Page 100 of Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad World

“Noah?” She struggled, fought,clawedto get the word out of her mouth.

It barely made a sound.

Sleep was pulling her under again, and no matter how hard she fought, she knew it would win. The thick, dusty air made breathing laborious. Was she suffocating?

The thought disappeared again, drowning in syrup.

“Noah?” Her call was but a breath.

The voices grew more distant now. Swallowed by the darkness and smothered by the thick, hot air.

“Noah!” she mouthed, making no sound at all.

Then, the syrup swept upward in a wave and dragged her down into its depths.

Chapter Thirty-Four

“Got it!” Evan’s voice exploded into the SUV’s interior. “Got eyes on the audiovisual van. It’s just turned into Providence Street. Looks like it’s heading for the I-10 West on-ramp. You’re not far behind him. I’ll keep watching.”

Rochelle took a sharp turn, wheels screeching as she adjusted their direction to follow the DA’s tech van. Up ahead, Abasi’s vehicle skidded onto the road in front of them. The other two team vehicles appeared in their rearview mirror. It felt good—no, it feltright—to have his team close by.

“You pulled the plug too soon,” Noah said as Rochelle veered onto the I-10, slicing through three lanes of busy traffic as though all other cars were invisible. “On the team. We just needed time.”

“How about we find Annabelle, and then we discuss that?” she said as she cut off a large pickup truck. They hit their horn in protest.

The road was packed for rush hour. Cars sat bumper to bumper in the lanes opposite them, heading east. Up ahead, the same congested situation awaited them. At least if they were stuck in traffic, the tech van would be too.

The relentless Texan sun beat down on the motorway and bounced off the cars. It glinted off their windshield, blinding Noah for a second. He reached into the pocket of his battered leather jacket for his shades and slipped them on. It made little difference.

Inside their SUV, the air conditioning pumped out ice-cold air in an attempt to combat the stifling Houston heat.

There was no air conditioning in the case they’d stuffed Annabelle inside.

No. He couldn’t think about that.

He had to focus on getting to her. Everything else could be fixed once she was safe in his arms.

“It has to be here somewhere,” Rochelle muttered. “Anybody got eyes on the van?”

The team replied with a chorus of negatives.

“Evan,” Noah snapped. “You’re sure it was the I-10? And are you sure he was heading west?”

“Of course I’m sure.” Evan fought to keep the irritation out of his voice because he knew Noah had to be barely holding on, terrified of what might happen to Annabelle.

He was pretty damn shaken himself. Despite her being older than him, he thought of her as the little sister they’d never had. She was… special. Even while dealing with all her setbacks and problems, she still managed to laugh and joke and create worlds that made others smile.

He growled at his screen. They had to get her back. They’d had one damn job—keep her safe—and they’d stuffed it up.

As he watched the video feed from the traffic system, his mind battled to figure out how the tech had pulled offAnnabelle’s abduction. Sure, the guy had been obsessively geeky about his audiovisual prowess, but he hadn’t exactly come across as a criminal mastermind. Had he drugged Annabelle when the ADA left the room? And why hadn’t the ADA been mad at him for leaving all that expensive equipment behind? Perhaps she told him they were coming back later.

Still…

“I’ve got him.” Abasi’s voice came over the comms system. “He’s heading toward the Katy Freeway. Do we cut him off or wait until he exits?”

“We wait,” Noah said. “We can’t get to him on here anyway, not in this traffic. And not without causing a ton of damage.”

“We can’t risk an accident on the interstate,” Rochelle agreed. “Anybody got any idea where he’s heading?”