Chapter 41

“What do you mean she’s gone?"

Xander could taste the acidic feeling of fear on his tongue at the scene he’d met. He’d arrived at Goodsprings a few minutes ago, got a car, and drove straight to Kathleen’s to find it in an array. Harper had arrived shortly after with the police and told him Kathleen was gone.

“I don't know, I don't know.” Harper cried.

He barged through the house again, marching from room to room, and everywhere was a mess like some asshole had intentionally turned the place upside down. Clothes were strewn about, drawers were pulled and overthrown, and curtains and sheets had been roughly pulled to the floor.

Xander was horrified. He could feel the haunting trepidation that slowly settled in his body at the thought of what could have happened here.

His mind raced with worst-case scenarios. Was she hurt? Had she been taken? Had she tried to escape the person who broke in and had somehow gotten lost or hurt in the process, and the worst of it, who had broken into her home? Who had done this to her home?

Xander had found her phone on the kitchen counter, her purse still on the table, and a half-eaten meal in the living room next to it. It was as if she had vanished into thin air. He felt a lump form in his throat as he thought about losing her.

“We’ve sent out men to scout the area for her, our dog has been on the lookout since last night. She'll be found soon,” the Sheriff said to him sympathetically.

But Xander had stopped listening—she’d been missing since last night. It was almost midday now and there was no sign of her. Xander had a terrifying feeling Kathleen was in danger and he knew without a doubt her father was behind it.

He called a tech-savvy acquaintance he knew as he walked out of the house. “I need you to search your database for Kathleen Miller. I need whatever information about her you can get.”

“A good day to you too, Blackwood,” Lucas drawled in a bored tone. He was the CEO of a multi-billion tech company and he knew just how to get on Xander’s nerves.

“I'm not in the mood for games, Ross. I need the information now.”

“Don't be cranky with me, Xander. What do you need exactly?” Lucas asked. Xander could hear the sounds of a keyboard clicking in the background.

“Like I said, I need everything available. I'll be waiting.”

Lucas chuckled. “Must be one hell of a special woman, a damn fine one if I might add.”

“Don't you dare!” he warned.

“You owe me big time, Blackwood,” Lucas sang. “You owe me, big time.”

Xander let out a breath just as Harper stepped out to join him.

“I am scared,” She said to him. “I don't know what is going on with her. This doesn't feel right.”

He glanced at her. “She’ll be fine.”

But when he got the bastard who'd done this, they would beg for death themselves and even death wouldn't come.

“Do you have any idea who might have been behind this?” he asked her.

“Kathleen has no enemies, she's kept a low profile all her months here and is genuinely loved by everyone. The only incident that has happened with her is her father and stepmother showing up.”

“What do you know about him?” Xander asked her. He wished Kathleen had confided more to him about them and what growing up had been like, he hated the fact that right now he didn't know.

Harper shook her head. “Kathleen is very secretive when it comes to her life before Goodsprings. I've always known she was running away from something but now I think it might be her family.”

“He did this,” Xander simply said.

She turned to him in shock. “Do you think he would really go to this extent? He would kidnap his daughter to force her home? I don't…”

Xander knew he was right. He had seen the sinister look in the bastard’s eyes when he'd been dragging Kathleen that day in the hospital. He was a monster who had ruined her life and forced her to seek shelter away from home. He knew whatever he'd done must have been monstrous because Kathleen wasn't the type who would leave her family.

He was abusive to her, that was a fact but Xander had a feeling it ran deeper than that.

The ping of his phone yanked him away from his thoughts. He downloaded the file Lucas had sent and found what he was looking for.

He bade Harper goodbye and took a taxi back to the airport to catch a flight.

Finding the address Lucas sent him was easy. It was a small, unassuming house in a quiet neighborhood. Olivia had sent a car waiting for him at the airport so he pulled up to Kathleen’s family home in a sleek black car.

Xander’s gaze narrowed as he stepped out, approaching the front door with a calculating intensity. Anger radiated from him as he turned the doorknob and stepped inside the house.

“Excuse me, who are you?” A woman asked, coming down from the stairs. Xander recognized her, she had been with Kathleen’s father at the hospital the day he'd attacked her, she was Kathleen’s stepmother.

“Where is your husband?” he asked.

She eyed his clothes with interest and whatever she must have deduced, he didn't care to know but she led him to the study where she said her husband would be.

“What would you like me to get you, sir?” she asked but Xander ignored her and barged into the study with such force, that the walls rattled when the door slammed against it.

“What are you doing?” she shrieked behind him.

Xander’s cold eyes were on the man who sat behind a desk in front of him, a drink in hand. He shot up from his seat when Xander entered.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” he asked.

“John Miller,” Xander called as he approached him slowly.

John watched him with creased brows trying to determine who he was.

“I’m Xander Blackwood,” Xander announced. “And you are Kathleen’s father.”

Realization dawned on him. “You are the doctor from the hospital that day!” John yelled, pointing a finger at him.

Xander’s smile was slippery. “Smart. I presume you haven't forgotten that easily what I did and can do to your fragile bones.”

A gasp escaped from Kathleen’s stepmother. “Are you threatening my husband?”

He continued to ignore her.

“What are you doing here?” John asked, his eyes darting around the room in fear.

Xander arched his brow. “I want Kathleen. I know you know where she is and I'm going to need you to provide her.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Who are you to barge into my home and demand I provide my daughter?” John raged.

Xander smiled a cold, calculated smile. "I am the man who's going to do irreparable damage to you if you don't do as I say.”

John took a step back, “call the police,” he said to his wife.

Xander chuckled, in a low, menacing sound. “Let's get to business before they arrive then.” he spared a casual glance at his wristwatch. “I can do a lot of damage to a man in five minutes.”

And with deliberate slowness, he began to take off his jacket as John watched him, eyes wide with dread. Xander folded his sleeves, took off his wristwatch carefully, and set it on the table before proceeding toward Kathleen’s father.

“Don't…” he stuttered. “Don't come any closer, what are you doing?”

The first blow he landed on him produced a satisfying crack and when John lifted his head, Xander let out a smirk at the blood that trailed down his nose.

“We have four minutes to go, John Miller. Do you want to start speaking?” Xander asked, his voice a dark rumble.