“Jaxon, it’s Black.He’s at Tom’s house,” I yell, but his expression pales as I grab my keys off his desk.
“The bed and breakfast is surrounded,” he announces, moving into the space we call the staff room.
“Fuck!”Isaac yells.
“Can you get somewhere safe?”I ask him.
“We’re in the fucking panic room.Like a real panic room with the big, solid, steel door.I thought it was him.Maybe he’s there.”
“Stay there.Call the police.We have to go,” I tell him, feeling my chest tighten.
“Go help Paisley.Wyatt is on the way here.Evie called him.”
“Be safe,” I warn him and end the call.
But the second it ends, my phone lights up once more as Jaxon steps out with a crowbar.His phone blares again.“It’s Lily,” he tells me, and I see him sway on his feet.“Baby?”Whatever she says has him racing out of the door.“Stay here.I need to get to Lily.He sent people there.”
“I’m coming,” I yell at him as my phone continues to vibrate.
“No.Stay with Mum.Liam and Landon have the bed and breakfast covered.He has people coming to help.”
I step back to answer the phone when it begins again.Seeing it’s Summer, I answer without question.“Summer, it’s not a good time,” I tell her, which freezes Jaxon in place.
“I came back to the farm to grab a change of clothes for Milly.She’s with your mum.Malia called.She’s at the bed and breakfast,” she rushes out.
“We know.We’ve got help coming,” I promise her.I hear glass smashing.“What was that?”
“Um, that’s the thing.We have a group of late teens outside throwing bricks, and they’ve tried to petrol bomb the house.”
“I’m coming,” I yell.
“What?”Jaxon asks, stopping me on the stairs outside the factory.The rain is barely a drizzle now.
“They’re at Bluebird Farm too.”
“Stop!”Summer yells.“Stay there.We have this covered.”
“Excuse me?”I ask, pulling my phone away for a second.
“We’ve got it covered.Magnolia has taken two of them out.She has them tied up in the chicken coop.Makayla has two trapped in the basement.There are only six left.But, um, can we phone the police?”She clears her throat and whispers down the line, “Magnolia wants to bury them alive, so I think the police should be called this time.Please?”
My eyes clench shut because we did this.We made her think she had to cover us for everything.The police should have been the first thing she did.“Call them.Just don’t mention who sent them there.”
“Stay with Milly,” she orders.
Is she fucking crazy?
“No, I’m coming to you,” I tell her.
“Please, you’ll be wasting your time here.I promise.Got to go, love you.”
I end the call and Jaxon’s hands begin to shake.“I really have to go.Stay with Mum.”
I nod and instead of going for my truck like I desperately want to, I race toward the main house, heading through the front door.I barely make it inside before something hard smacks me around the back of my head.As my vision blurs, I see the sight of my mum in the hallway on the kitchen floor on her stomach.Blood, sweat and dirt stick to her face as she struggles against the man pinning her arms behind her back.I can taste her fear, see it like it’s an entity on its own.I want to squash it, make it disappear so it never comes back.
I fight to stay conscious.To reach for her.
But it’s too late.
