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“Makenna,” Kristy said, voice ultra-serious. She grabbed Mak’s arms.
Instantly, the back of her neck began to tingle. “What? What is it? Is it Crank?”
Shaking her head, Kristy said, “There were two men here looking for you. At least I think it was you. They were looking for someone named Delilah with a bunch of kids.”
Mak stumbled backward as her entire world went up in flames. “Oh, my God. I have to go. We have to leave.” She turned and rushed to her bedroom. This was going to kill the kids, but it had to happen.
“Lee,” she said out loud, then muttered, “I have to call him.” She started searching her room, tossing blankets and pillows off the bed in a frantic rush. “Where the hell is my phone?”
From behind her, Kristy said, “Hey, take a breath, Mak. You’re gonna freak out the kids.”
“Oh, I gotta get Kara too.” She grabbed a handful of her hair. “I think I’m having a panic attack.”
Kristy’s hands landed on her shoulders. “Breathe in slowly.”
Doing as asked, Mak inhaled. The air stuttered as it filled her lungs.
“Now out, very slowly.”
She tried, really did try, but it came out more as a choppy forceful expression of air. “You’re safe for now. There’s a prospect outside. The men that were here said they knew you’d hooked up with a motorcycle club. They knocked on my door when you weren’t home asking about the club. I gave them false information to throw them off track. They won’t be back here for a while.”
“Okay.” She wrapped her hands around Kristy’s forearms as her mind whirled with all that had to happen in order to leave. “Okay, that’s good. Thank you, Kristy. You should go. You don’t want to be involved in my mess.”
With a snort, Kristy shook her head. “Honey, have you met me? I live for drama. Now, what can I do to help?”
“Uh…” She raked a hand through her hair.
Get it together, Mak. Think.
“Help me look for my phone while I grab our go-bags.”
Kristy raised an eyebrow, which couldn’t have felt good considering how bruised her eye was. “Go-bags? You knew this day would come.”
“Yes, I did.” She turned and dropped to her knees in front of her open closet. “Those men were my husband and father. We escaped from them years ago and have been running ever since,” she called over her shoulder as she dove through the shoes and fallen clothes to find the backpacks stashed deep in the closet.
“Shit,” Kristy said. “That’s a story we should have talked about earlier.’
“I’ve never told anyone,” Mak said. She yanked out two of the bags and tossed them over her shoulder before grabbing a third.”
“Not even Thunder?”
God, she’d broken his heart, and now she was going to vanish from his life forever. Never again would she get to see that sexy smile, or hear his laughter, or hold his hand, or be touched by him. The despair threatened to crush her. She had no choice but to compartmentalize it away into a little box. Later, when she and the kids were safe, she could open it and free the pain.
“I’ll take your silence to mean you did tell him. You know, you don’t have to run. You could go to the Handlers.”
“No, I can’t,” she muttered before grabbing the final bag and standing. “Thunder and I broke up.”
Kristy snorted. “I don’t see your phone. Could it be in a different room?”
“Shit, I don’t know. Maybe. My thoughts are a mess right now. I’ll find it. You should go.”
The sound of her front door slamming open had both women freezing and Mak’s heart stopping dead in her chest.
“What was that?” Amy shouted from her room a second before a male voice shouted, “Makenna!” in an urgent tone.
She met Kristy’s gaze. “That’s Tex.” Rushing out of the room, she yelled back, “It’s fine, Amy, just Tex.”
“Makenna!”
“Tex?” She almost collided with him in the hallway between her room and the door. “What’s wrong?”
He gripped her upper arms. “Christ woman, why aren’t you answering your fucking phone?”
Oh, God, her father and husband found the clubhouse. Kristy’s diversion didn’t work. “Is everyone—”
“Kara is in the hospital. She had a seizure at the party.”
“What?” Mak whispered as her knees buckled.
Tex’s grip on her arms tightened, keeping her from collapsing. “They’ve been trying to reach you for an hour,” he said, gentling his voice. “Finally, they got a hold of Lee. Thunder drove him to the hospital and called me.”
Everything fled her mind but the burning need to be with her little sister. “Why?” she whispered. “It’s been so long.” Then she inhaled a sharp breath. “I have to get to the hospital.”
“I’ll drive you,” Tex said, already turning for the door.
She scrambled to grab his arm, halting his progress. “No! The kids, you need to stay with the other kids.” Her father could come back at any time.
