56. Shep
56
SHEP
“Get in,” Anson ordered, yanking open the door to his truck.
I didn’t wait for another barked command, just hauled myself into the cab and slammed the door as he climbed in opposite me.
Anson started up his truck and threw it in reverse. “Open the glove box. I’ve got a police scanner in there. We can figure out where they are.”
Trace hadn’t shared that piece of information, telling me to wait for his call. Like hell would I sit at home twiddling my thumbs while Thea was out there fighting for her life.
Her life.
Just thinking the words had an invisible fist slamming into my gut and forcing all the air from my lungs. Everything burned as if my entire body had been engulfed in flames.
Which was exactly what it would be like if anything happened to Thea. I couldn’t do life without her now that I knew what it was like to be loved by her. She made everything…more. As if just having her in my presence made the world around me crisper and more beautiful.
“Hit the orange power button. It should already be tuned to the Mercer County channel,” Anson said as his foot pressed harder on the gas, making gravel fly.
I fumbled with the device that looked like a walkie-talkie. The moment I hit the orange button, static crackled.
“Unit four in pursuit of Thea Stewart and unknown subject on Terrace Road just past mile marker thirty. Allen’s vehicle is out of commission. Shots fired. Unknown subject is armed.”
I gripped the police scanner so hard the plastic began to crack. I instantly loosened my grip, forcing my body to release so I wouldn’t lose the one connection I had to Thea.
Shots fired.
My eyes burned like they’d been dunked in hydrochloric acid. Was Thea hurt? Bleeding? Worse?
“Hold it together, brother. We’re going to get to her,” Anson assured me as he floored it down the two-lane highway.
We weren’t far from the turnoff the officer had described. But not nearly close enough. Not when it only took a split second for everything to change.
Anson made a hairpin turn onto Terrace Road. It had been named for the many overlooks terraced into the mountain that looked out on the valley below. It was a beautiful, scenic stretch of road, but one that could be treacherous at night or in the snow.
My gut twisted as we passed Deputy Allen, who stood examining his squad car with a smashed-out windshield and a blown tire, but Anson didn’t stop. He kept his speed until we saw gathered law enforcement vehicles up ahead. He eased off the gas, slowing to a stop.
But my door was already open. I was out of the truck in a millisecond, charging ahead until I saw it.
Thea’s car. The navy sedan looked more like a pile of scrap metal. It had crashed head-on into a massive ponderosa pine. The front end was completely smashed in. The glass on every window shattered. Airbags deployed .
I stopped breathing. Was that blood on the driver’s side airbag? Where the hell was Thea?
A hand clamped down on my shoulder. “I told you to wait for my call.”
My gaze snapped up to Trace. “It’s Thea.”
That was the only answer he needed. The only reason. Because Thea was everything.
A shadow passed over his face. Pain streaking there because he knew . Knew that Thea had helped me find the peace within myself that I desperately needed. And he had seen how special she was. This world was a better place because she was in it.
Trace’s throat worked as he swallowed. “They’re on foot. We’re about to start combing the woods.”
There was a flush of relief that Thea was still alive, but it was followed by fury laced with terror. “Where the hell is he taking her?” I snarled. Brendan didn’t know these parts. He shouldn’t have even known this mountain pass was here.
“He?” Trace asked, brow furrowing.
“Brendan,” I growled.
“It’s not Brendan who has her. It’s Raina Wheeler.”
The name hit me like a physical blow. The slight woman who always had a nervous smile for me was the last person I would’ve expected to hold Thea at gunpoint. “What—why?”
The one-word questions tumbled over each other. None of this made any sense.
Trace shook his head, worry carving lines into his face. “I have no clue. I thought they were friends.”
Anson moved into our huddle, looking at the car and then up the mountainside. “If she’s been a victim of ongoing abuse, that kind of thing can lead to episodes of psychosis.”
A sick feeling spread through me, quickly followed by fear that stole all the oxygen from my lungs. I moved then, couldn’t stop myself. I had to find Thea. Now.
“Shep, wait,” Trace barked. But I kept right on moving. He cursed. “Fletcher, you’re with me. Hansen, you run the search. ”
Anson jogged to catch up with me. “Stop.”
I ignored him.
He grabbed my arm, and I shoved him off me. “Like you stopped when Silas had Rho? Fuck, Anson, you should know that I’m not going to stop. I have to find her. I can’t let anything—” My voice broke, pierced by shards of invisible glass. “I can’t let anything happen to her.”
Anson didn’t take offense to the shove. He moved right back into my space. “I know . I’m not telling you not to look for her. I’m telling you to stop and think . Where would Raina take her up here?”
I stilled. There was nothing but the pounding of my heart against the faint chatter of law enforcement in the background. My gaze swept the forests on either side. “There’s a forest service cabin at the summit, but that’s at least a couple hours’ hike from here.” I swallowed against the lump in my throat. “If they’re injured, they wouldn’t make it that far.”
“So, where would she go that’s close? If Raina just wanted to kill her, she would’ve done it already.”
Anson’s words were harsh but comforting at the same time. And they got my mind spinning, twisting in a way his normally did. Raina obviously wanted to cause Thea harm, but she hadn’t gone with bloody violence. Why?
Because some part of her couldn’t handle it. Likely hated it because she’d been subjected to it herself. So, how would she hurt Thea?
My spine snapped straight. “The bluffs.”
Anson’s brows pulled together, but I was already moving.
Trace jogged ahead of me, Deputy Fletcher at his side. “You let us take point. You can be with her as soon as we’ve contained the situation.”
Fuck.
I knew he was right. I didn’t have a gun or body armor. Trace and Fletcher had both. So, I let them lead, even though it killed me.
Anson was at my side then. “What are the bluffs?”
“There are these terraces in the mountainside that the road is named for. Natural overlooks.” I swallowed hard. “Raina didn’t want to shoot her.” I couldn’t say the rest, but Anson already knew. It was just the way his genius mind worked.
“She’ll force Thea over one of them.”
I jerked my head in a nod, pain spearing through me. I couldn’t think about it, couldn’t let the image grab hold or I’d break right then. Instead, I focused on Trace’s back, the Kevlar that read Mercer Co .
I focused on those letters as we quietly picked our way through the woods. Until we heard voices in the distance.
“Keep walking, whore,” Raina snarled. Her voice didn’t sound like the one I was familiar with. That one was softer, sweeter. This voice was full of rage.
“My side—I can’t—” Thea begged.
I could hear the wheeze in her words, even at a distance. Thea was in pain, injured.
Trace made a motion for me and Anson to stay back and another for Fletcher to go around. He switched something on his radio, making it go silent, and then whispered commands into it.
Blood roared in my ears as Anson and I followed my brother. The trees thinned, spreading wider and wider apart. And then I saw them.
Thea’s body was turned to the side. Her bakery tee was torn, and blood trickled down the side of her face. She tried to limp forward but stumbled.
“Stop faking,” Raina snarled. “I told you that innocent act won’t work on me. I’m going to free everyone of your manipulations, your ruin.”
“I didn’t want him to hurt you,” Thea pleaded.
“The hell you didn’t. It just kept getting worse and worse. You talked back at the office; you tried to seduce him at the bar. Who do you think he took that out on?” Raina screamed. “Then you try to get me to leave him. Do you know what he’d do if I tried to leave? He’d kill me.”
Her breaths came in ragged pants now. “So, there’s only one choice. You have to die.” She shoved Thea, making her stumble again.
I tried to surge forward, but Anson grabbed me by my shirt, hauling me back .
Trace moved then, his gun raised. “Mercer County Sheriff’s Department. Lower your weapon and get down on the ground.”
Raina whirled, her eyes wild and full of panic, but her gun remained trained on Thea. “You can’t be here. It’s not how it’s supposed to be. If I end her, it’ll be okay. She just has to be ended.”
“Raina,” Trace soothed. “Let me help you. If you lower your gun, I can make sure everything is okay. That’s my job.”
Something flashed in Raina’s eyes. “You only make it worse! Every time you come, he hits me harder!”
Blood drained from Trace’s face. “I’m so sorry. He’s wrong. But we can stop him. Together. I just need you to help me.”
“I am,” Raina growled, her jaw hardening. “If I erase her, then Russ will be okay, and you won’t have to come to my house. And Shep will be okay because this lying whore won’t be in his life anymore.”
I surged forward then. “Don’t.” The word was a desperate plea. “I won’t be okay if Thea’s gone. I need her.”
Raina’s gaze jumped to me. “No. No. No. You don’t. She lies. She tricks. She ruins. You’re better off without her. We all are.”
“Please,” I begged, my eyes burning.
My gaze collided with Thea’s pale green depths. They glistened in the fading light, full of tears. Her mouth formed silent words. I love you.
“Raina.” Trace took a step forward. “Put the gun down. We’ll make sure you’re safe. That no one can hurt you again.”
“She hurts me! It’s because of her that everything hurts!” Raina charged forward then, shoving Thea with all her might.
Thea’s slight frame went flying, stumbling backward. Her name tore from my throat as I ran forward.
But it was too late.
Thea tripped. For one horrifying second, she was suspended in air, over the edge.
And then, she was simply…gone.