Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
D eclan's pulse jumped when he saw his mom's location pop up on his phone. "She turned her phone on." He dropped a pin to the location on his GPS. "I'm going to get them!" He took off for his truck, Angel right beside him.
"I'm coming too," Keira said. "That's my girl."
Roman didn't even bother to say anything. He just tore after Declan and beat him to the truck.
Declan leapt in, Roman got in the back, and Keira got in the front beside Angel.
He hit the gas and tore down the driveway as he called Dylan. "Got a location." He read it off. "Can you look it up?"
Dylan already had a local team mobilized, and he'd been working on the security video to see if he could identify the man who'd taken Piper and his mom.
"Hang on."
Declan shot out of his driveway and hauled the truck to the right. "We're twenty minutes away." Crap. So much could happen in a split second, let alone twenty minutes. His heart was pounding, and his palms were sweaty. "Are you closer?"
"I don't have anyone closer," Dylan said. "My guys are twenty-two minutes out. "
"Fuck!" Declan hit his palm on the steering wheel.
"Should we call the cops?" Keira said.
"No. If they show up and alert this guy, they might push him over the edge. We have to just get in there quietly." He pushed his speed harder, then swore when he saw Keira wrap her hand around the door handle to brace herself.
"Piper's been in these situations before." Roman was leaning over the seat. "She can handle herself."
"Never thought I'd be grateful that she had such a hellish childhood." Declan hit a corner too fast, and for a split second, his right wheels came off the ground.
"Slow down, my friend," Roman said. "Piper's got this."
"I don't want her to have it by herself. I want to help her."
"You won't save her by flipping the damned truck."
Declan glanced in the rear-view mirror. Roman looked as calm as he sounded. Roman's calmness irritated him. "You ever lost anyone you loved because you were too late to save them?"
Roman met his gaze. "Yeah. I have."
Declan blinked, surprised by the emotion in the other man's voice. He wanted to ask what had happened, but now was not the time. But he suspected that Roman understood in a way no one wanted to be able to understand. "Then you know that I have to get there. Now."
"I do know that. But you can't. So you have to pull your shit together and get there alive, and with a plan."
Declan glared at him. "Shut up."
Roman grinned. "I feel ya. But you still need to stay under control."
Declan eased his foot off the gas ever so slightly. His head was pounding, and fear was gripping him. I'm coming, Piper.
"Did you just say you love Piper?" Keira asked, looking over at him.
"Yeah." Sixteen minutes away. So fucking long. What was happening to them? The only two women he cared about. He was such an ass for keeping his mom pushed away and walking away from Piper like he had.
"Did you tell her that?" Keira asked.
"Yep."
"What did she say?"
He shrugged. "She didn't really answer. But I walked away so she didn't have to. Figured I didn't want to hear her response."
Keira sighed. "She's afraid to trust her judgment when it comes to men."
"I know?—"
"If she could see the raw terror on your face right now, she wouldn’t worry whether she can trust you."
Raw terror. That's what was trying to overtake him.
At that moment, Dylan came back on the line. "The house belongs to Clark Houston. You know him?"
"Her ex-fiancé?" Keira groaned.
Fear gripped Declan. If her ex-fiancé had kidnapped her, it could be bad. Shit. "You must have someone closer than I am."
"I don't, but I'm doing a search on Clark to see what I can find. I'll call you back in a minute." Dylan hung up, and Declan tossed his phone in the console.
He gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his foot pressing down on the gas. "You ever been to his house, Keira?"
"Yep. It's in a gated community. You'll never get through."
Declan settled down in his seat. "My truck has a reinforced grill. I'll get through. Trust me."
Fifteen minutes.
An eternity.