WITSEC

Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Red and blue lights lit up the darkened neighborhood. My cheeks were wet and cold from the nonstop tears that rolled down them. Dried blood covered my hands and knees. Ethan’s hysterical voice as the paramedics had rushed Isabelle out of his house was playing on repeat in my head, drowning out all the noise around me.

“What happened?” he demanded as he pushed through the crowd that had congregated in the foyer to watch the paramedics hurry Isabelle downstairs on a gurney.

I froze in my descent behind them on the stairs, my eyes locking on Ethan just as he realized who was being carried away. The widening of his green eyes and the horror and panic that filled them gutted me. I stopped breathing and tears blinded me as he rushed to her side with frantic words:

“Isabelle!”

“What happened?!”

“Who did this to her?!”

The ambulance had long since rushed off with Ethan trailing it in his own car. Now I was standing in the middle of the street in front of Ethan’s house, staring down the dark road as if I could still see the ambulance and Ethan speeding away. Police, crime-scene personnel, and a few people who had been attending Ethan’s birthday party were moving around me. The police had finished taking my statement, but were still speaking to Keelan, Knox, and Creed.

The dried blood on my skin made it feel tight. I drew my hands up to stare at them. They were trembling. Strangely, the blood didn’t trigger an episode. Maybe because I was already standing in hell, a new level that my mind would no doubt drag me back to later.

Staring at my hands, I hated how familiar the sight was. The smell, too. The pungent scent of pennies had been embedded in my nose since Keelan and I had found Isabelle, butchered and barely alive in one of the bathrooms in Ethan’s house.

He had found me.

You are mine. X.

He had written it in Isabelle’s blood—a message for me on the bathroom mirror, because he knew I’d find her.

A sob barreled its way up my throat.

Oh, Isabelle.

The guilt and sorrow were so heavy that my chest felt moments from caving in. My body demanded that I just curl up and cry. That demand nearly made my knees buckle. I fought it, though.

Fisting my bloody hands, I dropped them back at my sides and closed my tear-filled eyes.

I’m sorry, Isabelle.

I’m so, so sorry.

I wished I could have gone to the hospital with Ethan—to be there for Isabelle and him.

But I couldn’t.

I had to put distance between me and them. Even now, I could feel him watching. And if I stayed here, he’d go after Ethan next, and then someone closer to me.

Maybe he already has.

I glanced at Knox, Keelan, and Creed. Colt’s absence made my heart pound painfully in my chest. I hadn’t had a chance to speak to Knox and Creed since Keelan and I’d split up from them to search for Colt around Ethan’s house, but I’d overheard Knox tell Keelan, just as EMS had rushed into the bathroom to help Isabelle, that he and Creed hadn’t found Colt.

The thought of Mr. X taking Colt terrified me so much that I felt like I was going to vomit.

I inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled long and slow through my mouth as I stared back down the street in the direction the ambulance had driven.

I couldn’t let what I was feeling consume me. Not right now. Not with so much at stake. I had to bury it. To survive. To find Colt. I had to. I’d done it before.

I can do it again.

With one last deep breath, I felt like I had a little more control of myself. Determination and understanding of what needed to be done began to take over.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my personal phone. My burner phone was in the car in my purse. At this point, it didn’t matter what phone I used. Mr. X had already found me. After tapping on Logan’s contact, I brought the phone to my ear. It rang once and went to voicemail.

I walked farther away from the guys so I wouldn’t be overheard. “I don’t know if you’re not answering because you’re upset with me or you’re dead. I’m praying it’s the former.” My voice was hollow, as if I’d been too successful in burying my emotions. “Mr. X has found me. Feel free to tell me I told you so the next time you see me. It’s what I deserve. I’m a selfish piece of shit.” I squeezed the phone. I didn’t have time to wallow in guilt. “When you get this, I won’t have this phone anymore. I’m going to do what you taught me. I’m going to get somewhere safe. Don’t come looking for me. Just please focus on finding him. Just find him and kill him, Logan. Because if you don’t…” A little bit of anguish seeped into my voice. I took in a calming breath to compose myself. I glanced at my guys again. The three of them were watching me as they spoke to the police. It was as if they were afraid to take their eyes off of me. “I’m terrified. I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been. It’s not just me anymore.” Maybe it was because I already knew what it was like to lose everything, and that knowledge…I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but right now, that experience was the only thing fueling my determination to never endure it again. I looked away from my guys and I stared down the road where the red and blue lights from the police cars didn’t reach, where it was dark, where he could easily be watching me from. I let my anger show. I hoped he saw it. For too long I had given him my fear, my pain. He relished it and it only added to his obsession. No more. “I won’t let him take my family from me again.” I meant it. I would do whatever I had to in order to keep them safe. “I love you, Logan.”

I hung up, and just as I was about to put my phone back into my pocket, it began ringing.

Unknown number, the screen read.

Colt was why I didn’t hesitate to answer. I squared my shoulders, bracing myself as I brought the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“Hello, Shiloh Pierce,” a familiar male voice said. “Or should I say Shiloh McConnell.”

The voice didn’t belong to Mr. X.

“It seems you kept digging, Sheriff,” I said, and for a moment I thought maybe, just maybe, Cassy’s father was behind all of this. And for that brief slice of time, a little bit of relief slipped in. But just as that short moment came, the memory of being locked in that interrogation room alone with him ended it. He’d had me pinned and bent over the table, twisting my arm behind my back at a painful angle.

“Don’t play dumb. I know they chased you through the woods. My daughter told me. They went after you and never came back. You did something to them. You did or he did.”

He had said he did .

“I already knew who you were when I made that threat,” he said as if proud of himself.

“Was it your digging that led Mr. X here?” I questioned.

“Xander Xenos. Also referred to by his students as Mr. X. That’s what the police officer I spoke to said in Maryland, and that you used to be his student.”

“How did you find out who I was?”

“It wasn’t easy.” The lightness in his voice told me he was happy that I’d asked. “Nearly impossible, actually. But the weak link that led me to learn everything about you was your uncle. My officers who pulled you over on your way to school told me they had to let you go because you had a U.S. Marshal in the car with you. That made me wonder what your connection was to him, and from there I got my answers.”

“And how did you track down Mr. X?”

“Not everything needs to be revealed over the phone,” he said.

Like I’d want to talk to you in person.

Frustrated, I raised my hand to rub my face. Remembering that it was covered in blood, I froze and fisted my hand instead. “Whatever you did to bring him here, just know that Gabe and Amber are more than likely dead.”

The line went quiet long enough to make my heart beat a little faster. “For your sake, that better not be true.” His voice was low and rumbled just enough to tell me that it had taken everything to keep his voice calm. “I have your boyfriend. Well, one of them anyway.”

My stomach sank and my heart pounded painfully in my chest.

“If you want him back?—”

“Alive,” I snapped.

He huffed a laugh that lacked any humor. “He’s alive.”

“How do I know that?”

“I guess you’ll have to find that out for yourself. That is, if you’re the one to get here first.” I could feel his evil glee through the phone. “I’m going to call your Mr. X next. You like to run, right? Let’s make this a race.”

Even though I was as still as a statue, everything beneath my skin was pure chaos.

“However, if you do decide to enter this race to rescue your beloved, there is one rule,” he said.

It wasn’t hard to guess what it was. “I have to come alone.”

“Very good,” he praised, making me grind my teeth. “If you break the rule, I’ll kill Colt myself.”

I didn’t know how I was going to slip away from the guys, but I’d figure it out. “Fine. Where are you?”

“Desert Stone Fitness.” As soon as he said it, he hung up.

“Who were you talking to?” a voice asked.

I spun on my heels. Creed was right behind me and Knox and Keelan were walking over.

“Logan,” I lied as a plan formed in my head. “He wants us to meet him back at your house.”

All three of them frowned and I could see the doubt in their eyes.

I need to lie better. Colt’s life depends on it.

“He’s back?” Knox asked.

“Yes,” I said as I pulled my keys from my pocket and stepped in the direction of my 4Runner. “We should go.”

Keelan reached to take my keys. “Why don’t I drive?”

I snapped my hand out of his reach and internally winced. “I—I need something to focus on.”

Understanding, Keelan dropped his hand and nodded.

“Your hands are covered in blood,” Knox said as he stared at me with an intense look that felt like he could see every lie that spilled from my lips.

I didn’t want to hand over my keys, but I didn’t have time to waste arguing. “Right.” I gave the keys to Keelan before taking off toward my car. They thankfully followed.

“What about Colt?” Creed asked as we all climbed into my 4Runner.

I climbed into the backseat with him while Knox and Keelan sat up front. “Logan will help us find him.” I hated lying—giving them false hope. And if I failed to save Colt...I didn’t think I’d ever be able to forgive myself.

I couldn’t afford to think like that right now. I needed to stay focused because I was undoubtedly walking into a trap. Maybe Sheriff McAllister wanted to hand me over to Mr. X, or follow through on his threat to kill me and make it look like a suicide. I had a gut feeling the former was what I was going to face. One twisted assurance I had was that Mr. X wouldn’t allow the sheriff to kill me. In Mr. X’s eyes, I belonged to him. Only he had the right to inflict my torture—my agony—and Jacob, Amber, and Gabe had made themselves a threat to that right. I was also sure Mr. X had twisted the situation in his head such that getting rid of them was his way of protecting me. It was why he’d left Jacob’s body on my couch like a gift or like proof, as if to say, This is what I’d do for you . I wouldn’t be surprised if the sheriff and Cassy found themselves missing next. Honestly, I was surprised the sheriff wasn’t gone already. He posed the biggest threat to me.

Whatever the reason that kept the sheriff and Cassy out of Mr. X’s reach, he had deemed the board cleared of enough obstacles to come after me. He felt like a shark circling me and the connections I had made. I had no idea how long he’d been circling, but he clearly had decided to get to me by going through those I cared about. He’d started with Isabelle. He probably planned to go after Ethan next. Who would be after that? Logan? He would save my guys for last. I knew that with every fiber of my being. It was what he had done with Shayla. I’d loved my parents dearly, but Shayla had been my other half. He’d purposely saved her death for last, and he’d made sure I’d been there to witness it.

It felt like Keelan took forever to get the car started and drive away from Ethan’s house. My knee bounced with barely contained anxiety. Every minute that passed as we made our way back home felt like it was ticking by way too quickly.

When we were almost there, a warm hand smoothed over my bouncing thigh. I stilled and glanced at Creed next to me. He was staring intently at me with a frown. I could see his questions before he thought to speak them. To prevent him from asking, I looked to Knox in the front seat. “Can you hand me my purse?”

Knox picked it up from the floor on the passenger’s side and passed it back to me. I pulled out my gun that I’d had tucked into the back of my shorts under my shirt. I had hidden it there before the police and EMS had arrived to help Isabelle. I kept myself busy by flicking the safety on my pistol and putting it back inside my purse.

To my relief, the rest of the ride home was quiet. No one really said anything until we got to the guys’ house to “wait for Logan.” I was pretty certain it was due to their worry for Colt and the shock of what had happened to Isabelle.

As soon as we got inside, Keelan and Knox announced that they were going to search the house just in case. Creed stayed with me in the living room and took a seat on the couch. I purposely stood by the little table by the front door where the guys kept their keys in a bowl.

I had hoped Keelan would drop my keys there when he came inside. He hadn’t. Instead, he’d pocketed them. After a quick freak-out, I realized that was actually a good thing. They would need my car. Very quietly, I plucked Keelan’s Jeep keys out of the bowl and hid them in my fist behind my back.

Keelan and Knox returned to the living room at the same time. Keelan took a seat next to Creed on the couch, but Knox came to me. He looked me up and down in an assessing way. I felt like he was searching for lies, but he was probably just trying to see if I was all right.

I could see his intent to touch me and say something. Before he could do either, I moved around him and walked toward the twins’ side of the house. “Logan should be here any minute. I’m going to wash my hands.”

They didn’t stop me, but I felt the weight of their eyes on me until I disappeared down the hall. I passed the bathroom and went right into Creed’s room. I shut the door quietly and rushed to the window near the foot of Creed’s bed. After pushing back the curtains, I tried to be quiet as I unlocked the window and pulled it open. Popping out the screen was going to make some noise, so I took a moment to pull out my personal cell and type out a text. Then I stood on Creed’s bed to get level with the window before I knocked the screen off with one strong kick. I climbed out quickly.

I ran as fast as I could to Keelan’s Jeep in the darn wedge heels I had chosen to wear to Ethan’s party. Using the key fob, I unlocked the Jeep. Just as I ripped open the driver’s door, I sent the text I had typed out and tossed my phone in the oleander bushes that separated my house from the guys’. I couldn’t afford to keep it on me anymore.

I knew I had a small amount of time to pull out of the driveway before the guys came rushing out to stop me. Working fast, I started the car and shifted into reverse. I floored it out of the driveway and just as I was in the street shifting the car into drive, the Stones’ front door opened. I looked away before I could see them. If I spared one glance at them, I’d hesitate, and I didn’t have the time. So I floored it again. Only when I was speeding down the road did I glance in the rearview mirror. It hurt my heart to see the three of them in the street watching me drive away.

The text I had sent was to our group chat.

Me

The Sheriff has Colt. I’m sorry I lied. I couldn’t tell you the truth. Logan isn’t coming. Take my car and go to my closest safe house. You know which one I’m talking about, Creed. Directions to it, keys, and cash are in my go bag in the trunk. Leave your phones behind and only use cash if you need to pay for anything. I will get Colt and we will meet you there. I love you.