Panic blends with desperation, making my voice quaver. “Then ask him to stop her and bring her back up here. I don’t care how he does it, but wecannotlet her leave. I’m telling you, she isn’t safe on her own. She knows just as much as I do. Silas kidnapped her before. That’s how this whole thing started.”
I turn away, bending at the waist and struggling for air. Determined to save Kenzie, I straighten and finish my plea. “She should have been protected all along. But Reed and I were so pissed at her, we kept putting it off so we didn’t have to face what she did to us.Please, help her. We can’t let her get taken again.”
Kri drags her hand through her hair, then pulls out her phone. “I’ll see if Aaron can stop her before she gets out of the building.”
My exhale comes in a whoosh. “Thank you.”
“Hey, Kenzie’s leaving the building. You need to stop—” Her words cut off, and her expression waxes over. “What do you mean? By who?”
She listens for a beat, then averts her eyes from my prying gaze. “Did you get a license plate number?”
My fingernails dig into my palms as I wait for an explanation.
“No, don’t do that. Call Tomer or Mia to see if they can track the vehicle on traffic cams and follow her that way. You’re needed here now more than ever.”
Oh no, no, no.
She disconnects the call, cocking her ear toward Reed’s bedroom, where my phone is blaring with another incoming call. Kri grabs me by the wrist, tugging me down the hall in a rush.She finds my phone on the bed and grabs it before I register what’s happening.
“It’s Reed,” she announces as she puts it to her ear. “We have a problem.”
All my worst fears surge to life with her next words. “A few minutes ago, your sister stormed out of the building after having it out with Lila. Two men in masks jumped out of a red sedan before she cleared the block. They pounced on her, shoved her into the car, and sped off.”
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
Kenzie’s been taken.
Again.
Because of me.
FIFTY-THREE
Carnage
REED
Fuck,fuck, fuck.
Why did Andrews speak those accursed words into existence this morning? Rationally, I know this day was bound to be fucked either way, but at least he could’ve knocked on wood.
With lights flashing and sirens blaring, I race from Cocoa to Tampa, pushing my partner’s Dodge Charger to its limits.
Andrews stayed with McBride and Hemsley to continue the murder investigation. There is a shit ton of work to do on the East Coast if we’re gonna stop more people from the same grim fate as Emma and Sophie.
It sucks to leave my peers high and dry, but to their credit, they didn’t try to stop me. They know where I’m needed. They’d do the same if the tables were turned.
I won’t feel bad for bolting to Tampa to ensure Lila’s safety and do everything in my power to save my sister.
As it is, I’ll be buried in guilt for a long ass time for not getting Kenzie better protection. Having Agent Carson monitor her phone and vehicle’s location and sending a PD patrol car by her apartment a few times a day was clearlynotenough. In away, I’ve proved myself to be the weak link in the family. This is on me.
After I save her, I’ll do some soul searching to see if I left her hanging intentionally. Was it jealousy or anger driving myinaction? Am I that much of a bitter fucking asshole?
No. That can’t be it. I know I fucked up here. But it wasn’t malicious.
Despite the suffering she’s caused Lila and me, I would never want Kenzie harmed.
I’m not a fucking monster.
