Chapter 43
Roman
Ididn’t remember getting back to the bed-and-breakfast.
One minute, I was standing in my office at the station, staring at the horrible photo on my phone, and the next thing I knew, I was in my mother’s kitchen. The familiar smell of coffee and wood polish did nothing to ground the violent storm tearing through my chest.
Apparently Fox and Graham arrived at the fire station just in time to stop me from grabbing my keys and leaving to go find Palmer. I vaguely remembered Graham blocking the doorway and Fox taking the phone out of my hand while I fought him for it like a damn animal.
After that…everything blurred together.
Now I was here.
But Palmer wasn’t.
The thought slammed into me, hard enough that my stomach clenched. For a second, I thought I might throw up.
I clutched the counter as the nausea rolled through me, forcing myself to breathe.
I had no idea where she was. Even if I did leave, I wouldn’t know where to start searching for her.
My jaw locked so tight it hurt.
I shoved away from the counter and started to pace, my boots thudding heavily on the hardwood floor. I couldn’t sit. Sitting felt impossible. Every instinct in my body screamed at me to move, to do something, to fix this.
The kitchen table had been turned into a makeshift command center. Laptops were open and phones were scattered across the surface. Fox sat hunched over multiple screens while Graham leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, brows narrowed in concentration.
Members of the security team sat around them, including Jude, the man who’d been in charge of Palmer.
I barely spared them a glance. Useless.
The word burned through my mind like acid. They were supposed to keep Palmer safe. That had been the entire damn point.
Yet somehow Amos Anderson had taken Palmer anyway.
I dragged a hand through my hair as I paced past the table, the fury boiling hotter.
This was my fault.
I should have never let this plan go forward. I shouldn’t have brought Palmer into it. I should have never let her anywhere near this mess.
Now she was out there somewhere with a serial killer.
And I had no idea how to get her back.
I kept pacing the kitchen, but the room had started to blur. Voices rose and fell around me as my brothers talked with the security team, their words overlapping in low, tense bursts of strategy and speculation.
I barely heard any of it.
All I could see was that photo of Palmer tied up, her wrists bound.
Every time I blinked, it was there. Mocking me. Destroying me.
It felt like I was drowning, like I’d slipped under the surface of something dark and heavy and couldn’t find my way back up.
“Roman.”
A hand closed around my arm and pulled me out of the kitchen, putting some distance between us and the others. When we were near the empty living room, August turned me to face him, still gripping my arm.
“Roman,” he said. “You need to focus.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “Focus?” I snapped. “This whole fucking plan has fallen apart.”
My chest felt tight. Too tight. I couldn’t breathe right.
“He took her, August,” I gritted out.
The words scraped through my raw throat.
August grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard enough to rattle my teeth. “I know how you’re feeling,” he said sharply. “But you need to snap out of it and help us get her back.”
“You don’t—”
“I do.” He cut in. His fingers dug into my shoulders. “I know exactly how you’re feeling.” His eyes flashed with a potent rage.
“When he took Emersyn,” August continued, quieter now, “it was like my entire world had been stolen from me.”
The memory hit me like a punch to the gut. Emersyn had been tied up, too. She’d been Anderson’s victim.
August had barely held himself together while we searched for her.
I dropped my gaze to the floor.
“Look at me,” August demanded.
Reluctantly, I lifted my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
The sincerity in his voice cut deeper than any accusation could have.
“You know I did everything I could. I wouldn’t have asked you to do anything I thought would put her in danger.”
I knew that.
August would’ve died before letting something happen to Palmer, but that didn’t stop the guilt from clawing through me.
“How did he know where she was?” I asked hoarsely.
There had to be something that we missed.
August shook his head. “I don’t know. They weren’t followed there. We were monitoring that.”
I let out a slow breath, my shoulders sagging as the weight of everything pressed down on me.
I didn’t know what the hell to do.
August’s grip on my shoulders loosened, his hands dropping away.
“We’re a team, Roman,” he said, his voice steady and certain. “That’s one thing Anderson will never have.” He reached out and grabbed my hand, gripping it tight between us.
“He’s a lone wolf,” August continued. “He might be able to manipulate people into doing his dirty work, but he has no one loyal. No one who actually cares about him.
“No matter what happens, I would lay my life down for any one of you,” he said, voice soaked with conviction. “And I know you’d do the same.”
I swallowed hard. “I would. Without hesitation.”
“Then believe in me, Roman. Believe in us.” His eyes bore into mine. “We’re going to find a way to get her back. I swear it.”
I stared at my brother, at the man who had led this family in many ways. I might be the oldest brother, but I always thought it was my responsibility to protect. I watched over everyone silently. August was a born leader.
He was a trustworthy man, willing to take everything on his shoulders. I didn’t blame him for what happened, not really. That was the fault of Amos Anderson, not my brother.
I clung to his hand, drawing strength from his steadiness. I had already lost so much. We both had. But I wasn’t willing to lose Palmer. Not after everything. I wouldn’t want anyone else but my brothers at my side to help me get her back.
“I know,” I rasped. “I trust you.”
Relief loosened his body.
For such a long time, I blamed myself for failing Jess. I had left her alone when she’d needed me most, and I’d carried that guilt inside me until it throttled so much of my softness. I’d closed myself off to the thought of ever letting another person close to my heart.
Then came Palmer.
It wasn’t even a choice for me. Before I’d realized it, her kindness and gentle, golden warmth had melted through my hardness.
I couldn’t lose my head now. August was right. I had to focus. I had to calm down and work with my brothers. I would find Palmer. This time, I would not fail her.
August must’ve seen the change in my expression, because he dropped my hand, his mouth curling at the corner. “Let’s make him pay, brother.”
Anderson should be terrified. Because when it came down to it, the Shadow Stalker was nothing more than his namesake. A shadow. A passing, fleeting darkness that had no substance, and no real power.
The only thing he had was fear, but we would not fear him.
A calmness trickled down my spine. A resolve that I clung to, and I believed in. We would win. There was no other option.
My phone rang.
August and I both glanced down at my pocket.
We knew who was calling before checking the number.
I pulled my phone out and confirmed it was an unknown caller.
August grabbed the phone, and we both hurried into the kitchen.
By the third ring, August held the phone out to Fox. “It’s him.”
Fox took it without hesitation and plugged something connected to his laptop into it before his thumb hovered above the green button on the screen.
“I’m going to put it on speaker. You talk to him, okay?” he said.
I nodded, more confident now that I was calmer. Fox and August shared a brief look before he tapped the screen.
“Ah, and here I thought you weren’t going to answer my call.”
The infuriating, nonchalant voice on the other end of the line made my hackles rise.
“Where is she, Anderson?” I snapped, not wanting to listen to his posturing.
He tsked, and my blood boiled. “Patience, Roman. You know she’s not exactly my type. I don’t want to hurt her. She’s just a means to get what I want.”
I saw red. Hate, potent and sharp, consumed me.
Amos had a victim profile for college-aged brunettes. She didn’t fit his preferences, but he had taken her anyway. The bastard.
“What do you want?” August said when I didn’t reply.
There was a pause. When Amos spoke next, his tone had shifted to something lower, more menacing.
“You know what I want,” he hissed. “You think you can take my Emersyn? And my own daughter? No. I’m tired of all of you. I’m done. Tell me where the safe house is, and I’ll let the blonde go.”
August closed his eyes, letting out a measured breath. “I can’t give you that.”
“Then she dies.”
He said it with finality, like it was inevitable. My stomach clenched, nausea surfacing. I wouldn’t let her die. But I also knew that we couldn’t tell him where the safe house was. We couldn’t sacrifice anyone else.
When none of us spoke, Anderson laughed. The cold, inhuman sound sent chills over my skin.
“I’ll send you my location. Though I’m sure your little hacker has already pinpointed it. You will come here alone, all of you. Only then will I let you come into the building.”
August and I glanced at each other. He wanted all of us to go?
“I want to know that Palmer is still alive,” I spat. “Let me talk to her.”
Amos let out a long, suffering sigh. There was a pause, and then her voice came through the line. It shook slightly, but it was her.
“Roman.”
She said my name like it held all her hope. My heart ached, threatening to crack in two.
“I—”
But I never got to hear what else she had to say because Anderson returned, setting my teeth on edge.
“See? She’s alive. For now. Come alone, all five of you. Don’t bring any other reinforcements. I’ll let you into the building and we can…negotiate.”
“If you fucking hurt her, I swear I’ll—”
“Kill me?” Anderson chuckled. “I’m the killer, Roman. Don’t forget that. You have forty minutes to get here before I start slicing into her. If I get any sense that you’re fucking with me, even if you do manage to get her back, she won’t be recognizable.”
He hung up.
I stared blankly at the phone screen.
August grabbed my shoulder as numbness seeped through me.
“I’m okay,” I said, though I really wasn’t.
I looked at each of my brothers, who seemed as enraged as I was.
I had to focus. I couldn’t lose it.
August stepped forward, crossing his arms over his chest. “We have forty minutes. Let’s use them to the best of our ability. We will make Amos Anderson regret that he ever threatened this family.”