Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
Twelve hours. Twelve hours without Mae. No one had heard from Jessie, either, which meant the entire Ford family had taken up residence in the Montgomery Defense office alongside Stone and the rest of the team.
It was chaos, but the girls were supporting Dolly as best they could, and Colt had taken to keeping his dad right by his side.
Danny wasn’t a small, timid guy, and they’d had to talk him down from riding out with a shotgun in his front seat.
Having Colt keep him up to date with information as it came in was the best route.
Max’s cell rang, and the room went silent.
An update from his team was likely the best hope they had at finding the girls, although Gage had been locked onto his laptop without taking a single break since they knew something had happened.
It wasn’t long after Max showed up that Gage was cracking open chats on the dark web to see if he could get any clues about what the hell was actually going on.
“Got it. Thanks, Watson.”
Every eye was on Max as he turned around.
“An agent working undercover in the Marset Cartel got unexpected marching orders. To pick up three women from an abandoned pharmaceutical testing laboratory outside Oklahoma City. The word is they were brought in from Texas.”
Stone’s heart stumbled in his chest. “Did they get descriptions?”
Max nodded. “Mid-twenties blond, and two women in their thirties. One blonde. The other is a brunette.”
Mae.
“This cartel? They’re connected to the guy you were watching here?”
Max nodded. “The missing link is who we’re after.”
“How long do we have?” Stone asked.
“They were told the women would be ready to be moved to auction tonight.”
“Fuck,” Gage jumped up from the computer. “That chatroom you had me monitoring?”
Max nodded, walking over to look at the screen. “God dammit.”
“What?” Nash asked.
“The threat has been nebulous. Something that was coming in the next month or so. The last post was a call to arms, to ready the people following whoever this psychopath is.”
“But they posted again. It’s happening today. There’s a list of targets, but it’s encrypted, and I don’t have the key.” Gage groaned.
“I’m calling my counterpart in cybercrimes.” Max picked his phone back up off the table. “He’ll get the team working on it.”
“And what about the warehouse? Tracker, can you get a list of abandoned places? We have to get to her.” Stone was hanging on by a thread.
His head was pounding, each heartbeat that banged between his temples a reminder that he needed to be moving.
He needed to be doing something, anything, to make sure Mae was safe.
For fuck’s sake. They needed to be heading to their trucks. Oklahoma City was a three hour drive. There wasn’t time to be sitting around!
“To them,” Hawk added, clearly still worried about Jessie.
“I’ll look… but it’s going to take me time.”
“I need some air.” Stone charged out of the office, nearly slamming into Lachlan.
“Sorry, man. You okay? You don’t look so good.”
“Yeah, sorry. Just need…” Stone didn’t finish his thought. His headache was worsening, and dizziness washed over him as he stumbled down the hall towards Mae’s desk.
“Stone?” He registered Sloane’s concern. His hand landed on the counter top, bumping into someone’s drink.
“Oh shit.” The mug toppled off the table, smashing on the ground, scattering hot coffee and a thousand shards of ceramic all around.
“Careful, Sage!” Lily gasped. “Get up off the floor…”
Get up.
Get… up…
A sharp pain lanced through Stone’s head. The image of Mae, down on her knees in front of him with tears streaming down her face flashed through his mind. “Get up, Mae.”
Stone gasped, his body folding in half as nausea and pain blinded him.
When will you finally be free, my love?
I will never allow myself to hurt you again. The fear in your eyes. The fucking way you were looking at me when I woke up with my hands…
His friend’s voices flared in the background as he blinked through the blinding pain.
I’m pregnant, Stone. There’s a baby and I need you to wake up because I’m scared. I’m scared to do this all on my own…
Get up, Mae.
I’ll never forgive you…
A black SUV.
What the fuck are you doing here?
One gunshot.
I’ll never forgive you…
Another gunshot.
Get up, Mae.
Payback, old friend.
You’re not dying with things still left to say to my sister.
I’ll never forgive you…
“Doc?”
Stone’s knees hit the floor in the bathroom just as his stomach started to pitch.
His body revolted against the assault of memories.
Tears streamed down his face in rivers of despair, his breath pulling in between bouts of retching.
And when the nausea finally passed, he was left crumpled on the floor, his head pounding as his heart shattered all over again.
He really had lost Mae before. That whole time, she was there for him because she was so selfless. She pushed her own pain to the back to care for him. And what had he done?
A knock rapped against the door.
“Doc?” Hawk. Of course. “You good?”
“No.” He groaned as he pushed to his feet.
He took a minute to wash his hands, splashing cold water onto his overheated, flushed face.
The man staring back at him in the mirror looked haunted.
Desperate for answers. Wrecked beyond the point of ever coming back.
He needed to find Mae. He’d spend the rest of his life groveling at her feet.
Even if she never took him back, even if she hated him, he’d never stop apologizing.
Stone had ruined their future. He’d destroyed her. And she was still there for him.
Hawk’s eyes went wide as Stone opened the door.
“What’s going on?” His hands wrapped around Stone’s arm, steadying him. “You need me to call Jake?”
“My head…” Stone groaned. “The memories. It’s too much.”
“Come on.” Hawk’s steady hold continued as they marched down the hallway, and back into the conference room.
“Fuck.” Gunner jumped up from the table, grabbing Stone’s other arm and helping him onto the couch. The pain was still rolling through him in waves.
His friends moved around him, all in ebbs and flows that mimicked the pain running in his veins. What had he done?
“Call Jake. Ask him what the hell we should be doing.”
He’d told her to leave.
“Stone? Can you tell us what’s wrong?”
He’d put his hands on her. Hurt her. How had she stayed by his side all this time? Mae fucking hated him. She’d had to live with him, she’d taken care of him, she’d carried his child… and gone through the unimaginable pain of losing the pregnancy.
She’d told him, and there was still a little part of him that didn’t believe her. That didn’t want to. That couldn’t. But all that time… she really had done it with a heart that he completely shattered.
“Stone? What’s going on?” Sloane’s hand landed on his shoulder.
He looked up, only then realizing his body was wracked with sobs.
“I… I remember.”
Sloane nodded, and she reached behind her to grab a tissue from the box on the side table.
“Okay. Can you tell me what you’re remembering?”
“Mae.” He choked on her name. “I fucking told her… I hurt her, Sloane. What was I doing? How could I think breaking her heart was the right thing to do?”
Stone’s head fell into his hands. The tears kept coming. “What the f-fuck is happening to me?”
“It’s very common for there to be a flood of emotions when people who experience amnesia get their memories back. Just lean into it. It’s going to be worse if you fight it.”
“I d-don’t have time… for this.” He sucked in a harsh breath. “I have to get t-to her. I have to tell her h-how sorry I am.”
Sloane nodded, her hand still steady on his shoulder. “Right now, the best thing you can do for Mae is to let your mind and body process this. The guys are still working. They’re not giving up. So take a deep breath and just listen to your body.”
Stone forced himself to follow her orders. One deep breath in—
“CLEAR THE BUILDING! NOW! GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!”
Sloane’s panicked eyes met his, and Stone moved, his training pushing everything out of his mind except his mission goal.
Clear the building, just like Gunner was yelling for.
The girls were all there. Same with the kids.
Dolly. The Fords. He grabbed Sloane’s arm, jumping up from the sofa as he tried to wrap his body around hers as he navigated them both to the front of the building.
His eyes swept back and forth, looking for anyone who may need help, but it looked like he and Sloane were at the back of the line.
As soon as his feet hit the sidewalk, he started taking inventory.
“MOVE DOWN THE ROAD. RUN! TO DOLLY’S. DON’T STOP. DON’T LOOK BACK.” Gunner’s instructions weren’t just to his teammates, but to the people milling about Ford Avenue that morning. Oh, lord. Whatever this was, it was bad.
“Move! Move! Get to Dolly’s! It’s not safe here!” Gunner’s commands continued to ring out over the street.
“Fuck, Red. Christ, you’re okay.” Gage pulled Sloane out of Stone’s grasp. He could see Gunner and Lily, with Sage safe in his arms. Nash had scooped up Embrie, Sebastian was letting Dolly hold his left arm while Danny held the right. Thank God Emma had stayed in Bell Ridge with Addie.
Hayes, Colt, Beau, and Lachlan were stopped in front of the hardware store.
“What’s going on?” Stone asked.
“I went out for a smoke break. Found a package. Got a look at it…. all wires and a fucking timer. Looks real from what I remember.” Lachlan’s hands shook as he squeezed his pack of cigarettes.
A bomb.
“What the fuck?!”
“Keep moving, I’m calling it in.” Colt ordered. “We need to clear the block. Go.”
Stone walked with Beau, Hayes, and Lach until they reached Dolly’s. It seemed like half the town was already there, standing on the sidewalk in front of the diner.
“Doc!” Hawk jogged over to him. “Christ. You need to sit down? You look like shit.”