I drag in an unsteady breath, push myself to a sitting position, and locate my phone under the sheets. A glance reveals it’s four in the morning. Nowhere near the hour for it to make sense that Elliot would be off doing something. My brows pinch together with concern. She’d seemed fine after we spoke to Archer. Then we’d crashed—me, her, and Kingston at first, and Archer must have joined us after he was done on his computer… whenever that was. It’d been lights-out for me, so I don’t really know.
Climbing from the bed, I poke my head into the bathroom, but no Elliot there. Then I proceed to look in her room, followed by Kingston’s, and then my own. Still nothing.
The kitchen. Maybe she was hungry or thirsty. I hurry downstairs, ducking into each room along the long hallway from the front of the house to the kitchen, but she’s not in any of them, nor is she in the kitchen as I’d hoped.
I’ve got a scary sense for when things aren’t right with her. Like the morning I found her sitting in the shower, having cried until there were no more tears. I hate to think how long she would have stayed there had I not checked on her. And right now, all my internal alarms are screaming at me to pay attention. Something isn’t right. I whip my phone out of my pocket and send a quick text to the entire group of us.
Elliot? Where are you?
I wait a few seconds, but get no response from her, though it looks like Kingston must be awake and about to respond.
The fuck. It’s 4am.
Waking Archer now.
I know. I can’t find her.
I woke up, and she wasn’t in the bed.
I’ll call her.
I hit her contact and punch the screen to make the call. It rings twice before she answers.
“Fuck, man. Her phone is still here.” Archer’s confused voice on the other side of the phone sends me into complete worry mode. She wouldn’t have gone anywhere without her phone. Not unless she was expecting to come right back.
“Get down here. Help me search.” The words come out so ragged, I’m unsure if I sound like that because my voice always sounds scratchy and raw or if it’s because I’m so fucking overwhelmed at the idea of not finding her that I’m beginning to panic.
Inhaling deeply, I throw my head back and shout, “Elliot!” And then again, only louder, like a fuckin’ maniac. “Elliot!” Her name fucking echoes through the house, and just moments later, chaos ensues.
Brothers stumble out of bedrooms, bleary-eyed. There’s a chorus ofWhat the fuck, man?AndDon’t you know what time it is?
I don’t fucking care. I stand there, scrubbing my hands through my hair, heaving out breath after breath. Kingston and Archer meet me in the living room, and we form a huddle, excluding everyone else. Archer’s eyes betray his nerves. “We searched upstairs again. She’s definitely not up there.”
I gesture to the main floor and shake my head.
“Bedrooms?” Kingston grits out, surveying the crowd of boxer brief and jogger-clad dudes gathering in the living room around us.
I shake my head a second time, but now he has me wanting to throw open the door to every goddamn room and force my way inside to have a look.
Kingston’s chest expands, and I see the thoughts distinctly in his head. She wouldn’t have left the grounds without telling us. She’s here somewhere. Because if not— I shake my head, not wanting to contemplate the worst-case scenarios, but memories of the day Nick took her make me sick to my stomach. Finally, he barks, “Is everyone else accounted for?”
A whole lot of heads turn, looking this way and that, as we do a head count. Nine. There should be eleven of us here. Fuck.
Archer wets his lips. “Dane’s still missing, too,” he murmurs under his breath. “He’s been so fucking sketchy lately. Could he be behind all this?”
With a quick jerk of his head, Kingston begins pointing at people, seemingly at random. “Zeke and Stuart, you’re downstairs. Cellar, too. Joel and Taggart—outside. Search the front side of the property.” Now, I understand. He doesn’t want to keep brothers with the ones they associate most with, just in case any of them have something to do with this. “I’ll search the main floor again.” His eyes flick to mine. “Cannon, you take Alec and Bridger with you. Backyard. All the way out to the creek and beyond, if you have to.”
Before he can be told what role he’ll play, Archer heaves out a breath, meeting Kingston’s frantic gaze. “I’m on it. I’ll check the camera feeds. She can’t have gone anywhere they wouldn’t have caught her. At least maybe if she left the house, we’ll know which direction she headed.”
“I seriously don’t get why this is our problem,” Alec grumbles and rubs a hand over his face, looking like he’s going to go back to bed instead of help.
Kingston’s arm shoots out, grasping Alec’s bicep and yanking hard on him. “Listen here, you lowlife fuck. Two brothers are currently missing. You’re set to inherit the keys to this goddamn castle next year. So, this willabsolutelybe your problem if we can’t find them, the same way we couldn’t find Will.” He puts his face right in Alec's, his words coming out sounding lethal. “Or have you forgotten that last year it was your motherfucking initiate who went missing? If we don’t figure this out, there won’t be a brotherhood at fucking all.”
A low rumble of agreement rolls through the group, as they finally wake the fuck up and realize this isn’t just about Elliot. It’s about this house and the brotherhood and everything that they stand to lose. Suddenly, everyone is paying attention. About fucking time.
As the rest of the brotherhood hurries off to their assigned search locations, I grasp Kingston’s arm to keep him with me. Archer also pauses and comes back when he sees the look on my face. “The police. Call. Don’t wait,” I rasp.
Archer’s jaw tightens, then he and Kingston exchange a look. “I agree. K, make the call.”
