Chapter 21
Kayla
The walls seem to close in around me, and I can’t breathe. Panic rises so hard and fast, I think I’m having a heart attack. I shove my chair back so fast, it falls to the floor. “Where’s Ransom?” I ask, my voice cracking.
Jackson takes one look at my face and is on his feet a second later. “What is it?”
I grab his arm and squeeze. “Ransom! Get him on the phone now!” I’m aware that I'm nearly yelling, but I can’t control it.
Jackson pulls out his phone and calls, putting it on speaker; but his eyes are locked on me. “Jackson,” Ransom answers.
“Is Noah there?” I ask, grabbing the phone from Jackson.
“That’s the thing. I just got here, and nobody’s answering the door. I was just going to reach out.”
“No,” I whisper.
Jackson’s eyes are on my face. “Kick it in,” Jackson says in a tone that I barley recognize.
I hold my breath and hear a sound from the other end. “They’re not here.” Ransom’s voice is flat.
“No,” I cry out as terror wraps itself around my heart and squeezes.
“Find them,” Jackson says.
I run towards the door, but strong arms wrap around me before I can get out the door. “Let go of me!” I demand.
“No.”
“I have to go find him,” my voice is desperate.
“I know, and we will. But you have to calm down first, and then we’ll make a plan.
She’s incredibly dangerous; we don't go without a plan.” Jackson’s words are quiet but stern and send a wave of absolute terror for my brother through me.
I can’t breathe; I can’t find the oxygen I need.
“Kayla.” That deep voice sounds again, but I can’t focus on it.
Then I feel two hands wrap around my neck.
The hold is gentle, and I feel a light pressure against my forehead a moment later.
“Breathe with me. In for four, out for four.”
“I can’t,” I say in a strangled cry and try to pull away, but his hold is incredibly strong. “Let go of me.”
“I’m not letting go until your breathing is even again.
” I fight against him, but it’s useless.
“Fight me all you want, Baby; I’m not letting go.
” I gasp in another breath. “Breathe with me. In for four, out for four. Don’t focus on anything else but that.
” I feel lightheaded and panicky in a way I don’t think I ever have before, and yet, he’s my anchor through the storm.
I manage to suck in a little air. “There you go. Again.” We do it several more times until I’m able to breathe again.
He finally pulls back slightly, keeping his hands around the sides and back of my neck.
“Listen to me.” He makes sure my eyes are looking into his.
“We will get your brother back. Nothing will stop that from happening.” I take in the fierce look on his face and manage to believe him. “There’s no other option.”
I nod, even as a tear slips down my cheek. “Jackson.” My voice breaks on the word, and he tugs me against his chest.
“I know.” His voice continues, but it’s not me he’s talking to. “She was the babysitter.”
I give myself sixty more seconds, and then I pull back and wipe my eyes and look at the people still in the room.
Max is no longer there, and Bryce is deep in conversation with Raechel and Ava.
But they all turn to us. “Renee is my babysitter,” I say flatly.
“I’d have to look at the picture again because Renee has blond hair, but I know without looking it's a match.”
I see the look of determination in Bryce’s eyes; it matches the look in Jackson’s. “My team is already preparing even as we speak.” I remember how he said he has a security team of sorts. “I need all the info you can give me. Start with your brother.”
I shake my head. “Why would I stand here and give you information about him when we can just go find him? We shouldn’t be here; we should be out there, searching for him.”
Bryce meets my gaze. “When did you leave him in her care?”
“Early this morning.” My voice is barely a whisper.
His face is grim. “Then she’s got a huge headstart on us.”
Raechel walks over to me and puts a hand on my arm. “Max is already on his way to your place to see what he can find out. We'll find your brother.”
Ava nods. “Bryce’s team is the best; they’ll find him.”
Bryce’s phone rings, and he looks at me. “That’s my tech guy. He’s going to ask you some questions about Noah; he’s the best.” He answers the phone a second later and puts it on speakerphone. “Leo, you’re on speakerphone. She's right here.”
“Hi, Kayla. I need all the information you can give me on your brother first and then on Alicia,” the voice on the phone says.
“Renee,” Jackson corrects.
“Renee,” Leo amends.
“What’s your brother’s full name?”
“Noah Michael Brenner.”
“How old is he?”
“Seven.”
“Description?”
“Small for his age, brown hair, long on top; he needs a haircut. Brown eyes. Serious.”
“What clothes was he wearing when he was taken?” Those words land like a physical blow to my chest. I can’t believe I’m being asked these questions. “Kayla?” I force myself to think about it.
“I don't know. He was wearing pajamas when I left him this morning.” My voice cracks on the words, and I put a hand over my heart trying to ease the pain. “He would be wearing just a t-shirt and black pants probably.”
“Do you know what kind of car Alicia or Renee is currently driving?”
“She drives a little black car; I don’t know the make and model.”
“That’s okay,” he says. “Four door?”
“Yes.”
“How long has she been babysitting for you?”
I think back. “Almost since the beginning. We met her a day or two after we moved here.”
“Which was how long ago?” he asks.
“A little over two months ago.”
“You don’t happen to have an updated photo of her, do you?”
I swallow. “No.”
“And your brother? Can you send a recent photo of him to Bryce, and he’ll get it to me.”
I nod and then remember he can’t see me. “I will. Do you think you can find him?”
“Yes,” he says confidently. “Bryce.”
“I’m here,” Bryce says.
“Sherese, Maverick, and I will be airborne in the next hour.”
“Good.” He takes the call off speakerphone and turns away.
The door to the conference room opens, and we all turn that way. Ransom walks inside, and hope bursts through my chest for one fleeting moment before it comes crashing down. He walks right to me, more solemn than I’ve ever seen him. His eyes meet mine. “We’ll find him.”
I don’t say anything; I can’t. He puts out a hand like maybe he’s going to drop it on my shoulder or something and then seems to think better of it before stepping over to talk to Jackson.
Ava and Raechel walk over to me, and Ava puts her hand on my arm.
“I have a brother too.” Her words take me by surprise.
“He was taken from me a few years ago, so I get a little of what you’re going through. ”
“You got him back?” I ask, desperation in my voice.
She nods. “We did.”
“How long?” I ask.
A shadow crosses her face, and my hope deflates. She doesn’t answer and says instead, “We’ll find him,” but there’s a heaviness to her voice I don’t like. “Do you need anything?”
“Besides getting out there to look for him?”
She puts a hand over her belly. “I know it’s hard, but Bryce’s team really is the best. They'll—”
“Find him?” I say shortly, interrupting her. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. You’re right. Everybody says that, but it’s no help in the moment. I get it.” She glances at Raechel. “I’m sorry you’re stuck with the two of us; we’re the worst at comforting and all that.”
“Wow, thanks, Ava,” Rae says dryly. “But she’s right.” I take in her pale face.
“Are you feeling okay?” I ask her.
She looks at me in surprise. “Yeah.”
Ava frowns and looks at her friend. “Yeah, you didn’t eat your whole sandwich. You always eat. What’s wrong with you?”
Raechel rolls her eyes. “I’m fine.”
Ava doesn’t say anything else, but I can tell she’s not convinced. Jackson and Ransom finish whatever they were talking about, and Jackson walks over to me. “I’m going to take you back to your place to pack a bag—anything you need in case we end up being on the road for a few weeks.”
My heart drops to my toes. “A few weeks?”
“Just as a precaution,” he adds. “And pack some stuff for Noah too for when we find him.”
A few weeks!? I can’t even begin to process that.
“Hey,” Jackson says. “Talk to me.”
I shake my head, not wanting to; but the words tumble out, one over the other. “This can’t be happening. I was supposed to keep him safe. I promised him,” my voice cracks. “I promised him nothing would ever hurt him again.” A dark look crosses Jackson’s face. “I didn’t keep him safe.”
“Listen to me, Kayla.” His voice is deep and stern.
“It’s no longer your job to keep you and your brother safe.
That job falls on me now. We will find Noah, and I will keep the both of you safe.
” I’m already shaking my head, but I don’t get to say anything before Bryce pulls Jackson aside.
I turn back to find Ava on her phone and Raechel sitting in her chair at the table.
If anything, she looks even more pale now.
I walk over to her. “Raechel?”
Her eyes meet mine, and she shakes her head.
“Those onions are so strong. Who had onions on their sandwich? They smell like—” She swallows abruptly and then lurches to her feet.
I stumble back as she runs past me, but I follow her out into the hallway when I see everybody else is occupied.
She throws open a door to one of the bathrooms and rushes inside.
Seconds later, I hear her throwing up. I head right back to the conference room to Ava.
“Raechel’s throwing up in the bathroom,” I tell her.
Her eyes widen, and she turns to Bryce. “Bryce.” He immediately stops talking and turns to her. “Can you call Max and get him back here? Rae’s sick.”
He frowns and immediately pulls out his phone and puts it up to his ear. “Are you close?” he asks and then listens a moment. “Raechel’s throwing up in the bathroom.” He hangs up a second later. “He’s on his way.”
“I’ll check on her,” Ava says, but Bryce stops her.
“Sherese is trying to get ahold of you.”
She stops and looks down at her phone. “Oh, I missed her call.”
"You take that,” I say, nodding at her phone. “I’ll check on Raechel.”
She gives me a grateful look. “Thank you; tell her Max is on his way.”
I nod and slip out of the room and walk down the hallway to the entrance to the hotel. They have a small shop, and I enter. I scan the wall of snacks and find what I’m looking for.
“Would you like to pay for these or add them to your room?” the guy at the front desk ask.
I’m thankful I have my phone on me. “I’ll pay for them now.” I tap my phone and make the purchase and head back to the huge bathroom. “Raechel?” I ask softly.
A groan meets my ears. “Just kill me.”