Hunt shook his head. “I called in the highway patrol and state police to help track down his ass.” Hunt winced. “You’re bleeding really badly.”
Chase glanced over his shoulder as the paramedic taped a new thick pad to his shoulder. The movement made the wound on his side scream with pain. “I’m fine.”
Hunt glared at him.
Chase stood and wobbled on his feet before he caught his balance, thanks to Hunt grabbing his arm.
The paramedic looked up at him. “Hey, you need to go to the hospital. You probably need surgery, especially on the wound to your side. You might have some organ damage and internal bleeding.”
“It’s going to have to wait,” he said to the paramedic,then looked at Hunt. “They’re eleven minutes ahead of us. Let’s go.” Chase headed for Hunt’s squad car.
Hunt got on his radio for an update on the search for Kyle.
Chase settled in the passenger seat, trying his best to ignore the pain and focus on saving his family. “You have what I need?”
“In the trunk.” Hunt started the car, hit the lights and siren, and took off after Kyle. “You sure about this?”
“He’s not going to give them up without a fight. He lost Rebecca that way. He won’t lose them, so I’m going to have to take him out to get them back.” They’d known this was coming. He’d planned for it with Hunt and Shelby.
He wasn’t the same monster who took Rebecca.
He was worse, because he somehow thought he’d get away with it this time.
He’d had all these years in prison to think about what he wanted and how he’d take it.
He just never counted on Chase and what he’d do to get them back.
Kyle’s plan was flawed in many ways because his mind was warped and he couldn’t see past having Shelby and Eliza with him. Then what?
That’s the part Kyle never planned for with Rebecca or Shelby and Eliza.
But Chase had a plan. He just hoped Shelby was able to help him carry it out.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Shelby stared at the old mansion with the boarded-up windows, weathered paint, sagging porch, dead plants and weeds, and thought this was what had happened to Kyle’s mind while he was in prison: time had decayed it.
Kyle smiled at the house. “Do you like it?”
She knew he didn’t see what she saw. “It’s beautiful.” Once, the two-story white house with black trim, beveled leaded glass windows, and expansive yard had probably been gorgeous. Now it felt desolate.
His family ran a huge lumber company. They were well off, and it showed in this home. But that didn’t mean they’d been happy. Because something had gone terribly wrong inside those walls that had turned Kyle into a monster.
“There’s not much left inside, but we’ll make it home.”
She doubted the place even had water or electricity.
“Pee-pee,” Eliza whispered.
“She needs to use the bathroom.”
Kyle opened his door, climbed out, then peered back inside at her. “Run away and Eliza and I will just have to live here alone.”
She would not leave her child. Help was on the way,even if Kyle believed she’d come willingly and there’d be no consequences.
He held his hands out. “Come here, sweetheart.”
Shelby cringed at the endearment and about letting Eliza go to him, but she didn’t have a choice. She needed to bide her time and look for her opportunity.