Chapter 37
The photo left us all reeling.
Kaylee grabbed my phone out of my hand and sent it to her contact. She grabbed her own phone and called her guys, barking out orders like it was second nature to her.
The blood had drained from West’s face when he saw the photo. I wanted to hug him, say something, anything, but nothing seemed right. He pulsed with the same rage as mine.
“Dude, I’m ready to kill someone,” I muttered, the words ripping through my throat like razors.
He nodded, one quick firm nod to let me know he heard me. Then he turned away and headed outside.
Right now, I only had to concentrate on finding her.
And afterwards, I intended to tell West exactly how I felt about her, whether he liked it or not.
Kaylee ran outside, holding up her phone and shouting with glee. “We got a ping on the last location her phone was at! Let’s go!”
West and I took off at a full run. My heart pounded in my chest — fear, anxiety, regret, love — my soul churning with a cocktail of emotions that left me dizzy.
All I wanted was Everleigh safe in my arms. A flicker of hope filled my chest.
The half hour ride was tense.
“I still can’t figure out who would do this,” West wondered.
“I’ve been wracking my brain and coming up empty. I was certain there were no witnesses.”
A few minutes passed before he spoke up again.
“I can’t even think about anything happening to her,” he muttered.
“It’s all my fault,” I replied, the guilt feeling like a heavy blanket on my chest. I could barely breathe. “She has to be okay, she just has to.”
“All I know is I’m going to fucking kill whoever is responsible,” he growled.
“I’ll help,” I admitted.
“Both of you need to try to calm down,” Kaylee said. “Fuck, I wish I still had a badge. But neither of you are going to kill anyone. We’ll get her out safely without any more blood shed.”
“Fuck that,” I muttered. “It’s fucking Everleigh we’re talking about.”
“She’s my sister,” West replied. “I love her too much for this shit.”
“Me, too.” My admittance hung heavy in the air between us. I didn’t miss the flicker in his eyes. I didn’t say anything else, but I had every intention of explaining fully, when the time was right.
Half an hour later, we pulled up to a rundown storage facility.
“Let me do the talking,” Kaylee instructed, as we were walking inside the management office.
“We need your surveillance footage,” Kaylee said as we walked in. “A missing woman was last seen in your parking lot and we need to see if there might be any clues.”
“I only give that to the police,” the manager replied, standing up as we walked in, her eyes raking over us as she sized us up. She was an older woman, with wiry gray hair that stuck out all over her head, and a stern no nonsense grimace on her face.
“I am the police,” Kaylee said. “Time is of the essence here. Please, ma’am.”
“Maybe this will speed things up,” West said, as he pulled out his wallet and started peeling hundreds off a thick stack and laying them on the counter between us.
Her eyes widened at the sight.
When he stopped, she raised a brow and crossed her arms.
“Goddammit,” I said, pulling out my own wallet and grabbing every bill in there and slamming it on the counter. “That’s at least three thousand. If you want more, fine, but show us the fucking footage! It’s fucking life or death we’re talking about!”
She jumped at the anger in my voice. She scooped up all the money and headed toward the monitors in the corner. “Fine, but I will want more.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said, shaking my head at her greed.
She ignored my comment and sat down at the desk.
“What time do we need to look at?”
“Last night. Around ten,” Kaylee said. “We’re looking for a white Aston Martin.”
“Oh, yeah, I had that towed this morning. Nice car. Smelled like roses inside.”
I groaned at the thought of Everleigh’s signature smell still in the car. “And you didn’t think to call the police?” I demanded, my anger rising quickly.
“Why?” She shrugged. “Figured it was stolen.”
“Was there anything inside?” Kaylee asked. “Did you look?”
“I didn’t see anything,” she said, as the monitors flickered on and she started scrolling through dark and grainy footage.
“There!” I pointed, when I saw Everleigh’s car come into focus. “Is that her?”
“I think so,” West said.
I watched her park and a few minutes later she got out, milling around by the car as she looked around hesitantly. God, she was so beautiful, even in this grainy footage. My heart soared at the sight of her.
But not a moment later, a hooded figure walked up behind her, pressing something to her mouth and my joy turned to absolute horror.
In seconds, Everleigh fell to the ground.
“Oh, shit!” I roared, my heart pounding with fear at the sight.
The figure ran away, then a van appeared a few seconds later and the same person hopped out. They went around and opened the passenger’s side of Everleigh’s car and grabbed her things and threw them in their van. Then, struggling for a long time, they managed to finally drag Everleigh’s lifeless body into the van, slamming the side door with her inside before driving away.
“That doesn’t look good. Damn,” the woman said.
Everleigh was in real danger. I knew she was, but this confirmed it.
Kaylee sprang into action. “Freeze the frame on that van’s license plate!”
When the manager did so, Kaylee wrote it down and quickly headed out of the office. West and I followed close behind.
“Hey, what about the rest of my money?” The old lady called after us.
“Kiss our asses!” Kaylee said as we got back in our vehicle, before she slammed the door in her face.