Page 68 of Grant’s Heat

“Grant? Grant? Are you there? Is that you?” Rio sounded childlike and terrified.

“Blaze.” I breathed her name more than spoke it. “Baby, I’m right here. Where are you?”

“Grant? Where are you?” She repeated my words in lieu of an actual response.

“Baby, I’m going to come to you, but you have to tell me where you are.”

“Abbi is so mean. She was so mean to me today. And then these people came to my house, and they made me hold still and stuck my arm with something that made my head so heavy.” She stopped talking abruptly, and I pulled the phone away to look at the display, making sure I hadn’t dropped the call. “I’m so tired,” she finally said.

I called Elijah from the phone on my desk. I made sure she was still on the line on my cell every couple of seconds.

“Dude, I need your help. Can you track Rio’s cell phone right now?”

“Yeah, probably. What’s going on?”

“I’ll tell you the whole story when you pick me up out front of SE. Are you nearby?”

“I’m in the building.” He chuckled. “You okay, man? You sound like you’re losing your shit.”

“Text me when you have a bead on her. I’ll keep her on the line as long as I can, and then I’ll meet you out front.”

“You got it, brother. See you in a few.”

“You still there, Blaze? Did you have lunch yet? Maybe I can pick you up?”

“I can’t leave here. I’m trapped, Grant. I’m in prison. Abbi put me in prison. She knows I’m crazy, and she told them too.”

“What did I tell you about saying that? Hmm?” I made sure my voice was gentle, almost playful when reminding her I didn’t want to hear her use those self-deprecating words. “There’s nothing wrong with needing some help now and then. But you don’t have to be locked up for us to do that. Abbi doesn’t know what you need. I’m sure she meant well, but she just doesn’t know.”

“Grant?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“Can you hold me?” Her normally strong voice cracked before turning to a whisper. “I don’t like it here.”

“I’m going to fix it. I promise. I’m coming for you, and I’ll fix everything. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“Why don’t you take a nap until I get there? Elijah’s getting his car from the parking structure, and we’ll be there in just a little while. You rest. Don’t go anywhere with anyone else though, okay?”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Just stay where you are until I get there.” The last thing I wanted was for her to get spooked and try to make a break for it. They would either end up sedating her or transferring her to a facility with tighter lockdown capabilities. My guess was wherever she was currently must not be too strict if she was already making phone calls.

“You’re such a tree. You know that?”

“You keep telling me that, so yeah.”

She got quiet again, and this time when she spoke, her tone was wistful. “I’m like the owl from the other night. I keep calling out, over and over again. But my mate doesn’t answer back anymore.” The silent pause was even longer this time, and then finally she said, “I don’t know how to move on, Grant.” Her voice broke when she said my name, and it felt like maybe my heart had as well.

I was lost on how to respond. More than anything, I wanted to promise Rio that I’d be the one to answer when she called now. I’d be the man who would come when she needed help. She could grieve the loss of her husband and move on with a happy, productive life. She deserved that and had taken so many steps in the right direction to ensure that outcome.

My phone vibrated with an incoming text, so I pulled it away from my ear and took a quick look to see that Elijah had captured her location with some proprietary software he used directly from his own phone.

“Blaze?”

“Hmm?” she answered wearily.