Chapter 28 Kreed
KREED
By the time the sun slipped behind the tree line, my side had gone from a tearing agony to a steady, mean throb, like someone had buried a hot coal under my ribs and left it there to smolder.
I ignored it.
I’d spent the day pacing the house, checking in with Raine, with the twins, and with Brock while running scenarios in my head. If Rusty was smart, he’d disappear for a while, let the heat die down after his failed grab on me, but if he was desperate…desperate men did stupid things.
Desperate men made mistakes.
My phone buzzed on the dresser where I’d left it face down. I snatched it up so fast my stitches tugged.
Jesse.
Need to talk. Now.
I stared at the text for half a second, then pushed away from the wall, snagging a hoodie off the back of my chair. The simple act of dragging it over my head sent a spike of heat across my ribs, but fuck it. Better to rip the stitches than let Rusty’s kid stew long enough to lose his nerve.
I found Mason and Maddox in the home gym, half-assing some weights while a game blared on the mounted TV. Raine lounged on the bench, scrolling his phone like he had nothing better to do than heckle them.
“Field trip,” I said, jerking my chin toward the door.
Maddox grunted, dropping his barbell with a clank. “That sounds promising.”
“Or suicidal,” Mason added, mopping sweat off his face with the hem of his shirt. “I’m in either way.”
Raine pocketed his phone and pushed to his feet. “We taking the fun car or the subtle one?”
“Subtle,” I said. “We’re meeting Jesse.”
That wiped the amusement off all three of their faces.
“Are we bringing the little monster?” Raine asked, meaning Kaylor.
I shook my head. “Evan is staying to make sure she doesn’t leave the house.”
Mason snorted. “Poor Evan.”
Ten minutes later, we were in the SUV heading toward town. I texted Jesse a location, an empty lot two blocks from his dad’s shop. Neutral enough.
He was already there when we pulled in, leaning against his truck, baseball hat pulled down low over his eyes, shielding part of his face, hands shoved into his pockets like he was trying to disappear into himself. His shoulders went rigid when he spotted our car.
Raine stayed in the driver’s seat, engine idling. Mason and Maddox flanked me as I stepped out, Jesse’s eyes flicking to my side, to the way I subconsciously guarded it with my arm. “What do you have?” I asked, no small talk.
Jesse’s eyes flashed between us, landing briefly on the SUV’s tinted windows. “He’s making his move tonight.”
Ice trickled into my veins. “And that would be what?”
“I don’t know.” He pushed the words out. “He doesn’t tell me the details. But he mentioned a cabin.”
Something scratched at my brain, but I couldn’t figure it out.
Beside me, Maddox shifted, crossing his arms. “You sure about this? If you’re wrong, let’s just say it would be very bad for you.”
“You wanted to know the next time he reached out,” Jesse snapped, cutting him off. “This is all I have. If I start asking too many questions, he’ll get suspicious, and how would that be any help to you? I’m all you got.”
Fuck. He was right, and I hated that Jesse knew how much we needed him. I liked to be the one calling the shots, the one with the advantage. “We need to know where this cabin is,” I insisted.
He swallowed. “I’ve never been.”
Eyeing him, I tilted my head. “Why do I sense a but?”
His throat bobbed once. “Kaylor has.”
My brows hiked up.
Jesse took off his hat, running a hand through his mop of dirty blond hair, revealing the bruising mottled along his cheekbone. “He took her up there to hide out from you and your family.”
“Think he’s telling the truth?” Mason asked.
I didn’t take my eyes off Jesse. “He’d be dead already if I thought he wasn’t,” I said. “Get in.” When Jesse didn’t budge, I threw a look over my shoulder. “I’m not giving you a choice. You’re coming with us.”
“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath, glancing between my brothers and me. “Fuck.” He limped to my SUV, favoring one leg, and climbed into the back seat, sandwiched between the twins.
Mason grinned, stretching an arm across the back seat like they were on a damn road trip. “Well, this is cozy.”
Jesse muttered a prayer or a string of curses. Maybe both.
We pulled out of the lot, the night swallowing us whole, and something ugly twisted in my gut.
As we drove back to the estate in near silence, a plan started to form in my head.
I hadn’t wanted to involve Kaylor, but Rusty found a way to make sure I had no choice but to bring her.
My fingers curled in my lap. It was either that or I would lose my shit, start beating on the car. I never wanted her anywhere near him.
There had to be another way.
Maybe she could draw us a map, but when she knew what I was doing, she would refuse to be left behind.
By the time we pulled up to the house, my side was screaming, but the thoughts in my head were louder.
We spilled into the foyer. “I’ll loop in Brock,” Raine said, already reaching for his phone. “See what the Elite can cover on their end. Maybe he’ll know something about this cabin.”
“I’ll pull what we need before we hit the road,” Maddox offered, taking off down the hall.
Mason clapped my shoulder, careful of my injury. “You get Kaylor. I’ll entertain our guest.”
I took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the way my vision fuzzed for a second from the strain.
Kaylor’s door at the end of the hall was cracked open, and this horrible feeling pitched in my gut.
“Little raven?” I called quietly, knuckles brushing the wood as I pushed it wider, only to find the room empty.
Her bed was made, blankets smooth, pillows in place. Textbooks were stacked neatly on the desk beside her laptop, and the hoodie was missing from the back of the chair.
A cold finger dragged down my spine.
She could be in a number of places. My room. Or with Amelia in the kitchen. I had no reason to panic…yet.
“Kaylor?” I said, louder this time, stepping across the hall toward my room. No answer.
My heart started a slow, heavy pounding against my ribs at the sight of the closed door.
The bad feeling in my gut tripled. I nudged the door open with two fingers, and the first thing I saw was the rumpled sheet on the bed, still bearing the vague outline of where I’d crashed earlier.
The second was the nightstand, one drawer slightly parted, a corner of wood not quite flush with the rest.
I yanked it open, staring at the spot where my gun should’ve been, loaded and ready.
It wasn’t. Only the faint impression of its shape remained.
The world went utterly, perfectly silent before the roar came back all at once, like someone had turned the volume up on reality.
“Fuck,” I hissed, slamming the drawer shut so hard the lamp rattled.
Pain shot through my side, white-hot and blinding. I rode it out.
She wouldn’t.
She wouldn’t go after him alone. Not when she knew what he was capable of. Not after what she’d been through…
But another voice nagged in my head. The one that said she would do anything to keep the people she loved safe.
And that included me.
I saw her face again, the way she’d looked at my stitches, at the bruises on my ribs. The way she’d clung to me and whispered that she couldn’t do this without me into my chest.
She thought she was the problem, the reason everyone kept getting hurt. Knowing Kaylor, she’d walk straight into hell.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, dragging me back from the edge. I ripped it out so fast I nearly dropped it. “Evan.”
“She’s on the move.”
Everything inside me went still. Fuck.
My voice dropped. “Where are you?”
“Tailing her. She hasn’t caught on yet. We’re heading south on Cumberland.” A pause—too long. “And she isn’t alone.”
“Did you recognize who she’s with?” The demand rushed out of me.
“Her friend Carson Ward,” Evan replied.
My hand pressed to the wall. What? That made zero sense. After everything he’d done, why would she go with him? Unless he tricked her or worse, took her by force, but Evan made it sound like she got into his car willingly.
That fucking prick.
I forced a breath in through my teeth, slow and controlled, fighting the urge to put my fist through the nearest wall. “How long ago did she leave?”
“11:07.”
Evan would be precise. I checked the time.
11:32. She had a twenty-five-minute head start, but I could make that up.
I had to leave now. “I’m on my way. Don’t lose sight of her.
I’ll call you from the road.” I disconnected the call and stalked out of the room so fast the door ricocheted off the wall behind me.
My footsteps thundered down the stairs, the banister rattling under the force of my grip as I took the last few steps in a single leap.
Was she headed to the cabin? It was the only place that made sense.
She must have found out the same information I had.
Had Jesse called her first before he called me?
That fucker. I swore, if something happened to her, if he had any part in her taking off, I’d kill him after I obliterated his father.
Raine and Maddox were just stepping out of Dad’s office. They froze the second they saw my face. “What happened?” Maddox asked, sensing something was wrong. My face definitely said it all.
“She’s gone.” My voice came out like gravel.
Raine frowned. “Gone where?”
“If I knew that, I wouldn’t be so fucking calm about it,” I snapped. They both looked me over. I was anything but calm, and we all knew it. “The cabin if I had to guess.” I gave up the pretense of control and slammed my fist into the wall. “Fuck!”
Raine’s eyes drew sharper. “Grab your shit.” He pointed toward the hall, taking control of the situation. “Let’s go.”
Kaylor’s face flashed behind my eyes as I took off after my brothers, the way she had smiled as she told me she loved me, how she looked so serene and happy, tangled in my bed.