Chapter 47
Icouldn't breathe. The words Logan had just spoken hung in the air between us, sucking all the oxygen from the room.
"You what?" I whispered, my voice barely audible, before rage crashed through me like a tidal wave.
"You fucking what?" I lunged forward, grabbing Logan by the collar of his expensive shirt and slamming him against the wall of the entryway.
The sound of his body hitting the plaster echoed through the foyer.
"You left her alone?" I screamed, my face inches from his. "After everything, after all she's been through, you left her alone in the fucking city?" Logan's face was pale, a flicker of fear in his eyes as he realised the gravity of what he'd done.
"She was fine. She was on a main road with people around. She refused to get in the car-"
"I don't give a fuck!" I slammed him against the wall again, harder this time. My hands were shaking, my vision blurring at the edges with panic. "You don't leave her! Not ever!" Cole appeared between us, trying to pry my hands from Logan's shirt.
"Ryder, stop! This isn't helping Cade!"
I released Logan with a shove, stumbling backward, my breath coming in ragged gasps. My mind was spinning, images of Cade alone, vulnerable, hurt, flashing before my eyes. The panic was a living thing inside me, clawing at my insides, threatening to tear me apart.
"You don't understand," I said, my voice breaking as I ran to the side table by the door.
I grabbed the envelope that had been delivered just thirty minutes ago, tossing it at Logan's feet.
"This came while you were gone." Logan bent down, picking up the envelope with trembling fingers.
Cole looked over his shoulder as he pulled out the contents, a series of photos and a note.
The photos showed Logan and Cade leaving Covenant House earlier that evening. Logan opening the car door for her. Cade sliding into the passenger seat. The timestamps showed they had been taken just hours ago.
"Jesus Christ," Logan whispered, his face draining of colour. Cole took the note, reading it aloud:
"'You meddled with things beyond you. For that you pay.'"
His voice was hollow, the words hanging in the air like a death sentence.
"Someone's been watching us," I said, running my hands through my hair, tugging at the roots as if the pain might ground me. "Watching her. And you left her out there alone!" Logan's eyes met mine, the horror of realisation dawning across his face.
"I didn't know-"
"You didn't think!" I shouted, the fear making my voice crack. "If anything happens to her, I swear to God, Logan, I will fucking kill you myself."
"We need to find her," Cole said, already pulling out his phone.
"I can track her GPS." I paced the entryway, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard I thought it might break through.
The walls of Covenant House seemed to be closing in, suffocating me with each passing second that Cade was out there alone.
"Got it," Cole said, his fingers flying over the screen. "She's about six streets from the restaurant."
"Let's go," I said, already moving toward the door. "Now."
The car ride was a blur of red lights and honking horns as Logan sped through the streets.
We had just hit the city, and I sat in the passenger seat, my phone clutched in my hand so tightly my knuckles were white.
I'd been trying Cade's number over and over, each unanswered ring sending another spike of terror through my chest.
"Try again," Cole urged from the backseat, leaning forward between us, his face tight with worry. I hit redial, pressing the phone to my ear, silently begging, Please answer, Poison. Please. The phone rang once, twice, three times, and then, miraculously, connected.
"Cade?" I gasped, relief flooding through me so intensely I felt dizzy.
"Ryder?" Her voice was distant, slightly breathless, but unmistakably hers. The sound sent a wave of emotion crashing over me: relief, love, fear, all tangled together in a knot I couldn't unravel.
"Are you okay? Where are you?" The words tumbled out, frantic and desperate.
"I'm fine, Ryder," she said, trying to sound composed, though I could hear the strain in her voice. "Please, just stop ringing me. I just need a minute to myself."
"Poison, you're not safe," I cut her off, my voice cracking. "There's another note. They've been watching. I'm coming to get you. Stay where you are. Tell me exactly where you are."
There was a pause, and I could almost see her weighing her options, deciding whether to trust me after everything we'd done to her.
"I'm just walking," she said finally. "I'm on Water Lane, near the-" A sound in the background made my blood freeze. Tires screeching. Muffled voices.
"Cade?" I called, gripping the phone tighter. "Cade, what's happening?"
A moment of silence, then a sound that would haunt me for the rest of my life, Cade's scream, high and terrified, followed by a crash and the clatter of the phone hitting the ground.
"CADE!" I shouted into the phone, my entire body rigid with horror. "CADE!" Nothing. Just static, then silence.
"What happened?" Logan demanded, his knuckles white on the steering wheel. "Ryder, what the fuck happened?"
"Someone's got her," I whispered, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "Someone took her. Go faster. GO FASTER!"
Logan floored the accelerator, the car lurching forward, weaving through traffic with reckless speed. I stared at the phone in my hand, willing it to ring again, willing Cade's voice to come back.
"We're almost there," Cole said, his voice tight with controlled panic. "Cut down there," he said, pointing to a side street.
“I can’t, it’s one way,” Logan snapped.
“Just fucking do it,” I shouted at him, and he took the sharp turn down the street onto Water Lane. I couldn't breathe, couldn't think beyond the echo of Cade's scream replaying in my head.
Please be okay. Please be okay. I can't lose you. Not now. Not ever.
Logan screeched to a halt halfway down the street, and I was out of the car before it had fully stopped, running toward the GPS pin on Cole's phone. The night air was cold and damp, a light fog rolling in from the bay, wrapping around the streetlights in ghostly halos.
"Cade!" I shouted, my voice echoing off the buildings. "CADE!" Cole and Logan spread out, searching each way, the alleyways, calling her name into the darkness. My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat, my fingertips, behind my eyes.
"Here!" Cole called suddenly, his voice tight with dread. "Ryder, Logan, over here!"
I sprinted toward him, skidding to a halt on the wet pavement.
Cole was crouched beside a smashed phone, Cade's phone, its screen shattered into a spiderweb of cracks.
Beside it lay her purse, the contents spilt across the sidewalk: lipstick, keys, her student ID with her smiling face looking up at us.
"No," I whispered, dropping to my knees. "No, no, no." Logan's voice came from a few feet away, hollow with horror. "Ryder." I looked up to see him standing at the edge of the road, holding something in his hand. One of Cade's shoes, the delicate black heel snapped off, the strap torn.
"There's blood," Cole said quietly, pointing to a dark smear on the pavement.
Just a small amount, but unmistakable in the harsh glow of the streetlamp.
The world tilted beneath me, reality warping into a nightmare I couldn't wake from.
I pressed my hands against the cold concrete, trying to ground myself, trying to breathe through the panic threatening to drown me.
"We have to call someone," Logan said, his voice shaking. "We have to-"
A soft ping cut through the night air, Cade's broken phone, somehow still functioning enough to receive a message.
My hand trembled as I reached for it, lifting the shattered device.
The screen flickered, displaying a new message from an unknown number.
I tapped it, and the world fell away beneath me.
A photo filled the screen: Cade, blindfolded, a bloody cloth tied around her mouth. Her purple-brown hair was matted with something dark, her cheek bruised, tears streaming down her face. Behind her, a sign with carefully printed words:
"You were warned."
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