Chapter 16
After dinner on Monday, Ford drove Darcy to her apartment. Khyle had come along in the backseat of the truck as an escort, since Colton was still out there somewhere plotting and scheming.
Darcy pushed the sleeves of the hoodie she’d borrowed from him up to her elbows with a sigh as she looked out the window.
She’d been quiet since they left the farmhouse.
Every time he looked at her, he wanted to ease the stress she was feeling.
But he just didn’t know how. He wasn’t sure what waited for her if her brother was home.
He might have cooled down, or he could still be angry.
Ford was tense himself. She’d stood firm against Cruz that she was choosing Ford, but she was also struggling with the rift between them. He hated that he couldn’t protect her from the situation with her brother.
“So are we moving anything heavy? Because I think I’m still sore from Colton’s attack the other night,” Khyle said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Darcy turned to look at him. “I thought Crew said you guys healed really fast?”
“Oh. I didn’t know he told you about that.”
Ford looked at Khyle in the mirror, and his friend had a huge grin. “You’re an ass,” he said.
“Hey! I could still maybe be sore. Have you ever been hit by a truck driven by a maniac before?”
“Fair enough,” Ford said with a chuckle.
“And to answer your question,” Darcy said, “no, we’re not lifting anything heavy. I’m just going to pack a bag for a few days.” Ford caught the way she was toying with the string of the hoodie, twisting it between her fingers. She was putting on a brave face, but she was wound tight.
Ford’s chest panged. He wanted to tell her not to worry about Cruz. Or even Colton. That he’d keep her safe no matter what, because she was his mate and he was hers. And that’s what mates did for each other.
He pulled into the parking lot and stopped in front of her unit.
She stared out the windshield as she unbuckled her seatbelt, then put her hand on his on the steering wheel.
“I’m going to go in by myself. I want to see if Cruz is there.”
His stallion snorted unhappily.
“I can be totally cool. I promise I won’t glare at him or anything.”
Her lips twitched. “You’re very cool.”
Khyle barked out a laugh and Ford glared at him in the rearview mirror. His teeth clicked together, and he turned his smirking face away to look out the window.
“If he’s there,” Darcy insisted, “I don’t want it to be a whole thing with him.”
“Two minutes,” Ford said, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.
She arched a brow. “Five.”
“One.”
“That’s less!”
“Okay, three. Text me in three minutes and let me know when I can come up.”
She looked at her phone to check the time. “All right. Three minutes. You’re pretty bossy, you know.”
“Because I want to be there for you, and it bugs my stallion to not be able to keep you safe.”
“It’s my apartment. It’s totally safe. And Cruz is just being an ass because he doesn’t like things changing. He’ll come around. I bet he’ll even like having a brother.”
She beamed at him, hope shining in her eyes.
Ford was momentarily silenced by how gorgeous she was.
And she was also pretty damn dangerous, because all she had to do was look adorable and he’d let her do whatever.
“Three minutes, sweetheart.”
“You’re the best.” Giving him a kiss, she hopped from the truck and walked quickly up the stairs, disappearing into the apartment. Ford leaned forward, gripping the steering wheel as he stared at the building, his gaze checking the time on the dash intermittently.
He really wanted to be right there with her. Cruz had been a hothead at the house, and Ford didn’t want her to have to go through that again, especially when he wasn’t there to stand between them.
At the three-minute mark, she didn’t text. So he did.
It didn’t show that she read it.
And she didn’t reply.
“Give her a minute to reply,” Khyle said. “If Cruz is in there and she’s talking to him, and you go barging in, that makes you the asshole in this situation.”
“I don’t mind being the asshole when it means I can keep her safe.”
“Fair point.”
He sent another text. Then called.
Both went unanswered.
Something churned in his gut, and he wondered if she was upset.
He and Khyle walked up the stairs, the scents of cleanser and old food permeating the stairwell. Heading down the short hall to her door, he lifted his fist to knock, but wariness settled over him like a blanket.
He listened intently as he reached for the knob instead of knocking.
Pushing open the door, he scanned the area and his stomach dropped.
The couch was shoved away from the wall, a lamp was broken on the floor.
“Darcy!” Ford bellowed, charging into the apartment. He checked the bedroom and bathroom, but didn’t see a trace of her.
“I found her phone,” Khyle said. “And there’s a note on the fridge from her brother.”
Her phone screen was cracked, his texts and calls visible on the screen.
In the kitchen, the note from Cruz read: Darcy, Crashing with a buddy for a few nights to clear my head.
His mind was a jumble, his stallion furious. What had happened to her?
He closed his eyes, reaching out for the part of him that was connected to her as soulmates.
Returning to the bedroom, he went to the window.
A metal balcony and fire escape had a ladder that led to the back of the apartments and a wooded tract of land behind it.
He opened the window and rested his hand on the sill, inhaling slowly and picking up Darcy’s sweet scent mixed with the acrid scent of her fear.
And he smelled Colton.
Fury raged through him. He spun, lifting his phone to call Crew, when he spied a hair tie near the bed. He picked it up and wound it around his wrist to anchor himself to Darcy.
“Hey, Ford,” Crew answered.
“Colton took her, man. He fucking laid in wait in her apartment and then took her down the fire escape.”
“Send me the pin where you are. We’ll be right there.”
Ford sent the pin quickly, then said, “I’m going to track her on foot, follow my stallion’s instincts. I’ll leave Khyle at the apartment.”
“You can find her. She’s your soulmate and that’s a connection that no distance can sever.”
He wasn’t going to try, he was going to succeed.
It was the only option.
Hold on, sweetheart. I’m coming for you.
Ford left Khyle in the apartment and moved down the fire escape. He landed in a back alley where trash bins stood behind a fence. He cataloged every detail. Fresh footprints, evidence of dragging, a few drops of blood.
He walked quickly and quietly into the woods, following the part of him that was tethered to Darcy, using his stallion’s mating bond to Darcy to drive him forward.
Glancing over his shoulder at the apartment, he knew his friends were going to show up and track his location on their phones, following behind to help so he didn’t have to keep them apprised of his whereabouts.
He moved through the strand of trees, rubbing the hair tie that was biting into his wrist. The trees separated the apartment complex from a small neighborhood.
He paused, then felt his stallion leading him to the west. His stallion hummed under his skin, ready to lend him speed and strength.
With Darcy’s name on his heart, he ran.