AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I couldn’t let what I was feeling consume me. Not right now. Not with so much at stake. I had to bury it. To survive. To find Colt. I had to. I’d done it before.
I can do it again.
With one last deep breath, I felt like I had a little more control of myself. Determination and understanding of what needed to be done began to take over.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my personal phone. My burner phone was in the car in my purse. At this point, it didn’t matter what phone I used. Mr. X had already found me. After tapping on Logan’s contact, I brought the phone to my ear. It rang once and went to voicemail.
I walked farther away from the guys so I wouldn’t be overheard. “I don’t know if you’re not answering because you’re upset with me or you’re dead. I’m praying it’s the former.” My voice was hollow, as if I’d been too successful in burying my emotions. “Mr. X has found me. Feel free to tell meI told you sothe next time you see me. It’s what I deserve. I’m a selfish piece of shit.” I squeezed the phone. I didn’t have time to wallow in guilt. “When you get this, I won’t have this phone anymore. I’m going to do what you taught me. I’m going to get somewhere safe. Don’t come looking for me. Just please focus on finding him. Just find him and kill him, Logan. Because if you don’t…” A little bit of anguish seeped into my voice. I took in a calming breath to compose myself. I glanced at my guys again. The three of them were watching me as they spoke to the police. It was as if they were afraid to take their eyes off of me. “I’m terrified. I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been. It’s not just me anymore.” Maybe it was because I already knew what it was like to lose everything, and that knowledge…I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but right now, that experience was the only thing fueling my determination to never endure it again. I looked away from my guys and I stared down the road where the red and blue lights from the police cars didn’t reach, where it was dark, wherehecould easily be watching me from. I let my anger show. I hoped he saw it. For too long I had given him my fear, my pain. He relished it and it only added to his obsession. No more. “I won’t let him take my family from me again.” I meant it. I would do whatever I had to in order to keep them safe. “I love you, Logan.”
I hung up, and just as I was about to put my phone back into my pocket, it began ringing.
Unknown number,the screen read.
Colt was why I didn’t hesitate to answer. I squared my shoulders, bracing myself as I brought the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hello, Shiloh Pierce,” a familiar male voice said. “Or should I say Shiloh McConnell.”
The voice didn’t belong to Mr. X.
“It seems you kept digging, Sheriff,” I said, and for a moment I thought maybe, just maybe, Cassy’s father was behind all of this. And for that brief slice of time, a little bit of relief slipped in. But just as that short moment came, the memory of being locked in that interrogation room alone with him ended it. He’d had me pinned and bent over the table, twisting my arm behind my back at a painful angle.
“Don’t play dumb. I know they chased you through the woods. My daughter told me. They went after you and never came back. You did something to them. You did or he did.”
He had saidhe did.
“I already knew who you were when I made that threat,” he said as if proud of himself.
“Was it your digging that led Mr. X here?” I questioned.
“Xander Xenos. Also referred to by his students as Mr. X. That’s what the police officer I spoke to said in Maryland, and that you used to be his student.”
“How did you find out who I was?”
“It wasn’t easy.” The lightness in his voice told me he was happy that I’d asked. “Nearly impossible, actually. But the weak link that led me to learn everything about you was your uncle. My officers who pulled you over on your way to school told me they had to let you go because you had a U.S. Marshal in the car with you. That made me wonder what your connection was to him, and from there I got my answers.”
“And how did you track down Mr. X?”
“Not everything needs to be revealed over the phone,” he said.
Like I’d want to talk to you in person.
Frustrated, I raised my hand to rub my face. Remembering that it was covered in blood, I froze and fisted my hand instead. “Whatever you did to bring him here, just know that Gabe and Amber are more than likely dead.”
The line went quiet long enough to make my heart beat a little faster. “For your sake, that better not be true.” His voice was low and rumbled just enough to tell me that it had taken everything to keep his voice calm. “I have your boyfriend. Well, one of them anyway.”
My stomach sank and my heart pounded painfully in my chest.
“If you want him back—”
“Alive,” I snapped.
He huffed a laugh that lacked any humor. “He’s alive.”
“How do I know that?”
“I guess you’ll have to find that out for yourself. That is, if you’re the one to get here first.” I could feel his evil glee through the phone. “I’m going to call your Mr. X next. You like to run, right? Let’s make this a race.”
Even though I was as still as a statue, everything beneath my skin was pure chaos.
