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HIM
“Here. He wants to talk to you.” Mark shoved the phone in my face, and I scowled as I grabbed it from him.
I’d been stuck in this house for the last four days. Mark and two other members of the group had been here the entire time, taking turns watching me. There was always at least one of them awake at all times. They’d been making me sleep on the couch, where it was easier to keep an eye on me.
Putting the phone to my ear, I walked into the kitchen to get as much privacy as I could in this fucking house.
“What?” I grated out, not giving a shit who it was.
“I thought you’d want to know,” Alex’s smug voice came through the phone, “we found her.”
My heart stopped. “Where?”
“We found her yesterday.” Alex ignored my question. “She made it easy.”
The front door slammed, and I spun around to see two guys rushing out. Mark stayed near the door with his glare pointed at me. He was holding the gun in his hand as if waiting for me to try something.
“You’re doing a ceremony,” I muttered. That would be the only reason they’d leave me here with only one person. They needed a minimum amount of people for a ceremony.
“Yes,” he answered coldly. “After tonight, she won’t be a problem anymore.”
“Alex, you’re rushing this. These need to be planned and you know it. Have you even thought of the story of her disappearance? It usually takes months to plan all that.” I was trying anything to get them to wait and give me a chance to get to her.
“We changed our minds. And even if you somehow get out of the house, you won’t find us. We aren’t at the other house in Wisconsin. We got another house. You’ve been out of the loop for so long you don’t even know where it’s at.”
I froze. If they weren’t at the house in Wisconsin, I had no idea where they were.
“She’s been a loose end for too long. We’ll figure it out. The elders already agreed,” Alex continued. “And they have a plan for you too. You broke Mom’s heart, you know. Now, she has to say goodbye to another son.”
“You’re going to be fucked if you can’t explain her disappearance,” I pressed, trying to change his mind. “You’ll be a suspect. You know that.”
“That’s group business. Something that doesn’t concern you anymore. See you later, Niko.”
Alex hung up, and I gripped the phone, keeping it to my ear. My gaze went to Mark, who was still watching me intently. I’d been thinking of what I could do to get out of here, and I needed his phone to do it.
Turning around, I lowered the phone and went to the settings.
“Hey,” Mark growled. “Give me the phone back.”
Ignoring him, I scrolled down and changed the lock screen time to five minutes. I needed to be able to get into his phone.
“If you don’t want a bullet in your back, you better turn the fuck around,” Mark warned.
Reaching for the cabinet above me, I spun around to face him. Grabbing the tequila bottle, I set the phone on the counter.
“Want a drink?” I asked casually. “I know I could use one.”
“Give me the phone.”
“Can’t do that,” I muttered, whipping the bottle at his face. “I need it.”
Mark ducked away as the bottle went flying at him. I lunged, going straight for the gun in his hand. He blindly pulled the trigger and the shot went wide. I got my hand around the gun as he punched me with his other fist. Kneeing him in the gut, I pushed him back against the wall, trying to pry the weapon from his grip.
We fought for control, and I shoved my elbow into his throat. He choked out breaths as his hold went slack. Ripping the gun away from him, I rammed it into the side of his head. His eyes rolled as he slumped to the floor.
Sticking the gun in the back of my jeans, I went back to the phone and made sure it hadn’t locked. Leaving it on the counter, I raced to my room and grabbed a couple of belts. I didn’t want to kill Mark. There wasn’t time to figure out a way to cover his death up. I quickly secured his hands behind his back and then wrapped the other belt around his ankles. Once I was confident he wasn’t going anywhere, I grabbed the phone again.
Deciding to search his phone before using my last option, I went through the texts and everything else. I grumbled under my breath, finding nothing. The phone had been wiped. Most likely to stop me from doing this if I got a hold of it.
Opening the web browser again, I typed in what I was looking for. I couldn’t just call her. Her number was in my phone that I had destroyed. But I remembered where she worked. I could call her office and get a hold of her that way. And hope to everything she didn’t hang up on me. I found the number I was looking for and pressed the call button.
“Yeah, can I please talk to Kiara Jones?” I asked as my heart thudded.
“One moment, I’ll transfer you.”
I paced the house as elevator music hummed in my ear. Less than a minute later, a brisk female voice came on the phone.
“This is Detective Jones.”
I took a deep breath. “Ms. Jones, I need your help.”
“Who’s this?”
“I’m…a friend of Sage Taylor.”
There was silence for a few moments.
“A friend?” she asked icily.
“Yes. Look, she’s in trouble—”
“What’s your name?”
“That’s not important right now. What’s important is I need help.”
“If you’re really a friend, then tell me your name.”
I debated lying for half a second. “Niko.”
“Niko?” The shock in her voice told me immediately that Sage had told her about me.
“Yes.”
More silence.
I grew annoyed. There wasn’t time for this.
“Listen, they got her. And she’ll be gone by tonight. But I can help. I just need to know if you know anything about where she went. What area was she in?”
“You’re a part of it. Of them,” Kiara said, her voice shaking.
“Obviously, Sage told you who I am. Did she tell you that I’ve been helping her for months? I found her and didn’t tell anyone. I’ve been hiding her secrets since they found her.” I tried keeping calm, but there wasn’t time to argue.
She paused. “Yes, she did tell me that you helped. But you were part of her sister’s death.”
“Listen, I know what you do for a living. But I’m telling you, Sage is in trouble. I can get to her if you have a way to help me,” I snapped, not admitting to anything.
“If they took her, then why don’t you know where she is? You’re with them.”
“Because they have an idea that I helped her run. They cut me from everything.”
“I don’t know if I can trust you,” she said coldly.
“Trust me? Do you really think that I would call someone who knows everything about us—who works for the police—if you weren’t my one and only option? Why in the hell would I try to contact you for anything—except to help her?”
“I have to go. I’ll call you back.”
“Wait, what? No—”
Kiara hung up. I fought the urge to throw the phone across the room. I had to hold out hope that maybe she would call back. I stared at the empty driveway, thinking about my next fucking problem. I needed a car. Wherever they’d taken her, it wouldn’t be around here. The houses were always far from cities. I’d most likely have to drive for hours.
It was still early morning. They had to wait for the moon to be full to do the ceremony. I’d have time to get to her if I found out where the house was. Looking at the phone again, I took a deep breath before making another call.
