Page 38 of Protecting Talia

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Talia reached for her phone,but her sister knocked it from her hand before she could use it. She tried to get the digital assistant to call emergency services, but Cheryl screamed so loud the assistant couldn’t hear her.

“Shut up, you bitch! You’re never getting free of me.”

“Help!” Talia tried to run around Cheryl, but two men were on the stairs. She was trapped. There was no way for her to escape. “Help!” she screamed again, hoping someone heard.

Cheryl’s hand landed on her cheek, sending pain straight through her and dropping her to her knees. One of the guys stepped inside and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her backward.

“Stop!” He held her in an awkward position, her back arched, her legs bent awkwardly. She couldn’t catch her breath. Tears streamed down her face. “Leave me alone.”

Cheryl knelt beside her, disdain clear in her eyes. “No can do. You used to be helpful.”

“Just stop,” Talia begged.

“No. I don’t think so.” Cheryl stood and waved for the men to follow with her. “Come now. We have work to do.”

The guys grabbed her, and though she tried to fight them, it was no use. They had too good of a hold on her. She wasn’t going to get free. She knew what would happen, how it would go from here on out. Her life was over, and there wasn’t anything she could do to change that.

26

Zip stored his equipment and headed to his truck, ready to see Talia. She hadn’t texted him and he was a little worried about her lack of communication, but he knew they were solid. She was probably busy or something and hadn’t wanted to bother him. He appreciated her thoughtfulness.

He pulled up at his house, a little surprised her car wasn’t there. He stepped inside and paused. The place didn’t seem like she’d been there in a while. There was coffee left in the pot. He moved to the kitchen and emptied it, thinking it was weird that she had left coffee in there. That wasn’t like her. She always cleaned up before she left for work. It was one of those things he told her she didn’t have to do, but she couldn’t stop herself from doing based on past experiences.

He moved to the bathroom and saw all her stuff still there. She hadn’t brought over everything, but her hair and face stuff was still on his bathroom counter.

Zip moved through the house, opening each door. He found boxes in the spare room and opened the top one. It seemed to be filled with her clothes. He froze, thinking what it meant.

She had gone back to her place and moved her things here. Where was she now?

He pulled out his phone and dialed. It rang through to voicemail. Worry hit hard. This wasn’t good at all. Deep in his soul, he knew something bad had happened.

He called Thario, hoping his buddy had some scrap of information he could give him. Maybe he was overreacting, but he didn’t think so.

“Hey, Zip, what’s up?”

“I don’t know.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“I think something is wrong.”

“Tell me.”

“Talia isn’t here. Something happened.”

“She’s the one you thought about giving the tracking earring to?”

“Yes. But she didn’t like the idea of being watched. I get it. I don’t like being tracked either but sometimes it’s necessary and I didn’t do enough to explain who you were and what you would use tracking for.”

“Let me see what I can find. I’ll call you when I get some information.”

Zip glanced around, worry growing with each minute. “Okay. Mind if I come over?”

“Come on.”

“I’ll bring a pizza.”

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