Evelyn didn’tsmoke.
Which meant her captordid.
My phone vibrated in the back pocket of my shorts. I straightened up, staring at the unknown number flashing on my screen. Could it be thekidnapper?
Slowly, I slid my finger across the screen to answer the call. “Hello.”
“Ness? It’sFrank.”
His voice shrink-wrapped myhope.
“McNamara,” headded.
As though I could’ve forgotten… “What is it, Mr.McNamara?”
“We’d like you to meet us at your father’s old factory. The one the Watts tookover.”
Blood beat against my skin, making every inch of it tingle. Just what I needed. A trip down memory lane. “Why?”
“We need to discuss a…developmentwith thepack.”
I looked toward the sash windows that gave onto the employee parking lot. When we’d arrived, I’d tried exchanging my room with Evelyn’s so she could have a better view, but she insisted that being on the ground floor was better for her. I didn’t see how it had benefited her in any way considering she so rarely wentout.
The edge of Evelyn’s curtain fluttered. I lunged forward and drew it open so briskly a handful of tiny hooks ripped off the metalrod.
Heart twitching, I stepped into the parkinglot.
“Ness? Are you still there?” Frank’s voice soundedtinny.
“Yeah. I’m here.” I shaded my sore eyes from the sun spiking through the fir trees lining the lot and scanned thepremises.
“Liam came to speak withus.”
My stomach knotted like a climbing rope. Had Liam asked them to cancel the last trial? Had he told them I was ready to concede? What would happen to Evelyn if they voided thecontest?
“We need you to come see us. The pack is waiting for you. Your uncle said he could takeyou.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
His firm response made my fingers curl hard around the phone. “I’ll be there as soon as Ican.”
The warm air smelled of car exhaust, rancid garbage, and evaporated dew. Dark stains dappled the asphalt. My heart gave a shudder. Forcing my stiff legs to bend, I crouched andsniffed.
Oil.
Notblood.
My phone vibrated with a message from an unknown number. Frank must’ve forgotten to tell mesomething.
The message said:Ticktock.
NotFrank.
A car honked so shrilly I bounced onto the balls of my feet. A black minivan with the Boulder Inn logo backed into the employee lot. Another honk. The strident sound shrilled in myskull.
“I tried to call your room,” Jeb said, leaning out the driver’s side window to peer at me. “What are you doing outhere?”
