THEO
Seb and I drag the guy who was meant to be securing this place inside and release him with a thud, not bothering to look back at him as he continues to bleed out on the floor.
I’d have hoped that Luis would have had better guard dogs than this, but clearly, his little gang is about as weak as I always suspected it to be.
“She’s not here,” D booms from somewhere deeper in the house, making my heart drop.
After all the shit I got about chipping her in order to keep her safe, it seems that maybe I wasn’t onto such a bad thing. Because no sooner had she run away from me and escaped my clutches, her dad and uncle took matters into their own hands to ensure her safety with things so up in the air with her mum and Ram.
But as much as it pisses me off, fuck am I glad they did.
“She has to be. It’s where the tracker said she was,” Link calls back. “Keep looking.”
Marching down the hallway, I emerge in the kitchen. Something immediately catches my eye in a bowl in the middle of the table.
“She’s not here,” I confirm, walking toward it and scooping the piece of jewellery up in my hand.
I had no idea she was wearing it, and damn if it didn’t give me a shred of hope to cling to when Dawson explained what he, Cruz, and Link had done when they realised just how attached to it she was. She might not have been wearing it on her finger, but she hadn’t immediately discarded it like I thought she might.
Letting Cruz, Seb, and Alex see what I’ve found, I slump down into one of the chairs.
“They’re close by. There has to be something else here. They wouldn’t be attempting to guard a fucking piece of jewellery, as nice as it is,” Cruz adds when he catches a glimpse of the expression on my face.
“Cost more than you’ll likely see in a lifetime,” I mutter, much to his irritation.
“Shut the fuck up, both of you,” Dawson snaps. “Link, get up a satellite view of this place. There has to be outbuildings. She’s here somewhere. I know she is.”
Curling my fingers around her ring, I send up a silent prayer to any deity who might be willing to listen that she’s okay. Because if she’s not then…
I blow out a long breath as the harsh reality of the situation slams into me.
If they’ve hurt her—really hurt her, no matter what the reason for it—it’s all my fault.
I’m the one who was fucking about, playing games, keeping secrets, refusing to admit just how I felt about her.
All this time I should have been protecting her, and yet all I’ve done is push her toward danger. Forced her to run from and then run into a den full of fucking wolves.
My fists curl. Her ring digs into my skin as I think about Archer Wolfe and his phone call to tell me where my wife was.
Was the whole thing a setup?
Did they want her, but also want to hurt me too?
Is that why they forced that fucking acid on her?
I might not know Emmie as well as I probably should, but I know for a fact she’d never take any drugs, weed aside. I’ve heard the way she talks about her childhood, about her mum’s addiction.
She wouldn’t.
Even after everything I’d done.
Surely, she wouldn’t.
Guilt continues to tug at me as Link lowers his tablet to the table.
We all wait in silence with our backs to the door as we stare at the screen, trusting Xander, Gunner, Toby, and Nico to secure the building and stop us getting ambushed while we try to figure this shit out.
“There.” Link points to a dark patch in the trees.