The world was moving around me, but I could barely take it in. It was like watching everything through a slow-motion lens—the crime scene techs from County moving around looking for prints and tire treads, Lawson, Anderson, and a couple of other officers making a plan of attack.
My gaze moved to Grae. Caden had his arms wrapped around her as she cried into his chest. My eyes narrowed as he rubbed a hand up and down her back.
Someone gripped my shoulder. “We’ve got an update,” Lawson said.
All my focus was instantly on my brother. “Someone see her?”
He shook his head. “No, but I sent officers to the Byrne residence and the resort.”
I didn’t speak, waiting for Lawson to continue.
“Jimmy Byrne wasn’t home. Betsy finally admitted that she hasn’t seen him since yesterday afternoon.”
My gut tightened, knotting itself into a brutal arrangement. “His P.O. know where he is?”
“Nope, and he didn’t show for work today either.”
There wasn’t a word for the sensations sweeping through me. It was sickness but also more. I hadn’t pegged Jimmy for the type to make the effort to go after Maddie when she wasn’t within arm’s reach. But he’d had years inside to stew about the daughter who’d put him there.
“And Adam Westchester checked out of his cabin. Holt’s been working on tracking both their movements. He found a private plane manifest with Adam registered as the passenger leaving tonight.”
“Tell me you’ve got someone on that plane,” I gritted out.
“We do. There will be a full search of the aircraft before it takes off. And remember, we’ve got officers stationed at both ends of town, checking vehicles before they leave.”
They’d gotten those traffic stops in place quickly, but it might not have been quick enough. What if Adam or Jimmy had already escaped with Maddie? What if they’d done something so much worse? All because I’d left her alone.
“Don’t think like that,” Lawson said in a low voice, likely reading my expression.
“Someone hurt her because I left. Because I let something get in my head that I shouldn’t have.” I’d never forgive myself for it as long as I lived.
Lawson gripped my shoulder. “If someone wanted to get to Maddie, they would’ve found a way. If not today, then tomorrow. Right now, we’ve got to focus on finding her.”
Tires sounded on the gravel drive, and I looked up to see Holt’s SUV heading toward us. He pulled to a stop and jumped out. “I might have something.”
In a flash, Lawson, Grae, Caden, and I surrounded him.
He held out his phone. It showed a map with a single red dot. “One of my guys hacked into the rental car database.”
“I didn’t hear that,” Lawson muttered.
“He got the tracking information for Adam’s vehicle. A black Escalade sitting in the middle of the damned national forest.”
A prickle of something skated over my skin. It was that knowing I got at times when I was working a case. “He has her.”
“It could be Jimmy,” Lawson argued. “We don’t know anything for sure.”
I grabbed the phone from Holt, taking in the coordinates. I didn’t give a damn what Lawson thought. I was finding that SUV.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Lawson asked. “You’re suspended.”
If my brother thought I’d sit back and wait while he investigated, he was a moron.
“Good thing I am. Because now I can look for my missing girlfriend as a civilian, and you can’t take me off the case.”
“I’ll come with you,” Caden offered.
“Me, too,” Holt echoed.
Grae moved closer into our huddle. “I’m going, too.”
Caden scowled at her. “You are not,” he barked.
She glared right back. “You’re not a cop, and you sure as heck weren’t in the military, so how do you think you’re more qualified than I am?”
“Because he has years of firearms training,” I clipped. “You hate even carrying a damn flare gun.”
Grae pressed her lips into a firm line as tears welled in her eyes. “I want to help.”
Holt wrapped an arm around her and squeezed. “Go wait at the station. Wren’s working, so you’ll be the first to hear when we find Maddie.”
Grae swallowed hard and nodded, heading for her SUV but sending one last glare in Caden’s direction.
“I can’t have a bunch of damn civilians messing around with this. Let county SWAT handle the approach,” Lawson said.
I stared at my brother, anger, rage, and torment coursing through me. “You know how long it takes SWAT to assemble. You know what could happen in that time.”
Lawson stared at me for a beat. Then another.
“You know, Law. We all do,” Holt said softly.
Lawson had seen what almost losing Wren had done to our brother. It had left him broken in a way that only her love had a prayer of healing. But he’d lived as half a man for a decade before that happened.
Lawson looked between us all. “Go. But the second you set eyes on them, you call me. I’m getting the team together on the access road now.”
“Thank you,” I croaked.
He met my gaze. “We’re gonna get her back.”
We had to.
“Let’s go. We’ll take my car,” Holt said.
We sure as hell couldn’t take my police department vehicle.
Caden, Holt, and I hurried to Holt’s SUV and climbed in. He glanced at both of us. “I’ve got weapons and vests in the back.”
My brows raised at that. “I thought you were a civilian now.”
He shrugged as he turned and headed down the drive. “It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
And I was damn glad he was. I lifted my phone and hit Roan’s contact. He answered on the first ring. “You find her?”
“Not yet, but Holt has a location on Adam’s rental car.” I read it off to Roan. “Tell me about that area.”
“It’s right on a forest service access road. I’d approach from the west instead of the south. He’ll be expecting south. I’m not too far away. I’ll meet you there.”
“We’re not exactly on the books here.” And if his boss found out, he could be in serious trouble.
“If I see a vehicle stalled in the middle of the forest, it’s reasonable to check it out. Someone could need aid.”
I wanted to smile but couldn’t get my mouth to cooperate. “Thanks, Roan.”
“I’ve got your back. Maddie’s, too.”
My throat clogged. “I know.”
“Keep me in the loop on your location.”
“Will do.” I hit end on the call. “Take this road up here. Roan thinks we should approach from the west.”
“Smart,” Caden said. “If he’s looking for people from town, he’ll be looking south.”
Holt veered onto a bumpy road leading farther into the woods. “We can’t get too close. Don’t want the sound of a vehicle to spook him.”
That was the last thing I wanted. People were reckless when spooked.
We were silent as Holt drove. I didn’t know what to hope for. Did I want Adam to have Maddie or not? I just needed her safe, whole, and in my arms. I swore I could feel her even now, the echo of her body against mine, her heat, her life. I’d never take the real thing for granted for as long as I lived.
Holt pulled over to the side of the road. “Let’s gear up.”
We piled out of the SUV and went around to the back as the hatch opened. We slid on vests and chose our weapons. I gripped the Glock, the same as my service weapon, testing its weight and feel. “Let’s go.”
We picked a path off the road with plenty of tree cover. Holt used his satellite phone to guide us toward the blinking red dot that was Adam’s vehicle. With each step we got closer, the tension in my muscles ratcheted up. The hum running through them was a mixture of fear, rage, and hope.
Holt held up a hand, bringing us to a stop. He pointed through the trees.
I strained to see but couldn’t make anything out. And then a voice drifted on the air.
“You think I’m an idiot? I let you go, and you’ll run straight back to that trash. Did you spread your legs for him, Madison? Did you suck his dick?”
The fury that pulsed through me stole my breath.
Holt tapped out a text to Lawson, but I couldn’t wait. I had to see. To know that she was okay. I started forward, Caden right by my side and Holt hurrying to catch up. I kept to the cover of the trees, my steps slowing as the branches thinned.
Maddie’s face came into view, her eyes wide with panic as she clawed at the hand around her throat. “Can’t. Breathe.”
“You think I’ll let you whore yourself and there will be no punishment?”
Her nails dug into Adam’s arm as she struggled for breath.
A red haze covered my vision. I didn’t think, I simply charged. I ran out of the trees and toward Adam and Maddie.
When I was just a few steps away, his head jerked up, eyes flaring. But it was too late. I tackled Adam to the ground. His fist flew, glancing off my cheekbone, but I struck back with an uppercut to the ribs.
Adam grunted but answered with a knee to my gut. “You’ll never have her,” he spat. “She was mine first, and she always will be.”
We grappled for purchase, and I managed to get my arm against his throat. “Maddie belongs to herself, and you’re nothing but a bad memory.” A nightmare. The person who had tortured her time and time again. That red haze was back.
Maddie coughed and sputtered, trying to breathe. Because Adam had hurt her yet again.
I pressed harder on Adam’s throat, but he got off a blow to my ribs, which had my hold loosening for a second. It was enough.
Adam shifted and pulled something from his waistband. The flash of metal gleamed in the afternoon light, and the world slowed. Some part of my brain recognized that it was a knife.
He couldn’t get to Maddie. I wouldn’t let him. But he didn’t want to. Maddie had been right when she’d said that he hated me most of all. He plunged the knife deep, and white-hot pain lanced my side. Shouts sounded, and the world wavered. And then I couldn’t hear anything at all.
