He worked like hell to keep his shit together. To fight his rising panic. Butfuck!
“We’ll get to her, Eric. We’re almost there.”
“The son of a bitch took her to my apartment, D.”
“I know.”
“If she’s still alive—”
“She is.”
“If she makes it out of this, she’ll never...” His voice broke, the painful knot in his throat cutting through his words. “She’s going to look at me and think...”
Eric had to bite his bottom lip to keep his chin from trembling.
“One, Riley’s gonna make it out of this. Two”—Derek took another sharp turn—“I thought the same damn thing with Charlie. Her ex went after her because of me. He damn nearkilledher because he didn’t want her to be with me.”
“How did you ever get past it?”
“I finally realized the bastard would’ve killed her eventually, whether I was in the picture or not.”
“This isn’t the same.” Eric looked at him. “Hayes picked my apartment for a reason.”
He suspected to make whatever Riley was going through that much harder.
“Hayes is a sadistic fuck who gets off by abducting women, abusing them, and then rendering them defenseless before he kills them.”
Eric flinched at his brother’s description of the man who’d taken the woman he loved. But as they pulled up to the curb in front of his building, he began to feed off his fear. Turn it into a deadly, molten rage.
And it was dangerously close to bursting through the surface.
With their guns in their hands and fury in their hearts, he and Derek exited their vehicle. Tires squealed as the others joined them, but Eric was already running toward the front entrance.
“Goddamn it, Eric,” Derek hollered after him. “Wait up!”
“There’s no time!”
Riley didn’thavetime.
He flung the main door open and ran inside. Bypassing the elevator, he went for the stairs. His apartment was three floors up, but he refused to slow down.
Taking the stairs two at a time, Eric pushed his body to its limits. His leg muscles burned, and his head felt like it was splitting open—again. But still, he kept on.
Hang on, baby. I’m almost there.
The picture he’d received kept forming in his mind. Riley’s mutilated back. Her still form. Part of him wished Hayes had sent a video, because at least he’d know whether or not she was alive when the picture was taken.
She’s alive. She’s. Alive.
It became Eric’s mantra with every step he took. For him, there was no other option.
Shoving the door to his floor open, he sprinted down the hallway toward his apartment. It was on the end, the last one on the left.
One of his neighbors started to leave, but he put a finger to his lips and motioned her back inside. The older women’s eyes grew wide, but she knew he was a cop and quickly followed his instructions.
Eric reached his door, his heart clawing at his chest as if it were trying to tear its way out.
He didn’t wait for his team or make any sort of trained signals to the others running toward him from the end of the hall. He didn’t follow training or worry about protocol.
