Page 244 of Only Be Mine

Curated.

But I could feel it now, the pressure changing inside it, like a storm rolling in behind glass.

And in my lap, my hands shook so badly I had to clasp them together to keep them from flying apart.

Because somewhere in that house, Trevor had stopped waiting.

And started planning.

Chapter 81

Cate

Present

The cruiser hadn’t moved yet.

The engine was running, a low vibration beneath my feet, but Marshal was still in the yard, speaking urgently into his radio while another officer moved toward the side of the house.

Seth stood near the sidewalk now, no longer pretending to be calm. His hands were on his hips, his eyes scanning the property like he expected something to explode.

The house looked ordinary, which somehow felt worse.

My pulse thudded in my ears.

A voice crackled over the radio from the front seat. “Unit Two to Marshal. Back door just opened. Repeat - back door just opened.”

Marshal turned sharply toward the side of the house. “Visual?” he demanded.

A pause.

“Negative. He’s out of sight.”

My lungs forgot how to work.

The officer driving my cruiser glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “We’re moving,” he said, and shifted the car into gear.

The cruiser rolled forward slowly.

Too slowly.

“Wait,” I breathed, pressing forward in my seat.

I didn’t know what I was waiting for - a glimpse of Trevor running, maybe. A flash of him surrendering. Something decisive.

Instead…

Headlights burst from the driveway.

Fast.

The cruiser jerked as the officer slammed on the brakes.

Trevor’s Audi shot out of the garage like it had been fired from a weapon, tires screaming against pavement. He spun the wheel hard, straightened out, and gunned it down the street.

Marshal’s voice exploded through the radio. “Pursuit! Pursuit! Suspect fleeing in a black Audi, heading east on Hawthorne!”

The cruiser lunged after him and my body snapped back against the seat.