AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"What if she got too close to the fucking cliff, Dominic?" I can sense Korren's agitation rising as well. The tension in the atmosphere is not doing well to satiate his protective instincts.
"Then we will cross that bridge if we come to it!" Brown huffs and swats at the air like she can shoo away our anxieties.
Fuck...Ry is right, though. What if she did get too close to the cliff? And fell. What if Kyle wasn't paying attention and ran them off the fucking cliff? There are so many damn possibilities running rampant in my head that I can barely fucking focus.
My job is to take care of my family, and we have all lost our shit so many times in the past six days that I've lost count. Scrubbing my hand through my buzz cut, I tip my head back and enjoy the evening breeze as it cools my dark skin.
"Let's get a move on before the sun sets, yeah?" I ask, hoping to get everyone back on track.
In his dark jeans and a dark T-shirt, Smith nods before marching over to one of the officers. While we wait to head out, I check in with my guys after ushering them to the SUV.
"Are you guys okay?" I murmur, not wanting anyone to overhear.
"Fine," Kor grumbles.
Damn, I wish Eve was here. She'd get a big kick out of his grunting.
"Really, Ko?" I raise a brow.
"I'm fine. We just need to get moving. I don't like the look of that forest and knowing that Eve is in there is making me jittery as fuck."
I nod because what can I say? I turn to Ryan, knowing that he definitely isn't okay.
He rolls his eyes and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I'm fine."Jesus."This is so fucked, though. I can't believe he would take her in there, not knowing if there was a way out. And there are fuckingcliffs, for fuck’s sake!"
Nolan runs his fingers across his forearm, causing Ry's muscles to loosen and his voice to soften away from the raised voice he was just spouting. "I'm okay; I just want her home," Ryan says so softly that I swear I can hear my heart break a little more.
Turning to Nol, I wait for his answer. "What he said." I nod because... well, me too. This sucks. And it's going to keep sucking until we find her. And it might suck after that.
Fuck.
"I stand by what I said. This place is fucking horrifying."
I'm inclined to agree with Ryan's disgust in the back seat. We have been on this damn road for about an hour now. To call it a road, though, would be a lie.
"Fuck." Korren grumbles next to me as we hit another damn crater. The ground is littered with gaping holes, probably leading to the pits of hell. Some thick enough that we would have damaged the car had we not missed them. Not to mention, bushes are growing in the damn center.
I hiss when Smith's car ahead of us basically flies off a hidden bump in the road. I've apologized to our SUV so many times since I started driving us through this shit show. I'm thankful our family car is big and tough enough for this off-road-fuckery. Smith's blacked-out undercover squad-looking car is taking a beating, though.
Nolan sighs from the seat behind me. Before he can contribute to our complaining, Smith's car comes to a stop ahead of us. My heart thunders in my chest as I throw the SUV into park. I tumble out the door, my body moving faster than my feet.
"What is it?" The sounds of the guys scrambling out behind me is background noise to the blood rushing through my ears.
Smith turns to me, tilting his head to indicate to come closer. We huddle around him, like puppies, just waiting for scraps of information. I look over at Ry, the dog joke bringing back memories of the day Eve came home to us.
"What the fuck!" I could kill him, and Korren is the violent brother. My kitchen is absolute carnage, and the man standing in it looks like a dog who rolled around in baking flour all day.
Ryan gives me a big smile, fucking golden retriever that rolled around in his own mess. "I'm making brownies for Evie so she can have a treat tonight!" He begins hopping around, and I can't help the little smirk that betrays my annoyance.
My chest constricts at the reminder of how hopeful and excited we were for her to move in with us. Ryan may have annoyed me that day, but reminiscing on how he radiated happiness, has my throat closing up with emotion.
Our smiles have been muted for almost a week, and our happiness snuffed out. Eve was a bright light in our life, and without her here, it's dark and dreary. Sure, we all enjoy the jokes and amusement here and there, but it's forced. The undertones are laced with desperation.
A need for companionship, comfort, recognition, and reassurance. The guys and I...we are splintered right now. We love each other and work together, but the suffocating layer of depression and failure hovers heavily.
"The tire tracks continue from here, but they veered off to the side." Brown gestures to the other side of our vehicles. "I assume he stopped to rest for a bit."
Smith and Brown move to do a bit more investigating to see what they can find. I hear Smith's hushed tone, speaking into the walkie-talkie about getting a team out here to comb through the evidence left behind.
