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Hustling forward and finally turning that goddamn corner, my eyes immediately zero in on the black Camry we have learned to associate with Kyle. Any blood left in my face from this trek, completely drains, leaving me lightheaded and stock still.
This is it. We finally caught up. But where's Eve?
My inner monologue has me snapping out of my stupor; my hearing no longer drowned out by a high pitch ringing. Snapping my head around furiously, I try to spot where she might be.
Except...she is nowhere to be found in this small clearing. What I do find has me moving, and before I know it, I'm standing over a crouched Brown.
I barely notice Smith walking the perimeter, nor do I pay attention to the feel of my family standing at my back. Each staring down at the drag marks from the car, the scattered blood in the sand, and the broken zip ties.
"She was dragged from the car to this root." She points to the wood sticking out of the ground. "It seems she might have laid here for a bit; there's a larger accumulation of blood here then the drag marks."
With that, Nolan swears and bolts away from this morbid scene. The sound of his retching has my own nausea climbing up my throat. Murmurs of Ryan behind us soothing our brother allows me to focus back on whatever the fuck this is.
"What else?" I croak out.
Brown stands and indicates to the opposite direction of the car. "I think she snapped her ties and managed to take off that way. Eve's tracks are alone and staggered, whereas there's a larger set off that way." She gestures to Smith a few meters away doing his own investigating.
"So, she escaped?" Nolan whispers, having joined us once again.
"I'm saying it's possible, considering what's right in front of us. The most important thing, though, is there are no tracks leading back." Her pointed look has my head whipping up, my eyes already scanning the forest Eve ran off into. "They are both out there somewhere...for how long, I'm uncertain."
"So let's go," Ryan huffs, his body vibrating.
Before we can make a move, Smith comes bustling over, his walkie-talkie plastered to his face. He reaches us, a flush staining his neck and cheeks.
"Backup is on the way. Those in vehicles will be here soon, but we need to move. I don't like the possibility of Evelyn being out there for as long as I'm thinking she has. She's injured and has most likely suffered through at least one freezing night out in these woods."
His words are rushed and frantic, making my own anxiety and fears fucking skyrocket. Everything he's saying is the conclusion I was already coming to but hearing it out loud has my chest heaving and my throat closing up.
Too slow, too slow, too slow.
The red flag surges in my mind once again. My toes feel cramped in my shoes, my thighs are starting to sweat in my jeans, and my muscles are spasming with the need to do something–anything.
"We are coming," Amiri states for all of us, clearly the most put together right now.
"I know." Brown nods in agreement with Dominic. "There will be others searching the woods with us in under ten minutes. You will not draw your weapon, and you will stay close to us. Understood?"
"Yes."
The lie is easy. If I find Kyle or my girl before they do, I'm fucking gone. I will not be bound by this agreement when the promises we made to Eve have settled into our souls. A one-word answer does not compete with the life of love and protection we vowed to give her.
The look in the detectives’ eyes says that they know...they know our words only mean so much when our hearts are crying out for the piece that's missing. And they understand enough not to push us anymore or demand our compliance. It's futile.
What cracks my heart even more is when Smith comes to me and gives me a slap on the shoulder, his eyes are vast pools of protectiveness and pride. He gives each of us our own forms of affection before he takes the first steps away from the newest crime scene. Away from us and into the woods that Eve is lost in.
Hope springs in my chest while simultaneously recoiling in fear...too slow.
Chapter 12
Nolan
Pure, unadulterated dread mixed with hope. The havoc these mixed emotions are wreaking on my system makes me want to keel over and sleep away the nightmare that has become my fucking life.
I am ashamed to admit that my foot hesitates to take the first step past the barrier of the clearing. I'm so scared of what I might find that it's debilitating enough to have me second-guessing finding the love of my life—Eve, who is the one suffering and scared.
Pathetic. I'm a fucking disgrace.
I hate the way my chin wobbles when I look back at the horrific scene by the car. Her blood was spattered everywhere. I just...what the fuck? The ache in my chest has been constant this past week...I don't know how much longer I can live with this guilt and sorrow dragging down my weak body.
