Chapter Nineteen
Rob
I run like hell.
The wind’s in my ears, the trees a blur, paws hitting the dirt in a rhythm too fast to feel or hear anything—
Anything but that sound.
A scream.
Maren.
I can’t yell, can’t say her name, have no fucking voice to speak like a human being, but I skid in the leaves, stop, turn back and run. Run. Run.
Animal instinct, human desperation.
Run. Run. Run.
But it’s too late. I’m too late.
Figures in dark clothes, shoving her in a van.
Door slam, engine rev.
And then they’re gone.
She’s gone.
Don’t remember the run home. Don’t remember shifting back or sprinting up the hill. Just remember that sound. That scream.
Maren. Maren.
Back deck, back stairs, kitchen door. Guys at the table, jump when I tear in.
“Rob?”
“What’s going—”
“She’s gone,” I gasp.
Silence.
“Gone where?”
Don’t know who speaks up. Don’t care.
“I don’t know where. Gone. Taken. They took her.” Words are too slow. Time’s wasting , goddammit—only one thing even matters.
I slam my hand against the wall, hard enough to crack plaster.
“ Find her. ”