They reached the vehicles. Cara reeked of beer from her collision with the patron earlier, the smell mixing with smoke from the fire and creating an unfortunate combination.
"You good to drive?" Wade asked her, skepticism clear in his voice.
"I'm completely sober," Cara said. "The beer's all on my clothes."
"Better be." Wade's expression suggested he had significant doubts about her judgment regardless of her blood alcohol level.
Gabe pulled out his keys, the adrenaline from the night starting to fade into exhaustion. They'd gotten away clean. Better still, he was closing in on David. He could feel it now.
Still, it wasn't enough. Wouldn't be enough until his brother was safe.
But it was more than he'd had this morning.
His phone buzzed in his hand. A text. Unknown number.
Something about the timing made warning bells sound in his brain.
He opened the message.
A photo loaded. Slowly at first, pixels resolving into clarity that slapped him straight in the face.
David.
His brother was sitting against a concrete wall. Face bruised. Exhausted. Gaunt with the kind of stress that came from sustained fear. Stubble covering his jaw. Dark circles under eyes that looked haunted but alive. Today's newspaper visible beside him.
Proof of life.
A sharp gasp blasted him. Cara had moved close enough to see the screen. Her hand found his arm, gripping tight. "Is that him?"
Gabe couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. Three weeks of searching. Three weeks of slowly losing hope that he'd find his brother alive.
And here was proof.
Relief crashed through him so hard his knees almost buckled.
Wade moved to see the screen, his expression shifting to grim understanding.
A message loaded below the photo.
Gabe's hands shook as he read it.
Stop looking. You've found enough. Walk away now and your brother goes free.
The words hit like ice water.
Then another message.
You have 24 hours to leave Haven Cove. If you're still here tomorrow night, he dies.
Cara's breath caught audibly. Her fingers dug into his arm hard enough to bruise.
One final message appeared.
We'll start with the baker. Make you watch. Then your brother. Then you.
The parking lot chaos faded into white noise. The sirens. The firefighters. Levinger's shouting. All of it became background static to the photo on his screen.
David's face. Alive but captive. Alive but threatened. Alive but only if Gabe walked away from everything.
