Her Dangerous Promise - Part 3: (Romantic Suspense Serial) by Ashley Stryker

Her Dangerous Promise
    Part 3

    Copyright 2014 by Elizabeth Drake
    Cover Art Copyrighted 2014 by Ravynheart Publishing
    Image Copyright: conrado
    Used under license from Shutterstock.com

    http://www.RavynheartRomance.com

    Kindle Edition

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    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, places, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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    Chapter One

    Brad hailed Thom as he turned into the Black Ridge Shopping Center parking lot. A string of police tape cordoned off the section of the lot the size of two tennis courts surrounding a blue Dodge Charger. Half a dozen cruisers circled the site like mourners. The forensic team sifted through the details, while the other officers loitered, waiting to be made useful.
    Thom parked as close to the scene as he could. “Listen, Mary, stay here, okay?”
    She was doing the silent staring thing again.
    Thom rubbed the back of her neck until she made eye contact. “We don’t know anything for sure, so don’t start jumping to conclusions, all right? Listen, you’re fairly close with Nancy Miller, right?”
    “Not to socialize after work but otherwise, yes.”
    “Did she tell you anything about her plans for last night?”
    “No. I know she attended several singles functions but I don’t know of a specific one for last night.”
    “Do you remember what she wore to work yesterday?”
    “A long summer dress and white sweater. I can’t remember the color of the dress.”
    Thom frowned. Mary wore a similar outfit at the time of her abduction. He’d kept hoping the librarian had simply met up with a friend and left her car in the lot overnight. Guilt trickled in his belly. Had he been sleeping while Mary’s abductor struck again? Had his lapse in vigilance given the creep the opportunity to strike again?
    “I’ll be right back,” he said and then kissed her on the temple.
    Brad met Thom at the police tape. “Hey,” He said. “You brought the vic with you?”
    “She might have some insight. She knows the girl who’s missing and she’s seen how this perp operates.”
    “Isn’t that your sweatshirt she’s wearing?”
    Thom swung around to check out Mary. She’d opened her door and sat sideways on the seat to watch the investigation. Neither of them had wanted to waste time running her back to her house to get fresh clothes, so he’d loaned her his Pittsburgh Steelers sweats, the ones he always wore on game days. She swam in the top but she’d cinched down the tie string of the pants and they hugged her in all the right places. Thom grinned. The residual caveman instincts rising in him growled with pleasure to see Mary wear his clothing. He’d felt protective of her before but now he felt positively possessive. He wouldn’t let anyone harm her again and that meant busting the creep who’d attacked her. “Get your head in the game, Brad. What are we looking at?”
    “A patrol car spotted the car in the lot early this morning. They ran the plates and found it belonged to one of the women on our watch list.”
    “The captain mentioned signs of a struggle.”
    “Her purse and her groceries are in the car.”
    Thom nodded. “She probably wouldn’t leave them in the car over night.”
    “There is no one at her house. She lives alone. Mail’s still in the box. She