“I emailed Caden’s older brother, Blake, a few times, but he’s never responded. This isn’t a coincidence. Which car is his?”
A race to the vehicles showed Blake’s Jeep with the others, so he hadn’t taken her far. He wanted Seth to know he had her. He wanted Seth to suffer.
Where the hell would he take her? Had he told her a story to make her go with him willingly?
No. Mara wouldn’t have gone with the man she called Stone Face.
Had she headed to check for more eggs? To play with the hens?
Gray nudged him again. “Ford is leading a team with the ATVs to search the property. Thea is bringing our weapons here. What are you thinking?”
Seth nodded at Kadek. “Can you and your guys search the inn, top to bottom, with Amber and Boomer? Then the farmhouse, too.” He had to check there to see if he was wrong.
They nodded, and Gray narrowed his eyes at Seth. “You don’t think she’s in either of those places. Where?”
“Chick Inn Time.”
Gray’s eyes widened, and he nodded. “Isolated but accessible. He wouldn’t have to carry her far.”
Seth nodded. “Bring my weapon with you.”
And then he ran, leaving his friend behind. With the rage simmering through him, he wouldn’t need a weapon, but he’d be happy to have Gray and the others at his back.
For now, he needed to get to Mara. Get to Blake before he did something he couldn’t come back from.
While he ran, he pulled up every scrap of memory of what Caden had told him about his brother. Blake hadn’t been a troublemaker. He was a good man who’d been heartbroken about the health issues that kept him from serving.
Hell, the man probably knew Caden had joined up because he wanted to live out his brother’s dream for him. And then the kid had died.
Now that sorrow, that guilt had twisted him up and made him blame Seth, which wasn’t anything Seth hadn’t done himself.
But to put an innocent woman at risk meant the guy had crossed a line.
How far would he go to make Seth pay?
Chapter 22
Lead Us Out Of The Night
Mara didn’t know whether to freeze or try to fight. Her hands and feet were almost useless. Between the tight bonds and the efforts she’d put into standing, she could barely breathe slowly enough to keep herself from vomiting.
Would he help her if she did? Or would he enjoy watching her suffocate and die?
It sounded like he wanted Seth to watch. Wanted him to suffer while Mara died.
She couldn’t let that happen. Seth already carried guilt that wasn’t his; she couldn’t be part of adding more to his conscience.
Mara twisted and tried to strike out at the man with her feet. Even if she couldn’t get away, maybe she could hurt him. Make him scream and give away their location.
Where were they?
The man laughed at her kick. “Not even close, bitch. Now hold still, or I’ll knock you out again.”
Knock her out. How had he done it?
She didn’t feel the symptoms she should have with a concussion. Had he injected her with something? She couldn’t feel the injection site, but that could easily be the panic racing through her brain.
The light in her face clicked off, leaving her blinking rapidly to see beyond the flashes of afterimages.
