Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
LINCOLN
I’d just hit the town limits when my cell started ringing.
Looking at the name on the display in confusion, I hit a button on my steering wheel and engaged the Bluetooth. “Hey, Nona. What’s up.”
“Hey, Linc. Is Eden with you?”
My back went straight and my gut twisted into a knot. “No. I’ve been out of town on a job. Just hit Hope Valley.”
“That’s weird.”
That knot grew even tighter. “What’s weird?”
“Well, she missed her appointment with me to get her hair done, and she’s not pickin’ up her phone. I thought maybe she was with you and just forgot.”
“How long ago was this?”
“I-I don’t know,” she answered, her voice now holding the same panic I felt digging into my chest. “Maybe forty-five minutes ago. She’s never late, and I can usually always get ahold of her. That’s why I thought she was with you.”
“And you’re still at the salon? You aren’t at home?”
“No, I’m not home.”
My chest squeezed at the same time my foot slammed the gas pedal down as far as it could go.
“All right, Nona, listen, because this is important. I’m five minutes out.
Call the station and ask to speak to Detectives Walker or Wanderly.
Tell them what you just told me, and tell them to get to Eden’s house as fast as they can. ”
“Lincoln, what’s going on?”
“Now, darlin’. Make the call. I have to hang up and make some of my own, but I’ll keep you filled in as much as I can.”
Her voice quaked with tears as she replied, “Okay, Linc. Okay. I’ll call.”
I disconnected and immediately reconnected, hitting the button on my speed dial that went to Cord’s phone. It rang and rang before his voice mail picked up. I hung up and tried again, getting the same result.
When I hung up that time, I called straight into Alpha Omega. “Roxanne,” I clipped the instant she answered. “Has Cord checked in with you recently?”
“Not since earlier. Why, is something wrong?”
Fuck. “Put me through to Xander.”
“Linc—”
“Now, Rox!” I barked.
Her voice came back weak, “All right. Going through now.”
I got that automated beep for a second before Alexander Caine, my expert in all things tech, picked up.
“Linc.”
“Need you to track Cord’s phone. He’s supposed to be on Eden, but neither of them is answerin’ their phone, and Eden no-showed at an appointment earlier.”
“Fuck,” he hissed through the line. Then I heard him hit the keys of his keyboard in rapid fire. “Fuck! Signal’s showin’ near mile marker six off Milner Road.”
The blood in my veins froze to ice. “That’s the middle of fuckin’ nowhere.”
“I know, brother. And the signal’s not fuckin’ moving. Something’s wrong.”
“Get some uniforms to that location. I want you and West with them. You call as soon as you figure out what the fuck’s happening.
“On it.”
The call dropped just as I whipped my truck onto Rosewood Lane. As I raced to Eden’s house as quickly as I could, I did something I hadn’t done in longer than I could remember.
I prayed.
“Please, God. Let her be okay. Please, I’m beggin’ you. Don’t take her from me.”
All I could do was hope like hell He was listening.
Eden
I cried out as the man standing above me landed another punch, this one splitting the skin at my eyebrow open, causing blood to pour down and blur my vision.
“Where’s your brother?” the man standing across the room asked again.
“I don’t know,” I answered for the millionth time.
I didn’t know how long they’d had me, or even where we were.
When I’d come too earlier, I’d been in the back of the SUV, my hands and feet tied with rope and a strip of duct tape covering my mouth.
I could have been unconscious for minutes or even hours, so there was no telling if we were even in Hope Valley any longer.
The only thing I knew was that they’d had me long enough for the sun to go down.
They’d driven me to a dilapidated shack in the middle of the woods that looked like it hadn’t been used in decades, then tied me to a chair in the center of the room.
There were three men. The biggest two had been taking turns beating the hell out of me, while the much older and smaller one—the one I assumed was in charge—stood several feet away, like he didn’t want to risk any of my blood flinging onto his expensive suit.
I knew exactly who these men were without having to know their names. They were the men after Shep.
The older man moved, grabbing an overturned chair and coming to sit right in front of me.
He leaned in, and I could smell vodka and cigarettes on his breath.
It was enough to make me retch. “You know, we can keep this up all night. No one has any clue where you are. Just tell us where your brother is, and I promise I’ll make my men stop. ”
I managed to glare at the piece of shit through my left eye, the one not currently swollen shut, and hissed, “I’ve told you a million times. I don’t know where he is. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
His wrinkled face twisted into a smile that was pure evil. “You’ve got fire. I appreciate that in a woman.”
I was in agony. I didn’t have an ounce of medical knowledge, but I could piece together enough to know they’d done some serious damage.
The spots dancing in front of my vision led me to believe I had a pretty serious concussion.
If the stabbing pain in my ribs was any indication, several of them were broken.
But the most concerning thing at that moment was the fact that I couldn’t seem to catch my breath no matter how hard I tried.
Every inhale felt like my lungs were on fire, and no matter how much oxygen I tried sucking in, it didn’t feel like enough.
“You’ll have to excuse me if your compliment doesn’t mean a goddamn thing to me at the moment.”
“You aren’t doing yourself any favors right now, dear. Just tell us where Shepley is and all of this stops.”
He was so full of shit. He wanted to kill my brother. His men killed Cord.
Cord. At the memory of him, a fresh wave of tears that had nothing to do with physical pain slid down my swollen and bruised face.
“Go fuck yourself,” I managed to grit out.
The man blew out a rancid breath and shook his head in disappointment, then looked up to one of the goons and ordered, “Make the call.”
Goon Number One pulled a phone from his pocket and hit at the screen with his sausage fingers. He passed it to the man in front of me, and the sound of ringing filled the room.
A second later, I heard my brother’s voice come through the speakerphone. He said one word, just one, but I could still hear the fear in his voice. “Vlad.”
From what I could tell, Shep had been living in squalor for god only knew how long, yet he still had an active cell phone? It didn’t make any sense. Then again, nothing about my brother made much sense. And I had much more important things to think about. Like somehow staying alive.
“You’ve been difficult to track down, my friend,” the man now known as Vlad said.
“Vlad, I don’t—”
“I didn’t want to resort to such tactics, but I’ve grown impatient.” Vlad looked at me and commanded, “Say hello to your brother, my dear.”
“Shep.” With the pain radiating through my entire body, that was the only word I could manage to get out.
“Eden? Christ, Vlad, what have you done?” he barked through the line. “She has nothing to do with this!”
“That’s where you’re wrong. See, you took something that belongs to me, and now I have something that belongs to you.”
“Eden. Eden can you hear me?” my brother asked, his tone laced with desperation. “Christ, E. I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
“I want back what you stole, Shepley,” Vlad broke in. “And to make sure that happens, I’m prepared to incentivize you.”
He reached back with his free hand, and Goon Number Two handed him a gun.
“Wait. What are you doing?” I began to squirm in the chair as Vlad’s fingers wrapped around the grip and he pressed the muzzle against my thigh.
A second later a shot rang out, and I screamed as the bullet tore through my flesh. It was the most intense, most excruciating pain I’d ever felt.
I was barely able to make out Shep thundering through the line, “Vlad, you twisted fuck! Stop it!” over the blood rushing through my ears.
“I’m sending you a location. You have one hour. The next shot won’t be a warning.”
With that, he hung up, and I sank once again into darkness as the pain pulled me under.