Sneak Peek Zane
Sneak Peek
Zane
New leads came in fast. After pulling myself together and gearing up, I slipped back into the focus I’d momentarily lost. There was a solution to this, and I was going to find it.
I would find her, even if it was the last thing I did.
We parked at the bottom of the hill, far enough to stay out of sight, but close enough to reach it fast. The barn stood ahead, old and rotting, barely holding itself together. It looked abandoned, and it felt wrong.
Vapor formed from my mouth with each breath the moment I stepped out of the van. But if it was from cold, I could barely feel it.
My tensed muscles shielded me from everything and my focus was only one: whatever the hell was inside that barn.
Weapons drawn, we moved in silent and quickly, using only the shadows to keep us undetected.
“There,” Mike barely moved his lips as he pointed ahead.
A black van sat in the interior, half-hidden but not enough. Sloppy. Either someone had left in a hurry, or they didn’t give a shit if it was found.
My gut twisted. Something’s off.
There were no guards outside, no movement inside. Nothing.
Either this was a trap, or whoever had set this up didn’t think they needed protection and that alone pissed me off.
As we moved in, my pulse steadied, while my body wired.
Every muscle locked in, waiting to strike.
Andy reached the van first, grabbing the handle, pausing for half a second before wrenching the door open.
I was already there, gun up, a finger tight on the trigger.
But the wide, terrified eyes staring back at me weren’t the ones I wanted to see.
Two teenagers, tangled together in a mess of limbs and half-buttoned clothes, screamed at us. The girl yanked a blanket around herself, while the boy turned pale as a ghost.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I muttered, shoving my gun back into its holster.
“Get out,” I barked. “NOW.”
They didn’t need to be told twice. The boy tripped over his own jeans as they scrambled out, bolting into the night like they’d just seen the devil himself.
They weren’t completely wrong there.
A growl tore out of me as I slammed my fist against the van’s side. The dull thud echoed across the empty field, matching the hollow ache in my chest.
Another dead end.
I exhaled hard, nostrils flaring. If Chloe wasn’t here, then I’d make sure it wouldn’t stand for anyone else either.
“Burn it down,” I ordered.
The barn. The van. The whole useless fucking setup. If it didn’t give me answers, then it wouldn’t exist at all.
The team didn’t hesitate.
I watched the flames take hold as they poured more gas all over it, the fire climbing fast, licking at the sky in violent shades of orange and red. The barn started to groan, old wood creaking under the heat. I didn’t look away as the fire grew.
Even from the other side of town, the message would be clear.
Whoever had taken her, they’d know I was coming.