“Get them to the van!” The other one whisper-shouted near her. Oh, fuck no. They couldn’t get taken to a secondlocation. That was rule number one of self-defense.Do not let them get you in that van.
“Fuck you!” she cursed. “You’re not fucking taking me! Why the fuck is everyone always trying to take the women in this fucking family?” Mae closed her fist and swung as hard as she could at the person lunging towards her. She connected, the crack of his jaw not nearly as impressive as the shooting pain that radiated up her arm. She’d be lucky if her wrist wasn’t broken, but it gave her the window of opportunity she needed. Mae turned and started to run.
In front of her, Jessie fought just as hard. Kicking, thrashing. A grunt from the assailant she was fighting made Mae smile. Until the asshole she’d clocked got his hand around her arm, pulling her deeper into the alley before he shoved Mae to the ground and put his boot in her side.
All the air, and most of the fight, left her body in that instant. Darkness edged her vision and the whole scene playing out in front of her spun.
“Mae!” Jessie screamed. No! She needed to tell Jessie to get away…
To run…
To get to safe?—
Stone paced in front of Hawk’s apartment door. He shouldn’t be there. She was probably already back asleep… but he couldn’t just let her go. She promised she would wait until the morning, and his heart had nearly fallen out of his ass when he woke to find his arms empty just a few moments before he stormed up there.
He hadn’t fought for her. For them. Hearing her say that… admit it with such raw pain in her voice… It felt wrong in his bones. He knew Mae was it for him. He’d fallen in love with her long before they ever started hooking up. It was in the way she never took shit from anyone. The way she could fiercely protect someone she loved and then call them out for their bullshit in the next breath. It was the way her eyes widened ever so slightly when she saw him, and her shoulders relaxed when he was near her.
He should have known something was wrong. She hadn’t relaxed, not truly, since he woke up in the hospital.
The door swung open and Stone froze. Hawk, a towel wrapped around his hips, water dripping off him, stood in the doorway.
“What are you doing here? Did you see Jessie?”
“Jessie? No. I’m looking for Mae. Why would Jessie be here?”
“Uh…”
“Oh. Jesus, Hawk. She’s like half your age.”
“I’m definitely not going to be scolded about who I have a relationship with by my best friend who was sleeping with my sister secretly for almost two years.”
Stone sighed. He had a point. “Yeah, fair enough. Can I just come in and see Mae?”
“Why would she be here?”
“She needed space. I just assumed she came up here.”
“Fucking hell.” Hawk stormed across the hall and pounded on Gunner and Lily’s door. It only took twenty seconds for Gunner to rip open the door.
“What’s going on?”
“Is Mae in there? With Lily?”
Gunner’s eyes went wide. “No. They were just texting though… Lil?” he called out quietly over his shoulder.
“She said she was in bed. Across the hall.” Her eyes bounced to Hawk. “Something about someone screaming out ‘chief’ as she walked into the apartment.”
“God,” Hawk groaned. “She’s not in the apartment. I just looked everywhere…”
“For Jessie.” Stone finished, immediately recognizing the nickname she’d called Hawk in the diner. “We need to find them. I have a bad feeling.”
Stone pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened the app that shared Mae’s location. He thought it would bring him relief to see it populate inside the building, but that’s not what happened at all.
“Oh, fuck.” He turned and ran for the stairwell, not stopping for the voices calling after him.
In an instant, he was standing on the sidewalk, looking down into the alleyway. Nothing. She wasn’t there. Why wasn’t she there? His eyes landed on something shiny on the ground…
“Jessie, please. Please pick up the phone. Please call me back. Please be okay…” Hawk’s voice stalled the second he saw what Stone was pointing at. Hawk’s name in bright light on the spiderweb shattered screen laying in the alley not even five feet away from Mae’s phone.
