Chapter 58
I stare at Brax, my hands hanging useless at my sides. My fingers tingle from how hard I’m clenching them. The fury in my veins is a live wire, buzzing through, hot and frantic. I haven’t said a word, not since the words tore out of him.
Brodie took Erin.
They’re detonating inside my skull on an endless loop. The nausea hadn’t even faded from waking up alone. I knew before I hit the stairs that I wouldn’t find her making pancakes.
I woke Roman, dropped him off at Elena’s, and tore through the night like a street racer. I called Rudy on the way. He was already outside when I pulled up, hair wild and fear coming off him in waves.
I wasn’t prepared to see Brax lying on the floor of his living room, Bella kneeling over him as she shook him.
My heart damn near flatlined at the sight a second time.
When Brax’s eyes finally shot open, thanks to Bella jamming a foul-smelling stick under his nose from the first aid kit open beside her, the first thing he rasped were those three words.
They ring out in my head again.
Brodie took Erin.
Just like that, the world stopped.
Brax pushes to his feet, still unbalanced. Bella curses at him to sit down, but he ignores her, grabbing his phone and dialing immediately. Bella’s pale face tells me she’s terrified. Hell, she’s probably replaying whatever she walked in on when she came to check on him like she said she would.
I walk over to his laptop, Laurel’s thumb drive already plugged in. The screen wakes up with a tap.
Rudy leans in beside me with curious eyes and a held breath.
The first image loads. It’s a blurry shot of Hidden Access. There’s a door behind the bar that’s half cracked open, purple light spilling out.
I click to the next image—a narrow staircase.
And then the next—rows of miniature nonalcoholic bottles, the same ones you see on planes, but these are filled with white powder, each stamped with the same symbol we found on the drugs that were in the bag Laurel stashed.
“Drugs,” Rudy whispers. “The Octopus.”
My pulse hammers.
Another click—Brodie’s grin, wide and cold, appears on the screen. He looks like a predator that’s just caught his prey. Plastic-wrapped bricks of powder glare back at me with the same symbol stamped on it that’s haunted me for months.
Bella’s breath hitches, the sound ragged. Her fingers tremble as they press to her lips, but the panic in her eyes is worse than anything she could ever say.
“What the hell is this?” She looks between us, worried. “Why are there drugs under the club? What are these symbols? Who the hell is The Octopus?”
“Bella,” Rudy says carefully.
“No, seriously,” she cries. “Someone tell me what I’m looking at. What has Brodie gotten himself into? Why did he take Erin?” Her breaths come fast and shallow now, panic rising like a tide. “Is he gonna hurt her?”
I say nothing because I don’t know what to say.
Bella stands and staggers back, a hand over her mouth. “No, no, no.”
I slam the laptop shut and stand. I’ve seen enough.
Bella spins and hits my chest, fists pounding in a frantic rhythm.
“Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t you?” she screams.
“Bella,” I say, not blocking her blows. “I’m sorry.”
“No!” Her voice breaks, her fist striking harder. “No more apologies! No more lies! Give me the truth!”
So, I do. I break down all the information we know and spend the next few minutes filling her in.
“She’s my sister. She could be dead! I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know Brodie was… I didn’t know he was capable of this!”
Brax steps between us, giving her a look that tells her to settle down. “Bells.”
“She’s my sister,” Bella chokes out. “I can’t lose her, too.”
Empathy flickers in Brax’s gaze. “I know. I’ll bring her back to you. I swear.”
My thoughts scatter, colliding faster than I can grab hold of them. My girl is gone—again—and the same three words Brax spoke echo until it drowns out everything else. I can’t breathe past the helplessness clawing at me.
The world blurs. My body lags, heavy, uncooperative, and two seconds away from giving out, but I don’t have time to fall apart. Not again. I have to move. I have to save her. She needs me. The past doesn’t get to own me right now.
I whip my head in Brax’s direction, desperation surrounding my voice. One word rips free, loaded with a hundred unspoken questions I don’t have time to ask. “Why?”
Brax meets my stare. He reads everything I’m giving off—the betrayal, panic, the rage clawing at me from every angle.
“I don’t know,” he says quietly.
“Not good enough anymore,” I fire back.
Before either of us can say another word, his phone rings. He turns away to answer it.
“Detective Langford.” His tone is clipped. “How long?” He listens. “Follow him. Do not lose him. Do you understand me?”
A thousand needles prick my skin.
What is he talking about? Was that call from his sergeant about The Octopus? Is Brodie with him? The ground drops out from beneath me at the image of Brodie taking Erin to meet him. My thoughts ricochet wildly, colliding until I can barely form a coherent one as I stare at Brax.
How did we get here? How the hell did this investigation turn into a fucking kidnapping?
“Send the cars,” Brax continues. “No sirens. No one fires a shot without my say so. No one enters but me. Am I clear?”
Rudy moves like he’s been electrocuted.
A sudden parched feeling hits me, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
Would Brodie actually hurt her?
The question lodges itself deep, ugly and persistent. I’ve trusted him—believed in him—so the idea that he could hurt anyone shouldn’t even exist. And yet, it does.
Trust isn’t supposed to fracture this easily…but right now, everything I thought I knew echoes a lie, and that single thought is almost as terrifying as what Erin must be facing right now.
Brax hangs up and faces us. “We have a location. Stay here.”
“Like hell,” Bella says.
“Fuck that,” Rudy agrees.
Bella steps up to Brax and narrows her gaze on him. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the hole in your shoulder. Isn’t there some rule about an officer not going back into the field after being hurt—even if they say they’re fine? Are you really the right person to help my sister right now?”
Brax pinches the bridge of his nose. “My shoulder’s manageable. Erin’s been kidnapped. Her life comes first. I don’t need medical clearance to go after her when a civilian’s life is in danger.”
He glances at each of us with a determined look. “All my focus needs to be on her. I can’t be worried about anyone else. Because if anything happens to any of you, Erin will break. Do you get that?”
“You can’t ask us to stay,” Rudy fires back.
“I understand where you’re coming from, but I am asking.” He pauses for a moment while the seriousness of the situation sinks in. “I don’t know what we’re walking into. I don’t know why he took her. I’m going in blind.”
Bella wipes a tear from her cheek.
“She’s our family,” Rudy says quietly. “We won’t get in your way. We just want to bring her back.”
Without another word, Rudy walks past Brax, not waiting for permission. Bella follows. And so do I.
Nothing will keep me from Erin.
As I fall into step beside them, I glance back at Brax, and for the first time since I’ve known him, a look of terror plagues his face.
Brax joins us by his truck. He slides into the driver’s seat and slams his door. The vehicle is a pressure cooker, holding our emotions. Brax meets my eyes briefly as the truck roars to life. The tires squeal as he steps on the gas, a full-on madman racing against a ticking clock.
Bella is shaking, Rudy keeps wiping his hands on his jeans, and Brax… He’s a man who just walked out of the pits of hell, ready to dance with the devil.
Me?
My thoughts run so fast, I can’t grab a single one of them long enough to ground myself.
My mind is everywhere—the dark woods, hidden tunnels, a disgusting basement. She could be tied up, alone, and terrified while trying to be brave. I control my breathing, wishing she could hear my thoughts and tell me where she is.
I’m coming, sweetheart.
I focus on her smile, her laugh. The way she reaches for me in her sleep as we pass every streetlight and building, shadows jumping across my lap as we get closer to daylight.
My stomach lurches with every corner Brax cuts, but he doesn’t ease up on the pedals.
My thoughts don’t slow down.
It was him all along, not The Octopus.
Brodie has been the one pulling all of these strings.
How did I miss it?
How was I so completely oblivious to what was happening around me? If I had paid more attention, I could have saved her from this.
Every laugh we’ve shared, every ache and pain, every beer and secret kept—was it a lie?
Have I been wearing rose-colored glasses?
Or did he just get clever at hiding in plain sight?
Were there signs? Tells that were showing me what he was really up to that I missed?
Maybe I just wasn’t looking hard enough.
My hands turn sweaty, my palms pressing into my knees. Every nerve and muscle is pulled tight. I edge closer to the window, trying to get a glimpse of what’s coming, anything that might give me a clue before we get there, but all I see are shipping containers, stretching row after row ahead of me.
The truck slows.
We’re here.
This must be where Erin is, but fuck, there are so many crates.
Tires crunch the gravel. I grab the edge of my seat, knuckles turning white as my heart plays a delirious, anxious tune. Brax kills the engine, and the silence is suffocating. Bella’s shallow breath stutters. Rudy sniffles, trying to get a hold of himself.
No one speaks. We’re waiting, suspended in the quiet together as dread rains over us.
When other cars arrive, Brax opens his door. We step into the chaos of officers spilling out. They suit up quickly, clipping vests into place, pulling guns from holsters, radios keyed in.
Brax moves with purpose, his gear in place like armor as he scans the containers ahead. “Update on Emerson?” Brax asks his team.
“Still have eyes on him. He’s headed for the tarmac. The team knows what to do. They won’t let the jet leave the blacktop,” an officer responds.
Brax hums. The familiar sound doesn’t comfort me.
If Brodie intends to board a plane with Erin, why are we here? Why aren’t we still on the streets, racing to get to them before it takes off?
Nausea churns in my stomach at those words, but before I have time to question it, Brax speaks.
“Okay, listen up. We don’t know what we’re walking into here.
There are hundreds of these shipping containers that we need to check safely and quickly.
We have the upper hand since we arrived with no noise and they don’t know we’re here.
Keep it that way. Radios should be on at all times.
Check in every five minutes. If you find them, do not shoot. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir,” murmurs his team.
“Stay safe.”
The squad disperses, leaving Brax, Rudy, Bella, and me alone. My ears ring with uncertainty and fear as our footsteps move against gravel.
Every shadow has my skin lurching, a sudden jolt of apprehension crawling through me.
Brax glances back at me, eyes focused as he draws his gun and shuffles forward, light on his feet.
“Stay close.”
Every muscle inside of me is coiled like a spring. The air smells of smoke, petrol, and hot tires as the sun crests the horizon in the distance.
I take a deep breath and focus on my surroundings. She’s here. We’re going to find her. We’ll get her back.
And then we continue, stepping farther into the unknown.