Page 78 of Blinding Echo

“Seems my little slut has been cheating on me. Do you know her pussy was mine first? It dripped from…” I pull the phone back, slamming it shut. A glass figurine from the shelf shatters into a million pieces as it hits the wall. The slip of anger that worked its way out doesn’t help. I need this guy on a fucking gurney and I need to focus to do it.

I’m frozen in place, his voice echoing in my head. A hand touches my bicep and I whip around, drawing my gun.

Tori’s hands fly up in the air. “Kase, it’s me.”

I choke on my breath, lowering my gun. I need to get him out of my head.

Putting my gun back into the holster, my knees give out and I crumble to the ground as I try to catch my breath. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, ashamed I lost control.

“It’s… okay,” she replies, slowly. “Who was that?”

“I’m certain it wasn’t her dad.” So, whose phone is it? The way he was talking, it sounded like her step-father, but he’s in jail.

I push myself off the floor and call Stone with my own phone. He answers, “I hear you have company.”

“I don’t have time to talk about that. I need you to search the current status of Ray Stevens, stat.”

I wait as keys tap on the other end. “Is that…” He pauses. “Kase. We need to get Ell to a safe place.”

I growl. “I can’t find her! Tell me what you found.”

“He escaped from prison three days ago. What the hell do you mean you can’t find her?”

“She’s missing. No one has seen her the last two days. But he doesn’t have her because I just talked to the son of a bitch.”

Stone talks to someone else, only when the person replies I realize it’s Max. “We’re on our way. Stay put.” Easier said than done.

“I’m at Ellie’s. We need to send someone over to Dalton Keyes’ house. I’m pretty sure Ray has his phone, which can only mean–”

“On it. See you in fifteen.”

Okay, Ellie, where’d you go? I finish going through her drawers, looking for any clues of where she would run to. Finding nothing, I move on to the living room, searching every square inch of her place. Tori sits on the couch, silently crying while she watches me. “You know her better than anyone, Tori. Can you think of where would she go if she wanted to hide?”

“I have no idea,” she cries. “I didn’t even know about the other phone.”

When Stone and Max walk in, they both scan the apartment. “You didn’t tell us her apartment had been trashed,” Stone says.

“It wasn’t. I did it looking for… something to help find her.”

Max puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “She’s okay.”

I do a double take, taking a step back. “What? How the hell do you know?”

“On the way over, I called some friends. She was taken to a safe house.”

My head falls back, I say a silent thank you and blow out all the panic twisting inside me.

“Oh, my god, thank you,” Tori says, running into Max’s arms.

I take a couple long strides to the door, pulling my keys out of my pockets. “Tell me where she is, I want to be there with her.” Knowing she’s safe calms me a little, but it'd be better if I was there to protect her.

Max’s lips twist and he shakes his head. “The FBI isn’t sharing that info with me. We have another problem though. Let’s go to your place.”

My brows crease, but he walks out ignoring my questioning expression. Guess we’re going to my place.

“Can I come?” Tori squeaks from behind me. I peek down at her and her eyes plead with me. “Maybe I can help.”

Probably not, but Ellie means a lot to her. “Sure. Meet us there.”

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