He was going to damn well work on that. And if a successful therapy session wasn’t enough, Riley had answered his text. On top of that, Wizard had e-mailed, saying that the lead on Layla was a strong one. Life was looking pretty damn good.
As he made the turn into the clinic parking lot, a police car—siren blaring—raced up, coming in behind him. A sick feeling churned in his gut, the instincts he’d honed in a war zone screaming that Riley was in trouble.
Mike Kilpatrick exited the police car, arriving at the clinic door at the same time as Cody. “What’s going on?” Cody asked, pushing in ahead of Mike.
“Not sure. Brooke called in a panic. Said she couldn’t find Riley.”
“How long?” And where the hell was Baker, the K2 guy assigned to guard her today?
“About three minutes ago. I was cruising the area. Why I got here so fast.”
Brooke skirted around the corner and ran right into Mike’s arms. “We can’t find Dr. Austin anywhere.” She burst into tears.
Mike wrapped his arms around Brooke. “We’ll find her, I promise.”
They damn well would. Cody turned in a circle, looking for Baker. Why hadn’t the man called him? As soon as the question entered his head, his phone vibrated, Baker’s name showing up on the screen. “Talk to me.”
“You need to get to the clinic. Dr. Austin’s missing.”
“I know. I’m here. Where the hell are you?” At Baker’s hesitation, Cody knew the man had taken offense, because yeah, his question had been an accusation. Baker’s job had been to protect Riley.
“In her office, getting ready to watch the security feed.”
Cody disconnected. “Come with me,” he said to Mike and Brooke. The other employee—Michelle, he thought—was standing behind the counter, tears streaming down her face. “Cancel the rest of her appointments for today and send these people home,” he told her. Fortunately, there were only two women waiting, one with a dog, and the other with what looked like an iguana sitting on her lap. Both were staring wide-eyed at him and Mike.
“What should I tell them?”
“Just say there’s been an emergency and that you’ll call them tomorrow to reschedule.”
Anxious to see the security recording, he headed to Riley’s office, Mike and Brooke following him. “Tell me what happened.” To keep from putting his fist through the wall or going off half-cocked, he fell back on his SEAL training. Get intel. Analyze. Act.
“We were running behind, and I poked my head into the room to see if Dr. Austin needed any help,” Brooke said, two-stepping to keep up.
Cody stopped at the open door to Riley’s office. “And?” It wasn’t easy to curb his impatience, but he managed it.
“And she wasn’t there. Mrs. Napier wasn’t either.”
“Mrs. Napier?”
“Yes. She brought her kitten in. It’s still in the room in the carrier.”
“Have you touched the carrier?”
Brooke shook her head. “No, why?”
He stuck his head around the doorjamb. “See if you can find where Dr. Austin goes missing on the feed. I’ll be back in a minute.” He’d have a talk with Baker about how he’d lost track of Riley later, but he had a funny feeling about exactly what he’d find in the carrier.
At Baker’s nod, Cody turned back to Brooke. “Show me this carrier that was left behind.”
“Unless the woman wore gloves, we can get fingerprints off it,” Mike said.
“Yep, but I’ll have someone from K2 do it.” At Mike’s frown, Cody said, “We can process them immediately. How long will it take the police department?”
“Point taken,” Mike said, “but the detective on the case since Riley was hit on the head is on his way. He might have some problems with you guys ramrodding right over him and the department.”
“Tough shit.” No one cared as much about finding Riley as he did, and he had resources the police department didn’t even know existed, not to mention a team consisting of the best of the best if he needed them.
Mike gave him a hard look. “Should get interesting then, but I’m of the opinion you people know what you’re about, and finding Riley is all that counts. I’ll back you up as much as I can.”
“Appreciate it, man.”
Brooke opened the door to an exam room. “Here it is.”
“Christ, that smells,” Cody said, peering into the carrier. A long meow responded to the sound of his voice. “Grab me a paper towel.” When Brooke placed one in his hand, he used it to open the carrier door so as not to add his fingerprints. A cross-eyed Siamese kitten bounded out and latched onto his arm. “Well hello, Pelli.”