51. Theo #2
I ended the call and turned back to Nelly.
Her face had gone ashen, and she lifted a hand to cover her mouth.
“Piper,” she quietly cried.
“It’s okay. We’re going to find her. She probably…stopped at a store.”
I wanted it to be true. But my gut told me I was only grasping for that horizon. That place where we were all supposed to finally be at peace.
Tears streaked down Nelly’s cheeks. “I need to show you something, Theo.”
“After I get back?—”
“No, now.” She took the stairs faster than I imagined she could.
I bounded up them behind her.
She went straight for Piper’s bed and dragged a duffel out from under it. It was the one Piper had kept at her feet on my floorboards the night I found them wrecked in the snow. Refusing to let it out of her sight while I’d tossed the rest of their belongings into the bed of my truck.
Trepidation throbbed in my senses.
Nelly set it on the mattress and worked the code into the lock, and when it gave, she unzipped it.
I frowned at the sweaters that sat on top, but then I was getting slammed by a rogue wave of shock when Nelly pulled them out to reveal a ton of cash hidden underneath.
Stacks of it.
“She started dating the bastard one summer years back,” she rushed.
“She was nineteen. Had her whole life ahead of her. I knew he was a snake the second I saw him. He didn’t even come inside, he just waited for her on the curb like he was too good for anyone.
Or more like he just didn’t care. But I got the sense immediately.
He was dangerous, and not just in a he would break her heart kind of way. I felt the wickedness coming off him.”
She blinked. “She was involved before she even knew what hit her. He had her act as a decoy when he robbed this poor, innocent man of all that money.” She gestured at the stacks. From a quick scan, I imagined it was at least half a million. “And the jewelry underneath.”
Alarm ricocheted through me as Nelly continued to rush through the explanation. “She didn’t know what he was up to. She had no clue, Theo, but she’s blamed herself for it for all this time. She tried to go to the police.”
Grimness took over her tone. “He sent someone to kill her, but this girl warned her about his intentions instead. Gave her this bag of money and jewelry and told her to get out of the city and never to come back. Only when Piper rushed home to warn the rest of us, Justin was already there. He had slaughtered our whole family. Her mother, father, and brother.”
Nelly’s voice cracked in pain.
In sorrow we must stand.
Horror spun through me.
Gripping.
Confounding.
I tried to remain steady.
No fucking wonder she didn’t trust anyone. No fucking wonder she carried so much grief. I was going to end this monster. End him so she would never have to be afraid again.
I needed to get out of here.
Find Toga.
Make sure Piper was safe.
But there was something about Nelly’s insistence that kept me pinned.
“I was living out in the guesthouse, and he somehow didn’t know I was there.
He attacked Piper. Stabbed her twice in the back, but she fought him off and managed to get away.
She grabbed me and ran with me to the car, all while that deviant tried to chase her down, shouting that he would find her wherever she went. And she’s been running ever since.”
She dug deeper and pulled out a sketchpad. “She was in school for fashion design, and she was always drawing clothing on her loved ones, but after, she started drawing this.”
She flipped through quickly. There were a ton of sketches of clothing. Smiling faces of an older woman that looked a whole lot like Piper.
Undoubtedly her mother.
I stumbled back a step when she finally flipped to the page she wanted. “This is him. This is who you should be looking for.”
It looked like…Toga.
What the fuck?
My head spun, lightheadedness hitting me like a tsunami.
“That’s…” I choked.
“That’s the bastard. You need to be able to recognize him if he’s out there. If he has her.”
Dismay whipped through her features. Her own grief so distinct. “I tried to get her to go to the authorities, but she was terrified of the threats Justin made. She tried to settle with Finn’s father, but…”
She trailed off, unsure if I knew.
Sickness burned as my mind played through the admissions Piper had made. “She told me he was killed.”
Nelly gave a jerky nod. “After that, she was trapped by her fear. Merely surviving. Until she met you.”
Reaching out, I flipped the page, hoping there was some mistake. That my eyes were playing tricks on me.
But when I flipped it to the next, there was no question.
Those eyes.
I knew those vicious eyes.
But it was the drawing of the woman on the opposite page that sent my soul dropping to the floor.
The paranoid horror on the face I would never forget.
Scarlett.
Dumbfounded, stricken, gutted—I stared at it.
“She’s the one who warned Piper. Probably the only reason we’re still alive,” Nelly whispered.
No.
It was her.
It was her.
Weeks had gone by after I’d begged her to come back. Weeks of seeing her riding on the back of Toga’s bike.
I wanted to be jealous during that time, but the only thing that I felt was protective. Wanting her to thrive and live. For our kid to have a good life. Wishing I was better, all while I pleaded with her to find reason. Promising I’d do whatever she wanted.
She told me it wasn’t enough, and she didn’t ever want to talk to me again. That was until the morning when I received a frantic voice message from her.
“Theo, I need your help. I’m in bad trouble. Toga, he’s gonna kill me. I know it. I’m on my way to your house.”
Except she never made it.
I found her mangled body on the backlot at Iron Owls’ club later that night.
Guilt striking me through like the blades that had impaled her. My hands had shaken with violence, desperate for revenge.
Toga had disappeared.
For years.
Until now.
Until right now when Piper was here.
“Oh, fuck.” Frantic, I dragged my fingers through my hair, trying to process it.
He was here.
For her.
“I have to go. Do not open the door for anyone until I get back,” I commanded.
“There was a reason we were drawn here. She needs you, Theo. End this for her.”
“I will,” I promised.
I went running from the room, dialing Silas as I pounded down the stairs.
“Theo?” he answered.
“Tell me that Volvo has a tracker on it.”
“It does.” I could already hear him moving, instinct telling him to get ready to dive into action.
“Text me the location, then get on your bike and meet me there. He has my girl.”
There was no question Toga wanted what was in that bag. It was the one thing that made me certain she was still alive. He wouldn’t end her before he had his hands on what he was looking for.
“Fuck, man,” Silas wheezed. Metal groaned and clanked in the background as one of his massive garage doors rolled up, his breaths going haggard. “It’s up on the south end of town…Dusty Springs Motel.”
“Meet me and my crew there.”
“I’m on my way, brother.”
I hit the bottom landing and went directly for Finn who was swaying in front of the Christmas tree. His big blue eyes were wild with uncertainty, clearly not immune to the distress that raged.
Kneeling, I took his face in my hands and brushed both my thumbs over his chubby cheeks. “I’ll be back, little man. I just have to get your mommy.”
And I wasn’t coming back without her.
Then I was running out the door and jumping onto my bike that I left out front, dialing Cash as I did. “Piper’s car is at Dusty Springs Motel. You and Otto get there. Silas is bringing backup.”
“Motherfucker,” he spat as he revved the throttle of his bike.
“It’s time,” I told him.
Except it was no longer about retribution.
It was only about saving Piper.