The thought makes my skin crawl, but I shove it down before it can take root. Right now, I need to act on facts rather than my own paranoia.
It’s clear that Mila’s apartment is a dead end, so I head to the door, but just as I’m about to leave, my gaze lands on the baseball bat leaning up against the shoe rack, the one we used for self-defense drills back in college, when we were both convinced someone was stalking us on campus. In reality,it was nothing more than a raccoon living under Mila’s car.
“I never thought I would wish I was about to face that raccoon.” I grab the bat along with her car keys, which are hanging on the hook, and head back out into the night.
I floorMila’s ancient car toward Max’s apartment, trying not to let panic consume me. It’s hard to stay positive when I can’t help but fear I’ll never hear Mila’s voice again.
When I finally turn onto Max’s street, my stomach drops at the sight of two black SUVs parked across from his building. It seems Ronan’s men are still on lookout duty as I spot four of them standing around, looking like they’re casually loitering.
I have no doubt Ronan knows I’ve slipped out by now, which means these guys will be on high alert in case I show up, and I’m all out of tricks to try and get past them.
I’m going to need a new plan.
I park at the end of the street and kill the engine, but my fingers don’t loosen on the steering wheel as I stare at Max’s building, a lump rising in my throat as I think of him.
If I hadn’t dragged him into this mess, he’d still be alive. It’s all my fault. He didn’t deserve any of this. He was just trying to help me.
It’s clear whoever is setting my family up realized I was getting close to the truth and decided to tie up some loose ends. And Max happened to be one of them.
I choke back a sob when the wave of grief hits me.
How could I have been so stupid?
I should have consulted Ronan first before bringing in someone else. It was naive of me to think I could handle thison my own, and that naivety cost Max his life. But I refuse for it to cost Mila’s life too.
I need another way in, another way to figure this out, because I can’t let Max’s death be for nothing. So, I pull the burner phone out of my pocket and stare at it, as if willing it to suddenly start flashing with the answer to all my problems.
There has to be something I’ve missed.
I’ve tried tracking her steps, but I’m coming up short?—
“Oh, my god.” I just need to trackher.
I unlock the burner phone and open up the app store to download a shared tracking app that my father set up for the both of us when we were still in high school. It’s a long shot that she even still has it on her phone, but right now it’s the only thing I have to go on.
My heart pounds as I log onto the app, and I hold my breath as it buffers.
My father insisted on Mila and I using this app as he was paranoid someone would snatch us off the street on our walk home or hijack the school bus.
I used to think he was being ridiculous and overprotective, but as I log onto the app and see Mila’s last-known location flashing on the screen, I couldn’t be more grateful to him.
For all of his wrongdoings, my father might have just saved Mila’s life.
Mila’s phoneshows up to be in a location barely ten minutes from Max’s apartment building. It’s a miracle I’m even able to drive as I’m shaking so much.
Every instinct I have is screaming at me to call Ronan and let him handle this, but I need to get there first. Need to see what we are dealing with so I can tell him. I’m so close.
Besides, what if he sends his men to get me and he is too far away and doesn’t get there in time? What if Mila is bleeding out somewhere, alone, and is seconds away from death?
I know the reality of the world I grew up in. I know it’s likely that Mila won’t be shown mercy, so I can’t afford to give in to my fear.
I just have to hope I’m enough to save her.
The app shows I’m close to my destination when I come to an industrial area that looks like it’s made up of abandoned warehouses, which only adds to the growing unease in my stomach.
I kill the headlights and slow the car to a stop a safe distance away as Mila’s location continues to flash on my burner phone.
I’m well aware it’s completely reckless of me to be here with no backup, and I have a feeling those handful of self-defense classes won’t be enough to keep me safe from whomever is keeping Mila hostage.
