Page 57 of Shared By Her Brother's Best Friends

“Come on, let’s go. Bess, you ride with Jax and direct him. Ty and I will follow you. Jax, grab Emma, she’ll want to be there if we find him,” I say, grabbing my jacket.

For once, no one disagrees with me. They nod in silent agreement and Jax rushes upstairs to get Emma.

I just hope that when she wakes, we’ll be able to safely reunite her with her son.

I can’t let myself consider the alternatives.

Chapter 31

Emma

Iawake, confused and disorientated in the back of the car, unsure where I am or how Bess is somehow now with us. Bess quickly and calmly explains how they’ve found evidence of Jess using her card at an ATM and we’re heading there to see if anyone saw them or if, by some miracle, they’re still there. My phone is still stubbornly silent, no ransom yet, so this is the best option we have for now. The only one.

I feel a little calmer now I’ve had some sleep, and we have a plan—and at least something is happening, even if it is a long shot. However, something in my gut tells me they’re not telling me everything. Jax won’t meet my eye properly and I can’t shake the feeling that something about what they’ve told me feels off.

But I’m trying not to focus on that. I just need to pray that someone has seen Jess and the kids and can point us in the right direction. I don’t dare let myself hope that we might even find them nearby.

As we near the small transit town just off the interstate, dawn is breaking. In the distance, I see the brightly lit sign of a motel and the flashing blue lights below it.

“Do you guys see that?”

“Is that?” Jax says, straining to see.

“Police lights,” Bess confirms.

“It must be them, right? We’re so close to the ATM. They’ve found him!” I say, elated, my hopes inflating as we approach and see several police cars and an ambulance outside the shabby motel.

We pull up and I immediately yank at the door handle, eager to rush outside and find my son, but it doesn’t budge.

“Jax, the child locks are on, let me out.”

“Actually, I think you two should wait here. Let me go and speak to the officers and find out what’s happened,” Bess says as she surveys the police presence.

Jax nods at her and she gets out, heading over to speak with the two officers guarding the entrance. She holds up a hand, wordlessly telling Mason and Ty to stay put.

There’s police tape outside two adjacent rooms. As I look, two paramedics exit one of them, wheeling a gurney. I gasp in horror as I realize there’s a body bag on it.

“Oh my god, Jax, look! Do you think it’s Kane? Do you think the officers killed him? But where’s Jess and the kids?” I try the door again, but no luck. “Let me out, Jax.”

“I think we should wait. I don’t know who it is. For all we know this might not even be related, let’s just let Bess figure stuff out first,” he replies gently.

I swivel in my seat to look out of the back window as Bess goes to talk to Mason and Ty. Her expression is somber which immediately makes me panic. If Max was here, surely she’d have come to tell me, overjoyed.

The cold hand of terror grips me once more as I try to control my breathing and remain calm.

When Bess comes back to the car, Mason and Ty climb in on either side of me, like two pillars ready to hold me up. I brace myself as Bess turns her attention to me, delivering the horrible news with the calm authority of a police officer or doctor.

“I’m sorry, Emma, but Jessica is dead. She was murdered.”

“Oh my god!” I say, my hand flying to my mouth in shock as sharp tears sting my eyes. “And the children?” I dare to ask, though I’m terrified to hear the response.

“Lucy and Ben are fine, they were asleep in the room next door. But Max is gone.”

Her words echo in my head, this nightmare isn’t over.

Max is gone.

Chapter 32

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