I zoomed in on the map, trying to figure out where she was.When I saw she’d stopped at a gas station, I blew out a relieved breath.Based on what I could recall, the Jeep didn’t have a full tank of gas.That still didn’t mean anything.I wouldn’t feel better until I saw that little dot move again.
I added pressure to the gas pedal, increasing my speed.Every second that ticked by with no movement on the tracker made my anxiety increase a little more.Finally, the signal started moving again.Relief washed over me, despite the fact she was still over fifty miles ahead of me.At least she was moving.
At least, Ihopedshe was moving.
I had no way of knowing if she was even in the Jeep.She could have been attacked at the gas station and forced back into the vehicle.So many different scenarios floated through my mind, each one worse than the one before.But I pushed them aside, refusing to be consumed with all the what-ifs.Instead, I focused on the road.On what I could control.
On getting to Ariana before someone else did.
I continued following her, gradually closing the distance between us.Thankfully, I could navigate these roads blindfolded.Had driven them on countless occasions.Right now, that worked to my advantage.I was used to driving in the snow and ice.Ariana probably hadn’t driven in this sort of weather in years.
After a few minutes, the signal on the Jeep seemed to slow before taking a hard right, veering off the road.
A part of me wondered if she’d found a motel and planned to sleep for the night, not knowing the danger that was after her.
But when I checked the map, there was no motel.Nothing but thick forest.
An unsettled feeling formed in my gut, and I increased my speed even more, my anxiety mounting with every minute that passed.The blinking, unmoving dot continued taunting me.Reminded me this was all my fault.That I could have avoided this if I’d just been honest with her and told her the truth.
When I finally closed in on the signal forty minutes later, the dread was almost unbearable, weighing me down to the point that I wasn’t sure if I could muster the strength to get out of my truck.Especially when I saw a pair of tire tracks cutting down the snowy embankment.
Grabbing my gun from the glove box, I stepped into the cold.Cato leapt out behind me, his fur bristling, nose already to the ground.My boots crunched against the snow as I followed the path, praying like hell she’d just hit a patch of black ice and lost control of the Jeep.
But when the vehicle came into view, I knew it was more than that.Tires blown out.A shattered back window.A single set of footprints approaching and retreating.A steady stream of blood lining the path, the dark red stark against the white snow.
I squeezed my eyes shut, forcing down the unbearable ache building in my chest, and continued toward the Wrangler.I already knew what I’d find, but I needed to see it for myself.
The driver’s side door was already open with shards of glass from the windshield covering the entire passenger compartment.But that wasn’t what had me wanting to scream.It was the blood.
So much blood.
I couldn’t think the worst.Not yet.I had to believe Ariana was still breathing.
And I’d do everything in my power to find her.
I may have hated my father with every fiber of my being, but he did teach me one very important life lesson… How to act under pressure.So instead of panicking, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit Blake’s contact.
“Boss man,” he answered on the second ring.
“I need you to pull flight records for every airport within two hundred miles of the cabin,” I ordered without so much of a greeting as I shined my flashlight over the site of the crash, searching for anything that might help.
“What’s going on?”he asked in concern as he typed on his keyboard in the background.
“Just fucking do it.”My voice cracked raw, all the control stripped out of it.
“Anything I should be looking for?”he pressed, ignoring my outburst.
I stared at the carnage in front of me.The blood.The broken glass.The unnerving silence of the woods.
“Ariana…” Her name stuck in my throat, sharp and jagged.“She found the duffel bag.The cash.And the burner phone.”
“Shit,” he exhaled.“So she?—”
“Thinks I abducted her.I mean, Idid, but not like that.”My chest heaved.“And that’s not even the worst part.”I dug my fingers through my hair as I recalled the news I’d received earlier.
“What is?”
“When we didn’t get a hit on who this guy could be, I called in a favor with Salvatore.”
