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“On it. I’ll call you if I find him. Where’s Frankie?”
“I don’t know. I’ll find her. You find Matt. And Kain… thank you.”
“I’ll be in touch soon,” he replied before hanging up.
We searched desperately for a couple of hours, screaming their names, but there was no sign of either of them. The river had slowed, although it was still high and fast moving. We agreed that Emmy, Mav, and Addi would walk back the way we’d come to make sure we’d not missed anything, while Gray and I would keep following the flow of the water. I pulled my wife-to-be to my lips.
“Be careful, Angel, please.”
“I promise, rock star. Now find Matt. I shouldn’t be telling you this but him and Frankie. They got engaged. She won’t cope if she loses him."
“Engaged? What the hell?”
“Take a breath, Tan. She loves him. She’s always loved him. Now be the best big brother and bring him back to her.”
I ran my fingers through my hair, trying to tame that side of me that just wanted to protect Frankie. The same side that beat Jimmy into a coma for hurting her. “Okay. Call me if you find her.”
We searched for another two or three hours when my phone rang.
“Emmy?”
“Tanner, I think we’ve found Frankie. She’s on the other side of the river. Tan, she’s not moving. Mav's trying to get to her. I need you to come back. She needs you. I need you.” I hated how scared she sounded.
“Gray and I are coming. Ping me exactly where you are.”
It took us an hour to get back, and we ran the entire way. Despite hating water and not being able to swim, Maverick had waded across the river and was on the other side, shouting words we couldn’t hear. I couldn’t just stand back, so I waded in after him.
“Tanner, what the hell are you doing?”
“I’ll be right back, Angel. I can’t let her die. I have to help her.”
“Be careful, or I will kill you.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the logic of my beautiful fiancée. Climbing out of the river on the other side, I could clearly see the panic on Mav’s face as he pressed his hand to her belly.
“How bad is it?” I asked, terrified to hear the answer, but Mav didn’t speak. Instead, he shifted his hands and lifted her hoodie and the t-shirt she’d tied around herself to wrap the wound and stem the bleeding.
“God, Frankie. What have you done to yourself? She told me it had stopped bleeding. Fuck,” I cried out.
“Frankie, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes, sis?” Mav spoke to her, shaking her lifeless body.
Nothing.
Pulling out my phone I’d put in my top pocket as I’d crossed the river, I called the emergency services and asked for an air ambulance, explaining what had happened.
“Come on Frankie, this is too much. You can have all the attention you want if you just hang on for us,” Mav declared, trying to laugh off his fear. “Please, Frankie,” he whispered as if I couldn’t hear.
I didn’t know how long it was before the air ambulance landed and they scooped Frankie up. Mav went with her, and I messaged Emmy asking her and Addi to meet her at the hospital with her security detail to keep her safe until we could find Matt, although I was terrified we wouldn’t find him or we’d find him but he wouldn’t be alive.
We searched until the night closed in and it wasn’t safe out there anymore. Kain came back to the hotel with us, and we planned out our route for tomorrow. My heart broke for Frankie and what she might have lost, and I worried for my friend who’d been with us for such a long time I couldn’t imagine life in the band without him.
My phone rang with Emmy’s number, and I answered it on the first ring.
“Angel?”
“Tan. Did you find him?” Frankie sobbed down the line.
“No, little sis. Not yet. But he’s strong.”
