Lock took off toward them, then dove and crashed into his legs just before he reached the street.
Callie hit the ground, and as much as Lock wanted to check on her, he had to focus on the abductor. He flipped the guy over, but before he could pull off the balaclava, or even get a good fucking look at his eyes, the asshole threw a punch that Lock barely managed to dodge.
He grabbed the fist and threw an elbow toward the guy’s jaw, but he turned his head just in time, then lifted a leg to kick Lock off his body.
Lock was only on the ground for a second, but that was all the guy needed. He ran.
“Go after him!” Jace shouted from the window as he dropped to the grass. “I’ve got Callie.”
Fuck, he didn’t want to leave her, but he needed to catch this guy. He needed this to be over.
He rose and ran, sprinting down the sidewalk. The guy was fast, almost a shadow as he disappeared around a corner. Lock pushed his body to move faster, feeling the slap of concrete beneath his shoes. The whip of air across his face.
His hands fisted, and he forced himself into a sprint as Callie flicked into his mind. Her body strung over this asshole’s shoulder, completely limp.
The guy turned another corner, and it made Lock see red. He needed to get his hands on this guy. To know his fucking identity.
He turned the corner again—only to stop at the sight of a disappearing car, its lights off. It turned the next corner so quickly, Lock didn’t even get a license plate.
Fuck!
He ran frustrated fingers through his hair, every muscle in his body tight as rage punched through his limbs.
Gone. The asshole wasgone. And Lock still didn’t know who he was, which meant he was still fighting blind. And tonight, he’d almost taken Callie.
With fisted hands, Lock turned and ran back to his house. He had to get back to her. Was she okay? Was she hurt? Why had she been so lifeless?
He reached his front yard to see Jace on his cell, as Elle knelt over Callie’s body.
A sick feeling churned his stomach. She still wasn’t moving, and as he got closer, he could see her mouth was red.
He dropped to her side. “Callie?”
“He drugged her,” Elle said quietly.
“Chloroform,” Jace said as he hung up the phone. “Paramedics are on their way, and Eastern’s meeting us at the hospital. You didn’t catch him.”
It wasn’t a question.
Lock shifted his gaze back to Callie, focusing on the rise and fall of her chest. She was alive. That’s what he needed to concentrate on.
“No,” he finally said. “But I will. And when I do, he’s a dead man.”
CHAPTER 27
Lock’s eyes moved over Callie’s still body. The doctors had said she’d wake up at any moment. It wasn’t soon enough. He wanted to see her eyes. Hear her voice. And fuck, he hated seeing the oxygen mask over her face.
His fault. This was his fault. Someone had broken into his home. Drugged her. Tried to take her. And he hadn’t caught the bastard.
He should have gone into the house with her. But he hadn’t, because he’d thought his house was safe. He hadn’t counted on the asshole breaking the fucking lock on his window. How long had the guy been waiting in there to get her alone? And why hadn’t he been worried that it would beLockwho went in there first?
Was he that ballsy, or had he been watching them in the yard and Lock hadn’t noticed?
He had to have been watching and entered when the women went inside. No way would he have just broken in and waited, risking the possibility of Lock or Jace going in first.
He wanted to punch his damn hand through the wall. Let the pain dull out the other emotions. The anger. The frustration. The helplessness. That was probably the worst of it all. He wantedto do more. To take action and fix this. But he couldn’t fixanything. He couldn’t even protect the woman he loved.
The door opened and his brother poked his head in. “Can I come in?”
