Page 136 of Freefall

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Unknown

She looks so pretty tied up. Doesn't she?

“What the fuck is that?”

Jace’s voice comes from directly behind me. I lock the screen and turn to face him. “Nothing.”

“Bullshit.” He reaches for my wrist, but I’m already halfway to my car. He catches up as I reach the car and grabs my shoulder. “Nate.”

I don’t have the heart to keep this from him. If it were Emory, I’d want to know. I unlock the phone, turning it so he can see the grainy image.

His face goes sheet white.

“What. The. Fuck?”

“Someone has her, Jace. I don’t⁠—”

He snatches the phone from me, his thumb moving rapidly across the screen. “Fuck. It’s from a burner.”

I don’t even have time to ask how he knows that before he yanks open the passenger door so hard it nearly rips off the hinges, then slams it shut. I get in the driver’s side.

“Start driving out of town,” he says, pulling out his phone and tapping the screen. “Connor.”

He rattles off a string of jargon into the receiver before snapping. “No, I’m not fucking high, man. It's my sister.”

I glance over at him, my grip tight on the wheel.

“Emergency response is on standby,” he says, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “We need to trace the call.”

The moment he says the words, the haze finally clears, and my brain starts working. I dial Seb’s number. It connects to the Bluetooth, and he answers on the third ring.

“You finally remembered I exist.”

“My girlfriend's been kidnapped.”

A beat of silence, then his voice changes. “What do you have?”

“Just a text from an unknown number and a photo.”

“Forward me everything.”

I hand the phone to Jace, who sends Sebastian screenshots of the text and photo, along with the phone number.

“Got it. Gimme a sec.”

“Fucking hurry.”

He sighs. “Nate. You got to let me work. I’ll call you back.”

Jace drags his hands through his blonde hair, tugging at the ends. Jesus, why did I let him come with me? He’s one week sober. This is the last thing he needs to be doing.

Shaking the thought away, I make it to the highway entrance and take the northbound ramp. Harper’s mom said they were up north.

We’ve just merged when Seb calls back.

“The number’s prepaid,” he says. “Purchased with cash.”