Page 53 of What They Say

She’d made it home.

And then she’d disappeared.

The realization hit him like a freight train.

Taken.

Just like his mother had been taken what felt like a hundred years ago, but was only two. Carrie—dragged away in the night, used as leverage, and eventually murdered by her own blood. The same nightmare playing out again, only this time it was Kath.

Chase’s hands started to shake. The room tilted. For a moment, he was sixteen again, hearing the news about his mom, the cold finality of it, the way the world had gone silent and sharp all at once.

He forced himself to breathe. Forced the panic down.

Not now. Not when Kath needs me.

He stepped back outside into the cool night air, phone already in his hand, and dialed the only person he knew who could handle this.

Mason answered on the second ring.

“Dad,” Chase said, voice raw. “It’s Kath. She’s gone. Her bike is here. Her phone is here. But she’s not. I think...I think someone took her. Probably yesterday.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end. Then Mason’s voice came through, cold and deadly calm—the president voice.

“Stay where you are. Send Myron a pin for your location, and know I’m sending Bear and two others right now. Don’t touch anything. We’re coming.”

Chase leaned against the side of the truck, staring at Kath’s dark house, the bike still parked where she always left it.

He’d tried so hard to keep her safe by staying away.

And it hadn’t been enough.

Now the only thing left to do was pray they could get her back before the same ghosts that had taken his mother took her too.

***

Kath

Kath woke up to pain.

A sharp, throbbing ache pulsed at the back of her skull, so intense it made her eyes water before she even opened them. She tried to lift her head and immediately regretted it—nausea rolled through her stomach. She stayed very still, breathing through her mouth, trying to piece together what the hell had happened.

The last thing she remembered was stepping into the living room...where there’d been two strangers...the taller man turning towards her with a cold smile...

She cracked her eyes open. Dim light. Concrete floor. She was lying on a thin mattress in what looked like a basement or storage unit. Her hands weren’t tied, but her head felt like it had been split open.

They hit me.

One of them must have clocked her with the butt of a gun. Hard. She’d felt like she’d been out for hours. Based on the light coming through the small, grimy window, it was at least the next afternoon. Maybe afternoon had already turned to early evening.

Low voices drifted from the other side of a half-closed door.

“...should’ve waited. Mason’s gonna lose his shit when he finds out we grabbed the girl...”

“...worth it. Saw her leaving Bear’s garage on one of their custom bikes. Figured she had to be someone’s old lady. Or at least important enough to make them bleed a little...”

Kath stayed perfectly still, barely breathing, straining to catch every word. Most of it didn’t make sense—names she didn’t recognize, old grudges about territory and “the old days,” someone muttering about how the Diamante MC used to run smooth until “that bastard stuck his nose in.”

Diamante. She’d heard that name before in passing from some of her mother’s men but never paid much attention. Now it sent ice down her spine.