“Actually, yes,” Braxton said, pointing at me. “I want to run something by you all and get a vote.”
We all nodded.
“I got a call this morning about a job, but was thinking we’d have to turn it down,” he continued.
“Why would we turn it down?” Paxton questioned, brows pinched.
Braxton chuckled softly. “Another excellent question.” He rubbed his hands together. “The job is a few hours from here in the mountains and could last a while. I didn’t think any of us would want to be away from our families that long.”
“Why? What’s the job?” Rowan asked.
“Bodyguard for Luna Vale while she spends some time in her hometown,” he announced. “Away from a stalker, I will add.”
My eyes widened in surprise, and I coughed, taken off guard. “Luna Vale, one of America's favorite pop princesses?”
I knew music, and I knew exactly who Luna was, yet I was so shocked that I asked the question anyway.
Braxton smiled. “You got it in one.”
Lyric let out a dramatic, long whistle. “Wow, that’s quite the high-profile job. You have someone in mind for it, don’t you?”
“I do,” Braxton answered. “I want to offer it to Harland. He’d be working for us like we wanted, but just in another location, and once the job is done, we can figure it out from there. I think some time in the mountains might be good for him and his niece. Should we vote?”
It was an easy vote; everyone agreed Braxton should present the offer to Harland. Then the men started to ask more questions about the accident and Harland's family, while my thoughts drifted back to mine.
Something isn’t right, I can feel it.
Snatching up my cell, I pulled up the Find My Phone app to check where Patience was. I squinted, not understanding why she’d be on the side of the road, not moving. She wasn’t too far from home but was on one of the back roads. If she had car trouble or something, why hadn’t she called me?
“Fuck,” I whispered, panic starting to build at warp speed.
“What’s up?” Lyric asked from beside me, but I ignored him.
Punching in her number, I dialed my wife. “Pick up. Pick up. Come on, baby, pick the fuck up,” I muttered to myself, but felt eyes on me so I knew I wasn’t being very quiet. Her phone went to voicemail, and I knew something was wrong for sure. “Damnit!” I yelled, not caring now if I was disrupting the whole meeting while I pulled up the other tracking app.
My lungs seized at what I saw.
Her phone was in one place, not moving, and her tracker on her necklace was going in a completely different direction—awayfrom home.
I turned my phone toward Lyric to show him what I was looking at. “Something is wrong; I felt it when we started the fucking meeting, and I ignored it!” I yelled. Abruptly, I pushed up from my chair and it toppled backward. “If anything happens to them, it’s my fault!”
I’d come so far with therapy, our trip, and letting those I loved in, but I couldn’t help but flash back to the moment I couldn’t save my buddies. Everything felt like it was closing in on me, my chest tightened, and my throat closed up, mouth going dry.
“Let’s go; we will split up!” Lyric suddenly barked out, helping to slow my spiral.
“I’ll hold the fort down here,” Landon said, his voice on edge and his jaw clenched with concern. He always sat in on meetings if he was around, and it felt good to have someone at what felt like home base.
We all moved out of the room, questions and plans being thrown around as we went. Braxton snagged a bunch of equipment on the way out.
Every man was on a mission.
My mind rapidly sifted through all the ways this could turn out, but there was only one acceptable outcome: I’d find my family and they would be okay.
As I barreled into the warm summer air, I softly whispered…
“Please don’t take them from me.”
When I got the call, my world tilted.
