Chapter Ninety-Four
TYLER
Cole’s name flashes across my screen, making me crease my brows as I stand from the dining table. “I need to take this. It’s Cole. Could be about work.”
“Go on,” Mitchell says.
I don’t need his fucking permission. So without another word, I walk into the living room where I look at all the antiques my mother has acquired over the years.
I tap the answer button. “Cole –” I’m cut off by my frantic brother.
“Ryan is in the city, Tyler!” he yells, the sheer panic ripping through each word. A car door slams, indicating he is leaving wherever he was. I’m almost certain my heart stops beating.
Everything I’ve done since I knew what she was running from led me to this moment.
To find Ryan.
So I can kill him.
It’s a brief moment where I stand without a reaction, trying to piece together the words on the other end of the phone. And once they formulate the one thing I’ve been trying to bring together myself, I snap into action.
“Where?” I growl, running to the coat closet to find my keys.
“Her apartment complex! He’s outside her apartment, Tyler! I back tracked her feed and he was there when you were gone. He’s been here for a fucking week. We know what that means. He’s waiting for his moment.”
Of course, of course I know what that means.
Because I’d done it myself when I was given hits on people.
You follow your target around. You learn their routines so you can know when the best time to strike is.
You know every little detail about what they do, who they do it with and who they are so you can take their weaknesses and use it against them. Of course I fucking know.
“Where is she?” My panic rips through my calm.
“She’s not there. I don’t know where she is,” he blows a breath. “I didn’t have time to hack the city cameras, I just left Macey’s parents house on instinct. I don’t want to miss him, he’s been stalking her. Fucking stalking her.”
“I’m leaving my parents right now.” I finally get my keys from my coat.
We finally found him. But somehow, we are too late. We are always too fucking late.
“Tyler, where are you going?” Sam walks in, our parents following along.
“Ryan’s here. I need to get Sunny. You need to stay here.” I kiss her on the forehead.
“What? How do you know?” she asks, pulling her phone from her purse.
“Cole saw him on our camera feed outside Sunny’s apartment.” I scroll through all the fucking alerts I’d missed in my dinner with my parents. There he is, hovering outside her apartment complex like a ghost.
“He’s probably been following her since he’s been here for a week already.
Sam, I need you to call her and text her.
Blow up her phone. She probably won’t answer me, but I’ll keep trying.
Tell her not to return to her apartment under any circumstances.
Don’t stop, okay? Leave her texts. Leave her voicemails.
I need to go. You don’t fucking leave this house. I love you.” I exit the house.
“Tyler?” I hear my mother call out now.
“Tyler Caddell, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” I hear Mitchell.
But it all feels like background noise as I anxiously wait for Sunny to answer her phone.
“Come on Sunny. Come on.” The rings continue until I hit her voicemail.
“Sunny, please answer the phone. Ryan is here, he’s outside your apartment.
Don’t under any circumstance go home. Go to our home, baby and stay there.
Stay there and don’t leave. I’m coming, Sunny.
I’m coming.” I hang it up to only call again.
I ’m greeted by her voicemail again. “God dammit!” I hit the steering wheel.
I can only hope she left the city already.
That’s when I realize I never placed my gun back in my glove compartment.
I’m coming, little fire.