“Why didn’t you just explain all of this to me? Why didn’t you just turn yourself in?” I asked. “This is out of control.”
“Because they have my dad,” he bit out. “They made him take vacation from work so no one would realize he was missing, and they locked him up. They had me out trying to get theflash drive from you. They put me in here about two days ago when they figured out I was trying to warn you. Dad and I were tapping Morse code on the walls to communicate with each other. He hasn’t responded since yesterday. I don’t know what happened to him, and I’m worried. His heart isn’t too good. And Madison—that can’t come out.” He sank back against the wall and shut his eyes.
I felt kind of sorry for him. He was trying to help Madison. I loved that little girl like my own, and there wasn’t much I wouldn’t do for her either. But Trevor was going to find out. It was inevitable now.
“We have to get out of here.” Once more, I tucked my legs through my arms. I stood up, raised my hands above my head, then quickly brought them down, breaking the zip ties. I’d seen this trick on the internet, and it actually worked. I plucked another bobby pin from my hair, removed the plastic part, then went over to— “Hey, what’s your name?”
“Jeff,” he answered dejectedly.
“Well, turn around, Jeff. I’ll get the cuffs off you, and then we are getting out of here.” He looked at me doubtfully and stayed where he was.
“I’ll leave you here if I have to. But I was hoping to use you as a human shield. It’s the least you could do,” I grumbled.
He finally turned around. He looked surprised when I freed him from the handcuffs. Jerk. I didn’t have time for naysayers or sexists. I could pick a lock, I could throw a punch, and I was getting the hell out of here and back to my family, damnit.
I made myself keep feeling the rage. It made me focus instead of panic.
“Thanks,” he mumbled. Jeff reached out and jiggled the door handle. It was locked, of course.
I pulled another pin from my hair—I needed two pins for the door—and set about picking the lock. Luckily, it was just a regular inside knob lock, not a deadbolt or something thatrequired a pick set, or a hammer, or a battering ram, or a motherfreaking cannon.
I turned to Jeff with a smug smile after opening the door. “Lead the way,” I offered.
We crept out into the narrow hallway. It was quiet and getting darker by the minute. I hoped that Jeff could find his way out of here without light because we were losing it fast.
“I want to find my dad,” Jeff whispered.
“How about we get out of here and get help?” I countered. And what if his dad was hurt, or dead? I needed to get out of here. Dylan was probably beside himself. Remembering the look on his face before he ran for help broke my heart all over again. I cut that line of thought off, then decided to give it another direction instead—back to rage. They’d tried to take my son.
Focus. Anger gave me focus. I took a deep breath. Jeff took my hand and guided me forward.
“You’re probably right,” he whispered. “I need to get you out of here. I have no idea why they brought you.”
We crept down the dusty makeshift hallway. “Where are we?” I whispered.
“This is a warehouse in Portland. They were small-time, but they’ve been branching out all over the place, running drugs. Mostly meth. They had me and my dad delivering it. I mean, who’s going to pull a cop over?” He laughed bitterly.
“Okay, well, that sucks,” I said. I couldn’t find anything appropriately sympathetic to say to him. I was all out of caring thoughts for the moment. Right now I was running on adrenaline and rage with a small sprinkle of fear over the top to keep me alert.
We continued walking for a bit before he held his arm out to stop me. I froze at his back. I stood on my tiptoes to see over his shoulder. Jeff bumped into me as he took a step back.
“They’re right there, blocking the way out. Turn around.Hurry,” he hissed. I blinked at the dark when I turned around.I felt Jeff close to my back. He took my hand again and tugged me back the way we’d come.
“Is there another way out?” I whispered. There had to be. In my quick peek around the corner before turning around, I had seen a regular door, not a garage door or a sliding door or anything big enough for a car to drive through.
“Yes, there are dock doors. Let’s hurry.” He tugged on my hand and I hurried after him.
Chapter 33
Luke
Six hours.
She had been missing for six hours.
Someone had taken Lily, and I was terrified. My heart was with her. My chest felt empty. Dread coursed through my veins like ice water. I had let myself slip back into my old thought patterns. Years and years of training had taken over until I had only one objective. But the fear wouldn’t stop creeping into my thoughts and throwing me off. I was glad Liam was here to help me retain my focus.
“Any more intel?” I barked at Cade. He shook his head.
