Chapter Sixty
Fox
“Fox!” Haze’s voice came through my headset. But she didn’t sound right.
I walked back into the main hall, trying to find her. I spotted her at the other side of the room, her shoulders stiff, her phone gripped to her ear. I watched as she fell to her knees, her right hand still gripping her phone.
I ran to her, pushing past people in my way. I scooped her up off the floor and propped her up on my shoulder.
“Bibi…Bibi…She’s gone.” She managed to get the words out.
We’d been set up.
He’d got us out here so he could get to Bibi.
Why?
She was just a child. What did he want with her?
Leverage.
That must be it.
I couldn’t let my mind go anywhere else. He’d taken her to make us do whatever he wanted. And he was right. We would.
Her little face. Was she scared? Was she trying to be brave? It took everything I had not to roar at the thought of my baby being sad and us not being there to help her.
Her smile. Her little pigtails. The way they swung when she skipped down the road.
This couldn’t be happening.
If he hurt her…I couldn’t even finish the thought.
The sounds of the party. The music. Glasses clinking. People laughing. It was closing in on us. It was too loud. All of it. We needed to think. I half led, half held Haze, and walked us toward the exit.
We were nearly there when a loud trumpet sounded. We both jumped and looked around. The brass band was starting up. A cheer went up from the crowd as they launched into a loud, energetic waltz. The people around us moved toward the music as we moved against them, toward the door.
As soon as we got out into the fresh air, I took the phone from Haze and listened to Jenny. Haze pulled off her mask and threw it to the ground. The tears were still flowing, but she was silent. I made Jenny repeat everything twice before hanging up.
The air was crisp, and the sounds of the party inside carried from an open window. Music and laughter.
I hated the people in there. Oblivious. Enjoying their evening as our world was crumbling.
Haze couldn’t stand still; she was walking around in circles, her hands to her head. I stopped her and gripped her by the shoulders.
“Haze!”
She wouldn’t look at me.
“Haze.” I shook her gently. “I need you. Bibi needs you.”
Her eyes finally flicked to mine.
“She needs you angry, Haze. She needs you furious.”
Haze nodded, and then crouched over as she took several deep breaths. When she looked back up at me, her eyes were clear and focused. She was back—and she was terrifying.
“Let’s go get her.” She took off her shoes and we ran back toward the car park. She didn’t cry out as the gravel cut and bloodied her feet. She didn’t even seem to notice.
I was running faster than her.
“You go!” she shouted at me. “Pick me up!”
I went full pace. Within a minute, I was at the car. I jumped into the driver’s seat.
Haze was still running, a good ten feet away. That’s when I saw them. Two men. Big men, dressed in black tie. Running toward her.
“Haze!” I shouted. “Faster!” She didn’t look back; she would’ve known what was coming.
I started the engine and opened the passenger door.
They were gaining on her. She wasn’t going to make it.
I accelerated toward her, my lights on full beam.
Nearly there. Nearly. I slowed down enough to let her get in.
She slipped into the passenger seat, but a man with a shaved head was right there.
He hung on to the door, not letting her close it.
I started to speed up. He flung himself onto her, just as she plunged her index finger into his right eye.
He howled, and then she did the same to his other eye.
She punched him in the head and pushed him out of the car.
There was a crunch as I drove over his leg.
Haze was already grappling for the gun in the footwell. She leaned out of the door and fired two shots at the other man, who was still running toward us.
He dove to the ground.
We screeched down Balgray’s driveway and toward the highway.
Minivans were not designed to drive at speed.
I was struggling not to slam my foot down on the accelerator, to slam it down until it could go no further, until the doors rattled, until we were back home, back to Reggie, back to Bibi’s empty bed.
I gripped the steering wheel and tried to keep my speed to eighty miles per hour. We couldn’t afford to be stopped. We couldn’t afford to die in a fiery crash. We needed to get our daughter back, and we needed to wreak vengeance on those who had dared to take her.