She'd successfully made it to evidence, checked the items in with Fran, received her slip and snuck out without running into Mark. She quickly sent him an email from her computer at work before closing up the office for the night.

She gave Mac a quick call to explain why she was running late so he wouldn't worry. He'd been outside running Reego and sounded breathless when he'd answered.

"Ok babe. I appreciate you calling, I was starting to worry."

"I know," she smiled to herself imagining him muscled and sweaty on the other end of the phone. "I'm just going to run by the store for parmesan and ricotta cheese then I'll be home. Tell fur face hey."

"Hey fur face, mom says hi," She heard a short bark. "He says hi back. I'll see you in twenty then?"

"Bout that. Love you."

"I love you too. Be careful" She still blushed every time he said it. She couldn't believe a guy like him really had fallen for her.

"I will." Brenna disconnected the call and headed out to her car.

She was grateful to have missed the after work rush at the market and was able to get in, get her items and get out fairly easily. The highway was the fastest route home but Brenna hated how busy it was and usually took a little used rural road instead.

Tomorrow would be Halloween and although this was a rural area that wouldn't likely see a lot of trick-or-treaters many of the homes were still decorated with spooky decorations and lights. Brenna drove slowly enjoying each family's creative efforts. Eventually she passed into an area where the lots were bigger and the homes farther apart.

She passed through a sweeping S curve and saw a glint as her headlights fell on something metal out of the corner of her eye. She knew from her daylight passes that there weren't any buildings in the field next to the S curve and wondered what could have made the glint.

Her mind created images of a wrecked vehicle in thedarkness of the field full of bloodied teenagers needing medical attention and her foot hit the brake. Carefully she backed up until her headlights again landed on the shining object in the field.

She had to squint to see it; it was a distance from the pavement but did appear to be a vehicle in the tall grass. Brenna grabbed the portable radio from her passenger seat and a flashlight from the glove compartment. She turned on the radio and checked the signal before keying the mic.

"Central from FI280" She waited for acknowledgement before continuing. "I've got a vehicle off the roadway at the north end of the S curve on Fredericks Lane. Can you send me law enforcement. I'll be checking for occupants."

The dispatcher responded that she would and Brenna carefully made her way down the soft shoulder and toward the vehicle. The closer she got the more she could see. It looked to be a dark blue or black smaller passenger car. She wondered at how it had gotten so far off the road when it didn't look to be the type that would have all wheel drive.

It must have all but launched off the roadway she mused; that would have taken a great deal of speed. Maybe a drunk? The driver side door was hanging open as she reached the car and a quick sweep of her flashlight told her it was empty. She took a closer look searching for blood or other signs of someone having been injured but didn't find any.

Frowning she walked to the back of the car and shown her light on the license plate.

"Central from FI280 prepare to copy plate." She depressed the mic and waited for the dispatcher to tell her she was ready. Suddenly her head exploded with pain, a bright light flashed behind her eyes and she knew nothing else as her body collapsed onto the high grass.

The dispatcher's voice rang out into the night telling her to continue with the license plate but Brenna had no idea as she was being dragged away back toward the road. Neither did she answer the frantic requests for her status as the dispatcher realized something had gone terribly wrong with her fire inspector.

By the time the first deputy arrived in a screech of gravel with lights and sirens blaring 6 minutes later Brenna's care was gone and so was she. The only sign that she had been there was her portable radio still lying in the grass with the dispatcher's voice frantically requesting to know her status echoing into the darkness.

***********

Mac was breathing pretty hard by the time he and Reego wrapped up their exercise. Reego was more than enjoying all the space available at Brenna's house and they rarely went to the track anymore for their workouts. He'd lost track of time until he'd suddenly noticed how dark it had become and that Brenna still hadn't pulled into the driveway.

He filled a large glass of water from the tap as he swiped the screen of his phone to see if she had called again. She hadn't and a quick check told him it had been thirty minutes since her previous call.

A ball of worry started to form in the pit of his stomach but he tried to counsel himself not to overreact. He told himself she probably got held up in the grocery store checkout line and was on her way. If he called now he'd seem like the over protective, paranoid guy that he was but she grudgingly put up with. He could see her rolling her eyes as she answered the phone and forced himself to put down the phone and walk up the stairs to the shower.

The house was still silent below him when he shut off the hot water and dried himself with a towel ten minutes later. The knot in his stomach was rolling and making him feel ill as he descended the stairs into the still dark and quiet house. He picked up his phone and saw the still blank screen before dialing her cell.

She usually kept it on vibrate and didn't always hear it when she was driving. It rang only once before he heard the line open but no one spoke. Something deep inside him told him not to speak but to listen.

There was the sound of a moving car but it sounded odd, muffled as if the phone were in the rear of the vehicle instead of the front. As he listened he heard a muffled thump and then Brenna's voice talking but not to him as if to herself.

"Shit, I can't see it. Come on phone where are you? Did it answer?" There were several more thumps. "Can someone hear me? Whoever called, can you hear me?"

"Brenna? What's going on?" He answered loudly.

"Mac? Oh thank God! I'm in my trunk other than that I don't know. There was this car and I stopped to check on it and then I got knocked out and I woke up in my trunk."

"Shit! Ok, are you hurt? Where were you, where was the car and how long ago?' Questions and fear where all he think and feel. "Reego?" He was already up the stairs and pulling on jeans and a t-shirt as he waited for her answers. He strapped on his duty belt and checked his gun.

"I'm fine, I've got a bump at the base of my skull that hurts like hell but otherwise I'm fine. The car was at the S curve on Fredericks Lane. I called it in so there should have been deputies not too far out. I don't know if whoever hit me knows that. I don't know how long. Not too long after I talked to you. Like 10 or 15 minutes after that maybe."

Mac could have kicked himself for ignoring his instincts and not calling her earlier. While he'd been in the shower she'd been shoved, unconscious into her car. Reego could sense his master's unease and stood at attention waiting for commands.

"Stay on the line babe, as long as you can. I'm going to use the house phone to call in for help. They should be able to ping your phone." He put Brenna on speaker phone and dialed dispatch on the house phone.

"This is Deputy Tullman, I have an emergency. Yes, my radio number is 2351." He tried to hold his emotions in check and be patient. "My fiancee has been abducted. Her name is Brenna Malloy; she's a fire inspector with the city fire."

The dispatcher told him to hold a minute and Mac gritted his teeth in frustration. When she came back she confirmed that Brenna's radio number was FI280 and that she had last been on Fredericks Lane. She told him that several deputies were at that location now trying to locate her.

Mac explained as quickly as he could that he had her on her cell phone and she was in the trunk of her car. He provided the car's description and plate for the dispatcher as well as Brenna's description. The dispatcher took down all the information including Brenna's cell phone number. She said a deputy was on his way to Mac to meet up with him and she would start trying to track Brenna's location by her phone.

Mac briefly recounted the story of Herrick. His frustration showed through when she asked where Herrick might take Brenna and he realized he had no idea.

He hung up with the dispatcher and confirmed that Brenna was still there.

"Baby you hanging in there?"

"Ya but Mac......" She broke with a sob.

"What baby?" He had his keys in his hands and was climbing into his pickup with Reego in the back seat. He had no idea where he was going but as soon as he got a location by God he wanted to be on his way. The deputy's car pulled into the drive as he started to move forward.

"My phone is beeping and I think my battery is going to die on me."

"No! No, no, no. Dispatch is tracking you, it's gotta stay alive. I don't want to babe but we have to hang up. We have to keep your phone alive."

"Ok." She sounded so small and sad.

"I'm coming babe. I'm going to find you, don't be scared. I love you."

"I love you too." Reluctantly he hit the release button and prayed this wasn't going to be last time he got to tell her how much he loved her. He smashed his hands down on the steering wheel several times before rolling down his window to talk to the deputy standing by his truck.

Luckily it was a guy he knew and respected as he wasn't sure he would have had the patience to stay put and get him up to speed otherwise. By the time Mac was ready to climb the walls the phone company had called dispatch back. The last location they'd tracked her phone to was about 8 miles east of where she'd called in the car.

Dispatch assured them they were searching all know links to Herrick; family, friends or anyone he'd been known to associate with in hopes of finding where he'd take her. They were also searching all hotels, parks and such in the area. The phone company had promised to update the location every 5 minutes as they were able.

Mac started the pickup and told the other deputy he intended on going to the last know location so he could be ready for the update. He needed to be somewhere, doing something; he couldn't just sit and wait. The fear of what could be happening while he was waiting was killing him.

Reego perched on the back seat watching out the windshield as they drove east into the night.

"We are going to find her buddy. And when we do I want you to bite this guy good."