She squealed at the frigid shower and pulled the hood of her raincoat up, protecting her neck too late to do any good. The temperature hovered at forty degrees, and the wind had a cold bite. She wished she’d grabbed her gloves from her pack in the back of the SUV.

She reached the basement door, which was at the base of a set of stone steps cut into the earth. She inserted her key into the lock, but it wouldn’t turn. She checked the key. Gray plastic ring around the top. It was the right key.

She inserted it again. It refused to budge.

Frustration won over, and like a petulant child, she kicked the thick door. “Dammit! I do not have time for this.”

A chill ran down her neck, but it wasn’t raindrops that triggered it. Someone was behind her. She didn’t know how she knew this, because she hadn’t heard a sound except for the incessant wind. Before she could turn, she heard the distinctive clicks of a slide being racked to chamber a bullet.

“Do you have time for this?” The words were a soft, malevolent whisper.

Cold fear swamped her, as if a cascade of icy rain had drenched her neck and slid under her clothes down her back.

Her breath left her in a whoosh. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t draw in air. Couldn’t scream.

Was this a looter? But why would they be here and not up at the site? Plus, looters only turned violent when confronted—yet this person was confronting her, not the other way around.

A hand snaked around her side, pulling her back against a hard body. From the size and feel, she guessed it was a man. He dragged her backward, up the stone steps. She released her muscles, becoming an instant deadweight, but the man didn’t falter. His grip merely tightened. When he reached the top, he swung her around and tripped her. She landed face-first in the wet peat that capped the lawn. She finally regained breath and voice and screamed in pain and panic.

Instinct told her to protect her belly, but her arms were yanked behind her. Her stomach was still flat, at least, the fetus too small to be harmed by this violence. She bucked as he grappled with her hands and pinned her down with a knee on her back. She screamed for help, but it was useless. There was no one around for miles.

Metal cuffs even colder than her chilled skin cinched her wrists together. The man couldn’t be a law enforcement ranger. She knew them all and knew which ones were on duty right now. Jae was closest. Anyone not in law enforcement who carried around handcuffs must’ve planned this.

Am I being abducted?

Since when do looters abduct people?