Chapter 36
36
Caleb woke, staring at the sky. Snowflakes drifted, their delicate forms dancing in the moonlight before settling on his face. He watched them for several moments, not registering the cold wet against his back, the uncomfortable jab of stones and thorny branches. A rush of voices echoed at the back of his head, distant and muffled, as if he were underwater. He raised a tentative hand to his face, his fingers brushing against swollen skin, making him wince. Blood wet his fingertips.
Grace.
Her name slammed into him like a freight train, and he sat bolt upright, his breath coming in rapid, foggy gasps. The sudden movement sent dizziness rolling through him. He blinked to clear his vision. He was in a ditch, the dark ground rising on either side of him.
Memories fell into his mind in jagged disarray. Richard’s men had been waiting for them when they came out of Brad’s clinic. And Grace…Grace had gone with them, putting herself in harm’s way to keep him safe.
The memory chilled him more than the snow covering him. He scrambled out of the ditch, his hands numb with cold, sharp stones and frozen ground grinding against his knees as he pulled himself to his feet and stumbled onto the road, his eyes straining to see through the pre-dawn gloom. The asphalt stretched out on either side of him, a ribbon of darkness that seemed to go on forever. In the distance, a faint yellow glow told him he was several miles from Aurora Cove.
He checked his watch, the digital face glowing an eerie green in the darkness. Two fucking a.m. It had been almost six when they had left Brad’s office, which meant that Hudson and his men had an eight-hour head start.
Urgency clawed through him as he patted his pockets, already knowing that he wouldn’t find his phone. The bastards had taken it, then dumped him in the middle of nowhere.
He would need to run back to Aurora Cove to raise the alert.
He took off at a dead sprint, his feet pounding against the frozen ground as he raced toward the distant lights of the town. Freezing air burned in his lungs, and his muscles screamed in protest, but he pushed himself harder, faster, his mind focused on a single goal.
Grace.