I stalk across the car park to Kellen’s abandoned car, searching the area for any sort of clue as to where Andy might have taken her. That’s when the tang of petrol hits me in the nose. I follow it to the spot where Andy’s truck had been parked.
A pool of fluid sits collected on the asphalt, sheer and reflecting rainbow light. My eyes follow the trail left behind out of the parking lot, back onto the main street.
It hits me like a ton of bricks.
“It’s leaking petrol,” I murmur, mostly to myself. I stoop down, sniffing it, bringing it into my nostrils so deep it burns. “I know how to find her.”
This time, Kellen takes the driver’s seat so I can keep my window down, leaning my head out to keep the scent of Andy’s vehicle in my nose. We blow through junctions, and I didn’t know Kellen could drive like this. Ignacio lets out a squeak as we round a corner at full speed.
“Sorry,” Kellen calls back to him.
“I’m fine,” Ignacio says. “I’ve never been in a car chase before. It’s kind of exciting.”
I growl low in my throat. Nothing about this isexciting, not while Peony is in danger.
I’m lucky that whatever is leaking from that ancient pickup is distinct from the other smells of the city. We follow it to a small rural highway that leads away from Penn Rock, and the traffic signs all say we’re headed to Tennysville.
“That’s where Peony used to live,” I say, pointing at the sign as we pass.
“Would he be stupid enough to take her back to his home?” asks Kellen. “I’m sure the police have her address in their records.”
“I’ve heard of stupider criminals,” Ignacio pipes up in the back. “There’s a whole TV show about it. And this guy doesn’t seem too bright.”
I have to agree with that. Andy might be a sick bastard, but he’s also clearly an idiot. Which hopefully will make it easier to find him.
We speed past a junction that looks like nothing, but then the smell of the petrol vanishes.
“Back there,” I growl. “Turn around.”
Kellen does what I ask, wheeling the car around at the next intersection, and Ignacio grabs onto the door handle as Kellen zooms back to the tiny dirt road.
My anxiety, which is already sky-high, grows as we descend deeper into the woods. Where did he take her? What is he doing with her, even now? A growl rumbles in my chest.
“Peony is smart,” Kellen says, glancing at me out of the side of his eye. “She’ll be all right, Rupert. I know it.”
He can’t be sure of such a thing. Yes, Peony is intelligent and clever, but her ex-boyfriend? I wouldn’t trust him not to hurt her as far as I can throw his dead body.
We follow the trail a long way before we come to a stop at a tiny shack. The truck is nowhere in sight. I leap out of the car, hoping, praying that Peony is inside, and perhaps that idiot left her out here alone.
I throw open the door, calling out, “Peony!” But there’s nothing inside.
“Damn it!” I roar as I get to my feet. Her scent iseverywhere, that not-lavender smell that makes my heart ache, so I know she was here—and not all that long ago. “Where is she?” I storm back out of the shed, ready to drop onto all fours and take off into the woods searching.
“The tracks!” It’s Ignacio exclaiming behind us, back near the car. He’s still holding his flowers. “Look.”
I race over, and he points down at the F-150’s tracks in the dirt.
“It goes back the way it came,” he says, pointing at the drizzle of petrol leading away from the spot. “It came and then left again.”
I hiss between my teeth. Where is she now, then? How will I tell the difference?
Slamming a foot into the ground, I roar again, my wrath raging even wilder. I need to rip and tear, to slash my way through the brush until I find my Peony. She is mine.Mine!
“Rupert!” Kellen calls out, and I realize I’m on all fours, snarling, ready to leap into the trees. “Rupert, can you hear me?”
I turn to him, ready to attack, but he holds up both hands in surrender.
“Hold it together,” he says in a firm, commanding voice. “If you fall apart right now, we won’t find her. Besides—I have an idea.”
