muddy shoes and dirt-smeared clothes. The filthy hair probably didn’t help either. He’d fallen more than a few times in the marsh today, and it seemed like half the swamp had ended up in his hair or his mouth at one point or another. If he didn’t catch some kind of disease by the time this was over it would be a miracle. But it wasn’t the fear of catching a disease that had him so aggravated. It was the fact that he’d had to stop searching for the missing women and waste precious daylight to pick up Kaylee Brighton at the airport.
A pang of guilt knocked the edge off his temper. She was, after all, a victim. She’d gone through unbelievable horrors at the hands of the same man that he was trying to catch. And if it wasn’t for her bravery in risking everything to get away from her captor, Zack and the others wouldn’t even know to look for Mary or Sue Ellen. But still, she was safe and sound with her wealthy parents in Miami. Or should have been. She had no business coming back, not this soon.
He remembered the therapist that the victims’ advocate group had brought in, telling them all how fragile she was. Pushing Kaylee too fast, too soon, could destroy not only the memories they hoped to use to help them in the case, but her, as well. He hadn’t expected her to contact them for at least a few more months. And he’d desperately hoped he’d have already found Mary and Sue Ellen alive and well long before then, and she wouldn’t need to come back.
He didn’t see how anything good could come from taking him away from the search, or involving Kaylee. Which was why he was going to stop her, turn her around and tell her to get back on that private jet of hers and return to Miami.
Private jet. He shook his head. Kaylee Brighton had all the advantages in life—or at least, she had, before her harrowing experience. She had access to the best doctors that money could buy. Her responsibility right now was to use those advantages to help her heal. She shouldn’t be flying out here on a whim and interfering with his efforts to find those missing women. And he was going to tell her exactly that when he saw her.
But then he saw her.
Fifty feet away, looking lost, frightened, her face incredibly pale in contrast to her shoulder-length dark hair as she headed toward him, pulling a rolling suitcase. Her purse was clutched against her flat belly, her wide eyes darting all around as if she was afraid one of the people in the crowd might grab her and drag her off somewhere to torture her.
Zack’s shoulders slumped. He stopped where he was, berating himself for his earlier unkind thoughts. This wasn’t some spoiled little rich girl wanting to be the center of attention. And she wasn’t here to purposely interfere with his search. No one who looked that scared, that...bleak, would come here except for one reason—to help them with the investigation, just as Cole had told Zack when Cole had driven out to the search site an hour earlier.
Now he wished he’d taken a few minutes to change his clothes and wash the filth of the marsh off his body before driving to the airport. He didn’t want to frighten her even more, or bring back horrific memories of what had happened to her because of his knee-jerk reaction to her demanding that he pick her up.
He eyed the door to the men’s room not too far away, wondering if he could quickly clean himself up enough to make a difference. But it was too late. She’d already spotted him. And the look of intense relief that washed over her delicate features had him feeling guilty all over again for even
His voice was clipped and angry when he replied. “What time should I tell Zack to pick you up?”
Chapter Seven
Zack cursed beneath his breath as he strode through the large glass doors into Naples Municipal Airport. People gave him curious looks as he passed them, no doubt because of his muddy shoes and dirt-smeared clothes. The filthy hair probably didn’t help either. He’d fallen more than a few times in the marsh today, and it seemed like half the swamp had ended up in his hair or his mouth at one point or another. If he didn’t catch some kind of disease by the time this was over it would be a miracle. But it wasn’t the fear of catching a disease that had him so aggravated. It was the fact that he’d had to stop searching for the missing women and waste precious daylight to pick up Kaylee Brighton at the airport.
A pang of guilt knocked the edge off his temper. She was, after all, a victim. She’d gone through unbelievable horrors at the hands of the same man that he was trying to catch. And if it wasn’t for her bravery in risking everything to get away from her captor, Zack and the others wouldn’t even know to look for Mary or Sue Ellen. But still, she was safe and sound with her wealthy parents in Miami. Or should have been. She had no business coming back, not this soon.
He remembered the therapist that the victims’ advocate group had brought in, telling them all how fragile she was. Pushing Kaylee too fast, too soon, could destroy not only the memories they hoped to use to help them in the case, but her, as well. He hadn’t expected her to contact them for at least a few more months. And he’d desperately hoped he’d have already found Mary and Sue Ellen alive and well long before then, and she wouldn’t need to come back.
He didn’t see how anything good could come from taking him away from the search, or involving Kaylee. Which was why he was going to stop her, turn her around and tell her to get back on that private jet of hers and return to Miami.
Private jet. He shook his head. Kaylee Brighton had all the advantages in life—or at least, she had, before her harrowing experience. She had access to the best doctors that money could buy. Her responsibility right now was to use those advantages to help her heal. She shouldn’t be flying out here on a whim and interfering with his efforts to find those missing women. And he was going to tell her exactly that when he saw her.
But then he saw her.
Fifty feet away, looking lost, frightened, her face incredibly pale in contrast to her shoulder-length dark hair as she headed toward him, pulling a rolling suitcase. Her purse was clutched against her flat belly, her wide eyes darting all around as if she was afraid one of the people in the crowd might grab her and drag her off somewhere to torture her.
Zack’s shoulders slumped. He stopped where he was, berating himself for his earlier unkind thoughts. This wasn’t some spoiled little rich girl wanting to be the center of attention. And she wasn’t here to purposely interfere with his search. No one who looked that scared, that...bleak, would come here except for one reason—to help them with the investigation, just as Cole had told Zack when Cole had driven out to the search site an hour earlier.
Now he wished he’d taken a few minutes to change his clothes and wash the filth of the marsh off his body before driving to the airport. He didn’t want to frighten her even more, or bring back horrific memories of what had happened to her because of his knee-jerk reaction to her demanding that he pick her up.
He eyed the door to the men’s room not too far away, wondering if he could quickly clean himself up enough to make a difference. But it was too late. She’d already spotted him. And the look of intense relief that washed over her delicate features had him feeling guilty all over again for even
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