No. I stop that last thought before it develops. Don't go there.
I make a quick U-turn in the road, pulling up behind it the entire time, my heart racing. My eyes search for Cat. "I don't see her." My hands get clammy, and the pounding of my heart increases. I rush from my vehicle and fling open the driver's door of Cat's truck. Her purse is on the seat, and the keys are hanging in the ignition.
I should have gone looking for her sooner.
The passenger door flings open, and Arthur shines his flashlight inside the cab. There, on the floorboard, under the gas pedal, lays an envelope.
"What's that?" Arthur asks as I open the flap and pull out the piece of paper.
I FOUND YOU.
She has brainwashed you into believing you love her. It's not true.
YOU LOVE ME.
They are conspiring against us.
SHE WILL PAY.
I will prove my love.
YOU WILL LOVE ME.
The air is sucked from my lungs, and I can't breathe. This can't be happening.
"Easton." Arthur's voice waivers as I go to pass him the letter. "Look." He motions the beam from the flashlight moving across and up the leather seat. There on the headrest is a small amount of blood. The blood in my veins runs cold.Please, fuck no. I swallow the lump in my throat and hand him the letter. I can't even look at him while he reads. I can't bear it. This is all my fault. I should have never come here, bringing my trouble with me.
Bright beams of light shine from behind us, and I shield my eyes to make out who it could be. The truck pulls up alongside Cat's truck, and the window lowers, revealing Lev's face. The look he gives me causes the muscles in my body to lock up. I know whatever he has to say is nothing I want to hear. My feet feel as though they're welded to the asphalt beneath my feet. Arthur is quickly at my side. "Please tell me you know where Cat is." By the way, Lev's face falls; he has no clue.
"I was just on my way out to the ranch. I have no idea where Cat is," he says.
"A low-life piece of trash has my granddaughter." Arthur shoves the letter at Lev.
Lev's eyes scan the short letter. "Shit." He pauses for a second too long.
"Son, you'd better spit out whatever you came out here to say," Arthur demands, his voice strong with worry.
"We have reason to believe the person behind the letter, and the break-in at your apartment was Mallory Vargas," Lev states.
"My publicist Mallory?" I'm in disbelief. Yet, the more I give it thought the more it starts to make sense. Why couldn't I see it before? Her persistence for us to get together, trying to push a narrative that I'm more important than my bandmates, the way she acted in the elevator that day towards Cat.
"Easton," Lev says, and I look at him. "I put a call into a tech guy we work with from time to time and were able to obtain her cell phone information and track down her location." Lev looks between me and Arthur. "Mallory is here."
It feels like my heart is ripped from my chest. "Where?"
"Somewhere near Miller Road."
"The old Fulton home," Arthur says. "It's hard to find unless you know what you're looking for. I'll show you the way."
"Get in," Lev tells us both, and Cat's grandfather climbs into Lev's truck, but I decide on taking my own.
"I'm right behind you."
14
CAT
I wake up with a pounding in my head and try prying my eyes open, but they feel heavy. I'm suddenly assaulted with the overwhelming need to vomit and double over. I take deep breaths in, trying to let the feeling pass before getting the urge under control.
