God no. His heart plummets on her last word. It’s worse than he thought. Her car didn’t break down, her phone didn’t die. Someone took her.
Out of the corner of his eye, Seth stands still, head bowed, jaw clenched.
Rage, furious and venomous, licks over Luke. He grips his phone so tight he could snap it in half. “Who took you?”
“—olly’s ... band ... Chris ... from the hospital.”
Luke strains to listen. Her voice is tinny over the line, their connection tenuous. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
Briefly, he catches the eye of Griff, who’s already on his phone with the cops.
“I’m okay ... I’m not hurt, but ... I don’t have long ... in the bathroom ...”
Luke takes a deep breath, fighting fear, frustration. The information she’s giving isn’t helping him any thanks to the goddamn reception. “Sal, darlin’, I ain’t hearin’ you so well.” He keeps his voice light, calm, even though he feels desperate as hell. “Can you try again and tell me where you are?”
“Hold on.” There’s the rustle of movement, a shower curtain crunching, and then her voice is back, clearer. “... passed over train tracks ... two of them. We’re in the woods somewhere. A cabin. And there’s a—”
She breaks off.
He swears. All he wants is a location. Anything to find her and the universe ain’t even giving him that much. “Okay, that’s good, darlin’, what else?”
“I don’t know, I can’t—”
“It’s okay.” Luke squeezes his eyes shut, his fist. “We’re comin’ for you, d’you hear me, Sal? Listen to me. We’re gonna find you.”
“I know. I know. Oh, I’m sorry,” she says, tearfully. “I’m so sorry, Luke. I should’ve told you ... I—”
“Sal?”
A suck of her breath. And then—
Sal screams. “Oh no! No!”
A split second later, the sound of wood breaking. A dog’s frantic barks. And then the line goes dead.
“Sal!” Luke roars into the phone.
Gripping it in a stranglehold, his last lifeline to Sal gone, Luke stares at his phone in horror until Jace pries it away. Numbly, he watches as Jace, his hands shaky, his face pale, dials back Sal’s number. His best friend listens, swallows, says, “Phone’s been turned off.”
Luke wrenches his eyes shut and turns away. He smears his face in his hands. Trying to breathe. Trying to live. His heart in a million pieces. He is broken. A broken fucking man.
“Got the cops on the line, Kincaid,” Griff says, stretching out his cell phone, his face drawn in deep anger.
A pained sound comes from Seth. “Luke.”
“It’s gotta wait,” Luke bites out, holding up a hand to silence his brother. He grabs Griff’s phone, only to find he’s been placed on hold. A frustrated growl rolls out of Luke.
“It can’t wait. It’s really fuckin’ important.”
He lifts his gaze to Seth. Luke’s stomach clenches at what he sees in his brother’s face. Worry. Agony. Seth’s pale and shaking. “Goddamnit, what is it?” He grips his brother’s shoulder. “You’re scarin’ me.”
“It’s Sal. What she was trying to tell you.” Seth swallows, meets his eyes. “She’s pregnant.”
Alabama says softly, “Oh, no.”
“Holy shit,” Jace breathes.
Luke freezes, staring at Seth in confusion. “What?”
“She’s pregnant, man.” Seth hangs his head, his voice splintering. “She found out two weeks ago.”
Luke’s mind works to put it all together, to register the bomb of information of Seth’s just dropped, but he can’t. The world tilts out from under him. “No,” he chokes out. He leans forward, grabbing his knees. Griff shoves a chair toward him and Jace hauls him back. Luke barely makes it into a sitting position where he folds over, burying his face in his hands. Tears burn his eyelids.
Pregnant. Sal’s pregnant.
When he looks up, he finds Seth kneeling in front of him, waiting in the silence of the stricken living room.
Seth’s haunted-eyed gaze finds his, and when Luke exhales, says, “Tell me,” Seth wipes his face, nods his head and says, “Okay.”