Chapter 40
By the time Max stepped back inside the main house, everything had shifted from chaos to controlled urgency.
Sheriff Sutherland had been called. The BOLO was already out—Kendra’s name, her car, her license plate pushed across every channel the county sheriff's department could access. Nearby counties had been notified. State patrol was looped in.
It should have made Max feel better.
It didn’t.
Through the window, red and blue lights strobed across the snow, painting the night in sharp flashes. EMTs worked over Deputy Vaughn just beyond the kennel, their movements efficient and practiced.
The man still hadn’t regained consciousness.
Max stood at the edge of the room, his arms braced on the counter as he stared out at the scene. He forced himself to think past the noise in his head.
He and Caleb had pulled the security footage.
There was no question that Kendra had done this.
She’d come in through the public side of the kennel, with her hood concealing her face. She’d known exactly where to go, exactly where Hadley would be.
The footage cut out at just the wrong angle, but there was no mistaking her.
And now Hadley was gone.
Sheriff Sutherland stepped into the room. “Still no sign of Kenny.”
Max nodded once, though his thoughts were already moving ahead. “You think they’re working together?”
“It’s possible,” Sheriff Sutherland said. “Or it’s coincidence.”
Max didn’t believe in coincidence. Not anymore.
Sheriff Sutherland straightened and dragged a hand over the back of his neck. “Either way, we don’t have time to chase both. We need to focus.”
“Agreed.”
The sheriff studied him. “You’ve got something?”
“Not yet.” Max reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “But I’m about to.”
Sheriff Sutherland’s brows lifted. “You’re calling Kendra?”
Max didn’t answer. He was already scrolling, already hitting the number.
He put it on Speaker so everyone could hear.
The line rang once. Twice. Three times.
He almost expected it to go to voicemail.
Then a click sounded. The faint, controlled sound of breathing stretched across the line.
“Kendra,” Max murmured.
For a second, she didn’t respond.
Then her voice came through, soft and steady. “Hey, Max.”
She sounded normal, like they were having a casual conversation.
That realization made something cold slide down his spine. “Where are you?”
“Why do you ask?”
His grip tightened on the phone. “Don’t do this, Kendra. You know why I’m asking.”
“I’m just out driving. I needed some air. Tonight’s been . . . a lot.”
“Kendra.” His voice hardened. “You need to tell me where you are.”
“Why should I? This is all your fault, you know.”
Max’s jaw tightened. “What are you talking about?”
“You made me do this.” Her voice remained eerily calm. “You wouldn’t listen. You kept pushing me away like none of it mattered. Like I didn’t matter.”
“That’s not—”
“You chose her.”
The accusation cut through him.
For a split second, he didn’t know how to respond.
Hadley’s face flashed through his mind. What was Kendra planning on doing with her?
“This isn’t about Hadley.” He forced the words out. “Kendra, you need to stop. Let her go.”
“What fun would that be? You should let her go. Drop this whole thing. It would be a shame if your parole officer discovered you’d assaulted another man. I’d hate to see you go back to prison. But even if you did, I’d be there for you. I’m that kind of person. Loyal to the end.”
Another pause stretched across the line.
This time, Max leaned harder into the quiet and listened.
A faint, rhythmic sound whispered in the background.
A low, distant rumble that came and went beneath the line. It wasn’t wind or an engine. It was something heavier.
Metal on metal.
A train, Max realized.
The sound grew louder, then faded again, as if it were moving past.
“Kendra.” He kept his voice steady even as his mind raced. “You don’t have to do this. Whatever you think happened between us, this isn’t the answer.”
“You don’t get to decide that.” The calm in her voice was worse than anger. “You’ve always thought you knew what was best. For everyone. But you don’t. You didn’t with Sarah . . . and you don’t now.”
Max’s breath caught at the mention of Sarah. But he couldn’t let Kendra get to him. She was playing mind games.
“Kendra, listen to me. You’re not thinking clearly. Whatever you’ve done, we can fix this. But you have to tell me where you are.”
For a moment, he thought she might answer.
The line stayed open. The faint rumble of the train echoed again, closer this time, then began to fade.
“I wanted you to understand,” she finally said.
A chill slid through him. “Understand what?”
“That you can’t just use people and then discard them like they meant nothing.”
The line went dead.
Max lowered the phone, his mind already racing. “She’s near a train track.”
“There are a few around here,” Sheriff Sutherland said.
“We need to figure out which one.”
They weren’t moving anymore.
Without the constant rhythm beneath her—the bumps, the subtle swaying—the silence felt louder, heavier.
Final.
Fear tightened in her chest. She lay frozen, straining to pick up any sound beyond the faint ringing in her ears and the lingering echo of her own pulse.
She thought she may have heard someone talking a few seconds ago. But she couldn’t make out any details.
Now there was nothing. No voices. No doors. No passing traffic.
Someone had brought her somewhere secluded, she realized.
The thought slid into place with chilling certainty. They were somewhere off-road. Somewhere no one would hear her.
Somewhere no one would think to look.
Her fingers curled into the rough carpet beneath her as her breathing threatened to spiral again. She tamped it down and forced herself to stay still, to think.
Then she heard a click.
The trunk slowly opened, revealing the dark sky outside.
Move, Hadley! This is your chance!
She lunged forward, scrambling toward the opening. Her body reacted before her mind could catch up.
She didn’t make it far.
“Don’t.” The word snapped through the air, sharp and controlled.
Hadley’s gaze lifted—and she saw Kendra staring back at her.
Kendra? She was behind this?
But now everything made sense. She always felt uneasy about the woman, but she’d dismissed the feelings.
She should have never done that.
Her gaze locked on the gun in Kendra’s hand.
Everything inside her went still.
Kendra held the weapon, her expression calm and almost detached as if this were nothing more than an inconvenience.
Hadley slowly raised her hands. The fight drained out of her just as quickly as it had come.
Kendra gestured with the gun. “Get out.”
Hadley swallowed hard and nodded. Carefully, she shifted forward and climbed out of the trunk. Her legs trembled when they hit the ground, and she had to steady herself against the side of the car as dizziness threatened to pull her under again.
Cold air wrapped around her, biting through her clothes. She drew in a shaky breath and forced herself to look around.
Darkness stretched in every direction, broken only by the faint outline of trees and . . . a house.
It was old and weathered and sat back from the road like it had been forgotten.
A farmhouse.
The windows were dark with no signs of life.
Hadley’s stomach sank. “Kendra . . . whose place is this?”
Kendra tilted her head as an almost amused look flickered across her face. “You mean Max has never brought you here?”
Confusion cut through the fear for a split second. “Why would Max bring me here?”
Kendra’s lips curved into a small, knowing smirk. “Maybe he doesn’t like you as much as you think he does.”
The words didn’t make sense, but Hadley didn’t have time to process them.
“You don’t have to do this.” Hadley forced calm into her tone even as her heart raced. “Whatever you’ve been through. Whatever happened to you—this isn’t the answer. It’s not too late. You can still stop.”
Kendra didn’t respond right away. Her gaze stayed fixed on Hadley, steady and unreadable.
Then she stepped closer and nudged the gun forward. “Walk.”
Hadley hesitated only a fraction of a second before moving. Snow crunched beneath her shoes as she made her way toward the house, every step feeling heavier than the last.
“There’s nothing and no one that’s going to stand in the way of Max and me being together,” Kendra said from behind her. “He’s my soulmate. He just doesn’t realize it yet.”
The words settled over Hadley like a weight.
Kendra was unhinged.
The realization came with terrifying clarity.
This wasn’t about logic. This wasn’t something Hadley could reason her way out of.
Kendra fully believed that what she was doing was justified.
Hadley’s pulse quickened as she reached the porch steps. The wood creaked beneath her weight as she climbed them. Her mind raced, searching for any opening, any chance to get away.
There wasn’t one.
Not with the gun trained on her back.
She reached the door.
Kendra shoved her forward. “Inside.”
Hadley stumbled, catching herself just before she hit the frame. She opened the door, and then she stepped into the darkness beyond.