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“Do you know how the sheriff got in touch with Mr. X?” I asked him.
“We didn’t know McAllister and X were connected until a few days ago,” he said as if frustrated. “Before we found out McAllister was involved, we discovered that someone had created multiple social media profiles with your Arizona driver’s license photo. The bios of these profiles said that you lived in Arizona and gave a phone number. We’re pretty sure that’s how the two connected.”
I thought back to the last time the sheriff had broken into my house. “The sheriff had mentioned to me once that he found it intriguing that I didn’t take part in any social media. He also said he couldn’t find a single picture of me other than my driver’s license. I think he was toying with me because he was already in contact with Mr. X by then.”
“Sounds like it.” Ian let out another sigh. “Listen, kid, I need to tell you something and I need you not to do anything dangerous because of it.”
That instantly put me on edge. “What?”
“We didn’t know McAllister was working with X or that X had taken his daughter until a few days ago. Up until that point, even though he was on thin ice because of what he had done to you, he was helpful and very involved in the investigation. He played themy nephew and my daughter’s friend are missingcard. Everyone believed him. Even Logan and me. Logan was certain that the kids’ disappearance was connected to X. They went missing right after they attacked you, and we lifted a print off of Jacob’s suicide letter. It belonged to X.”
“I already knew he killed Jacob. The note was Mr. X’s words.”
“It was definitely his brand of crazy,” Ian grumbled. “The only thing that stood out about McAllister was that he kept giving us excuses to keep us from interviewing his daughter. He said he had sent her to a family member out of state to keep her safe. Logan sort of sympathized with him on that, but I found it odd. When he finally agreed to let us meet her, he said it had to be at his house. Logan and I agreed to go there.”
Oh, no!“It was a trap.”
“Fuck, kid, I don’t know how to tell you this.”
Before my legs could give out, I sat on the edge of the bed. “Logan’s dead, isn’t he?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “We walked into that house and McAllister fucking maced us. I couldn’t see and the next thing I know, I’m being stabbed. I fell to the ground and all I could do was listen. Logan struggled and fought, even though he was as blind as I was. He was yelling. Shit was breaking. It took a while, but McAllister was able to hurt Logan enough to make him go down. As soon as he did, he called X and asked where to bring Logan. I had lost so much blood and I couldn’t fucking see, all I could do was lay there. I think McAllister seemed to forget about me because as soon as X told him where to meet him, he was focused on leaving with Logan. I came in and out of consciousness quite a bit as he took him away. When I was really able to come to, I was alone in his house. I searched for my phone, I didn’t have it anymore. I had to drag myself out of his house and to his neighbors. I don’t know how long it took me or how long it took for EMS to get me to the hospital. I had to have surgery and didn’t wake up until late last night. During the time I was out, McAllister took over the hunt for X. He added you as one of the missing kids and used the disappearance of his daughter—a sheriff’s daughter—to get more media coverage to spread your picture far and wide.
“By the time I woke up and reported what had happened to me and Logan, McAllister was gone. I thought he skipped town. I didn’t think he got a lead on where to find you. Someone must’ve seen you and called it in.”
I just sat there quietly processing. “Mr. X has Logan?”
“I believe so.”
“There is a good chance that he’s dead,” I said in a vacant voice.
“Or X is going to use Logan to lure you to him.”
I could break down right now. I really could. Or I could stay strong and get my family somewhere safe. “We can’t stay here.”
“No. I’m going to send agents to come and get you. Can you find somewhere safe until then?”
“There’s a hotel in town,” I said.
“Which town and hotel?” he asked.
I told him.
“If it will make you feel any better, your friend is going to be okay,” he said.
“Which friend?”
“Isabelle. She’s still in the hospital but she’s no longer in critical condition. Doctors say with a little bit of physical therapy, she’ll make a full recovery.”
I stared up at the ceiling as tears flooded my eyes. It took a tremendous effort to keep myself composed. “Thank you for telling me that.”
“Be safe, kid.” He hung up after that.
I knew I couldn’t just sit there. It was just really hard to move. Isabelle was alive. I was so unbelievably happy about that, but the news of Logan was tearing me apart.
I inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. “Okay.” I repeated the process of breathing like that again before I nodded and forced myself to stand.
As soon as I started to head out of my room to go tell the guys, that phone Sheriff McAllister had given to me started vibrating in the pocket of my sweatshirt. I pulled it out and the screen readX.
