Groaning, I get out of my Alaskan King bed and head to the bathroom. I know whatever Thomas says will require a debrief with the guys.
“Tell me again what the second note said,” I demand.
Clearing his throat, Thomas replies, “It said they had her father, and soon they’d have her too.”
I send my iPhone sailing across the room, straight into my navy blue-painted wall, shattering it into pieces, my patience entirely spent.
Whenever I get my hands on this person, they’ll experience unimaginable pain before I wipe them from existence.
Stomping across my room, I drag open my desk drawer and grab one of my backup phones. I text the group chat before calling Thomas back.
Me: Some dead fucker sent Ariah another package.
Me: Meet at the Tombs in 20.
I call Thomas back, and he picks up on the first ring, but I don’t give him a chance to speak.
He’ll kick my ass in the ring, for my asshole behavior the next time we spar, but I’m too pissed to care at the moment.
“How is she now?” I blurt out through gritted teeth as I pace my bedroom floor, trying to ease my fury.
I know it’s not Thomas’s fault, so I can’t kill the messenger in this instance. However, it doesn’t assuage my anger with our overall predicament. Someone is fucking with us, but more importantly, our fucking girl.
My phone notifications begin going off like crazy. I ignore them for now, needing to hear the rest of Thomas’s update.
“She’s okay. Shay’s here. She came last night, and that helped. They had a nineties, early two-thousand teen movie night.”
Okay, that’s good news, but then he stops, almost like he’s preparing himself for what he has to say next.
“Wyatt, there’s more.”
I go stiff, my skin drawing tight, all efforts to cool my frustrations fizzle.What could possibly be worse than what he’s already said?
I need to get out of this house, or I’m going to start breaking more shit.
“Of course, there’s more,” I bark out.
Snatching my keys, I head for the stairs, waiting to hear the bullshit Thomas is about to tell me.
“The lips belonged to Bethany Thompson, one of the selected girls.”
“Oh. Is that it?” I ask, releasing the breath I was holding. My jaw relaxes, easing some of the pounding in my head. “I thought there was more about Ariah.”
Of course, it sucks that one of the girls is missing and probably dead, but it’s not Riri. Bethany will be replaced. The selection doesn’t stop because a girl is missing.
Not surprised by my lack of concern for Bethany, Thomas finishes relaying the rest of the information while I make my way through the house to the garage.
“We’re still going through the video footage. I know Lev will also be conducting his own search. So far, we’ve found a partial plate. I’ve already sent that and pictures of everything to Lev. Marco is dropping off the actual box and its contents as we speak.”
“Thanks, Thomas, keep my girl safe,” I say, disconnecting the call.
Sitting in the car, I take a moment and then catch up on the group chat.
Owen: WTF do you mean???
Lev: I’m pulling up CCTV now
Wes: I told you she was trouble
