My pace picked up as I left her apartment until I was sliding into the passenger seat of my car. Jae didn’t miss a beat, entering on the driver’s side and starting it, placing the gun in my lap so he had two hands on the wheel.
“Why did you take her gun?”
“I didn’t trust her friends. Didn’t want it getting into the wrong hands.”
I nodded slowly, pulling out my phone and opening a search for the next available flight.
“We’ll get her back,” Jae said with conviction, driving a little too fast as he turned onto the main road.
I didn’t voice my doubts, shoving them into the recess of my mind as I scrolled through the flight options.
“Fuck,” I shouted, slamming my hand against my door. “The fastest flight is still nine fucking hours with a stop in Chicago.”
“Book it,” Jae urged, changing lanes to swerve around a slower car. “When does it leave.”
“Tonight. In…” I glanced at the time, “four hours.”
Jae nodded in my periphery, and I leaned over to pull my wallet out of my back pocket, the gun a heavy weight on my lap. Another reminder of what was at stake. My hands were shaking so badly, it took me several minutes to correctly type in my credit card number as I purchased two tickets.
We were pulling up to the house just as I received the confirmation email with our tickets.
Part of me was expecting my phone to ring at any moment. Shiloh calling to tell me that she was fine, that all of this was just a fucked-up misunderstanding.
I looked to Jae as he put the car in park, “I can’t lose her again,” my voice cracked, but I forced the emotion back.
Jae placed a hand behind my neck, squeezing. “We’re not going to. Ride or die. We’re gonna get her back.”
I blinked to clear my vision, “I promised her I’d keep her safe.”
Jae squeezed the back of my neck, “Snap out of it!”
I jolted at the anger in his voice, but his hand on my neck held me in place. “You’re not gonna waste time moping and imagining the worst. Go inside, pack a bag, and let’s fucking get your girl.”
I swallowed before nodding and he released me, exiting the car.
He was right. I needed to remain focused, in control. Shiloh needed me and I couldn’t waste any more time. I’d have plenty of time to spiral on the nine-hour flight to my parents’ house where I prayed like hell that my dad could help.
I’m coming for you. Just hold on, baby.
Forty-Three
August 16, Sunday
Emory
My eyes throbbed as I attempted to peel them open. My body was moving, or someone was moving it as I jostled against someone’s chest. It was warm and I breathed in. The spicy scent jolted my heart with adrenaline, and I opened my eyes.
Theo.
I blinked up at his face, recognizing the familiar ceiling of our shared home as he climbed the stairs.
It all came rushing back to me and I couldn’t stop the involuntary fresh tears that filled my eyes.
It was real. I was really gone. Theo had found me. I was back in Eden.
I closed my eyes, savoring the familiar burn, the familiar ache as the tears spilled down my cheeks.
I was suddenly placed on a soft surface, our bed, I realized, as my body sunk into the mattress.
