He straightens up and scratches his head. “Like…in the garbage can?”
Aiden hurls his glass, shattering against the wall. Whiskey explodes over Lan’s head. We whip our heads toward him. Lan’s full body shakes.
“Fucker. Your sister is lostand highbecauseyoudosed her with some X. Help us find her.”
As if Aiden just said the funniest joke ever, he keels over laughing. “Scout wouldneverdo drugs. Ever. And I’m sober, too.”
Aiden meets my gaze, then waves me toward his office.
“Valen would be better at this,” I grunt.
Without looking at me, Aiden nods and sits in front of his monitors. “Then tell him to hack in. Let’s go.”
I pause. “You’re serious? You’re okay with Valen plugging in?—”
“It’s not like it’d be the first time.” His icy-blue stare nearly cuts through me with an accusation. “So have him take over. Find her.”
Lan rips his hands through his hair and paces up and down the back of the room. Muttering and moaning to himself.
Pulling out my phone, I find Valen’s number. He picks up on the first ring. After I explain the situation, he simply says, “I’ll handle it. Give me fifteen, and I’ll be there.”
Aiden sits back and pulls his appointed into his lap.
I tap the desk a few times, and he eyes me carefully.
“Why are you doing this? Because it’s not just that fucker’s sister.” I shove a thumb in Lan’s direction. “So what is it?”
He smirks as if I called him out, then shrugs. “You helped me.” His eyes never leave mine as he presses a kiss to Ashlyn’s temple. Serious and steady, he tells me, “And I’ll never forget it.”
I remember that night a couple of months ago. The frantic look on his face. The same that’s probably on mine now.
Despite flicking through every camera feed in the manor, we can’t find Scout. Each image makes my pulse skyrocket. I’ve never felt so fucking helpless.
And it only gets worse when Valen arrives. He slides into Aiden’s seat as Aiden and Ashlyn perch on the sofa. Lan’s now sitting on the floor, rocking slowly while hugging his knees.
“Here she was…” Valen says, tapping the screen with a gloved finger.
I almost shove him aside to get a better view. “The kitchen? What was—Oh, shit.”
Stomach hardening and bile rising to the back of my throat, I watch in horror.
My wife bends to pick up lollipops from the ground. Plucking them one by one. Unaware of the shadowy figure lingering just behind her.
Valen takes a deep breath as Aiden nods slowly.
“GNU,” Aiden announces.
“Grayson Noel Umbridge,” Valen says at the same time.
“Where did he take her?” I demand to know, and Valen flicks through the previous images carefully.
“About ten minutes later? He took her here.”
He’s already got her.
Her body slack. Head lolling.
Dragged through the woods.
