“Did they what?”Liam asks, his brows scrunched up, and then his eyes widen.I know he’s just realised Milly wasn’t alone inside.“What did you see?What happened in there?Is Liza okay?”
“Mum,” I rasp, glancing to the ground.“She...”
“She’s okay?Please tell me she’s okay.”
“She doesn’t look good,” I reply honestly, unable to say what I saw.
“Her jeans were...”Malia states, and like me, cannot finish the sentence, but the implication is clear.
“Fuck!”Liam roars.“Fuck!”
“They have Milly.She’s just a little girl,” she rasps, running her fingers through her hair.“She’s just a little girl.”
“Let’s go,” I demand because I can’t stand all this pain.“We don’t have time for this.”
We begin to race down the lane since police cars are blocking most of the path for me to get in my own car and drive.Further up the lane, I see Landon and little Liam talking to a policeman in front of a line of kids sitting handcuffed on the ground.“Landon, Paisley is going to need you,” I yell, and I hate that my voice cracks.
His head whips in our direction and then to the farm.Then he’s racing toward the house, Liam following close behind him.
Jaxon doesn’t answer the phone when I try to call, but he doesn’t need to as he comes to a sharp stop at the entrance of our land.
“Mum?Milly called.”He gulps as he jumps out of the car.“She...fuck.I heard Mum screaming.Please tell me she’s alive.Please tell me she’s fucking alive.I left her.I fucking left her.I was right there.Wewere right there.”
I grab his shoulders, shaking him.“We don’t have time for this.You can’t freak out right now.Paisley is with her.But Black has Milly, Jaxon.He has a child.”
I hope my words convey the seriousness of the situation and snaps through the downhill cycle he’s going through.
“Are you tracking her?”he demands once he comes out of his panicked state, his question directed at Liam.Liam nods, so Jaxon jumps back into the car.
Liam slides into the passenger side.“I’ll ping the tracking information to everyone who can come.They are further away than I estimated.”
“He dies tonight,” I warn as I get in the back.I don’t care that Malia is in the car.Not because I’m past the point of caring but because I know she gets us.She’s protected her family.And from what I’ve picked up, she’s killed to protect them.She hasn’t said that but it’s a vibe I get from the things they say.I don’t think she’ll hold this against us.
“Trust me, it won’t be quick either,” Malia warns as she fires off a text.
Jaxon is quiet as he follows Liam’s directions, speeding through red lights and traffic cams until Liam tells him to slow down so we aren’t caught.
My phone is going crazy in my pocket, but I can’t stomach looking at the screen.I had been right there.I saw Mum and could do nothing.
“You need to let us deal with this,” Liam tells her.
“Fuck you, handsome.You don’t get to tell me what to do.”
He turns in his seat now the location is pinged to the sat nav for Jaxon to follow.“This isn’t about that.Do you really want this one on your conscience?”
I know from that look, she definitely killed someone.Because to me, he’s saying, do you need more to have nightmares over?
For a moment, I think she’s not going to answer, but then she does.“Are you going to make it painful?”she asks, arching a brow.
“Yes,” Jaxon replies roughly before Liam can.
“Then have at it.But don’t worry about the body.I know a place you can take it.”
This is really happening.It shouldn’t bother me.We’ve been saying this for months.I’m not backing out, but I’m human.I have feelings.I’m worried it will be one last thing Black does to fuck us up.Change who we are.
More minutes pass by, and the sharp turns are doing nothing to help with my headache.Still, no one asks her where, or questions her at all.
I take a breath, then go for it.“Where?”I ask, hoping my voice doesn’t show my hesitance.
