Page 288 of Redeemed

I take another look at the crowd, trying to find Haven. I accidentally skip over her the first time, thrown off by whoever has an arm around her shoulders. My first thought is that it’s Ben, but upon closer inspection, my blood runs cold.

Sandy blond hair.

Menacing eyes.

Lean build.

Isaiah.

I drop Rachel to her feet and turn. “Dad—Dad, I have to go. Just give me a couple minutes.”

Before he can answer, I’m rushing toward Haven, pushing through family after family. By the time I leap onto the field, I’ve lost sight of Haven, but I don’t stop running.

I pass Lucas on the way, tapping his shoulder without stopping. I don’t have to look back to know he’s sprinting after me. We’ll follow each other to the ends of the earth, and he knows that if I can’t stop, it’s important.

When I get to the spot I saw Haven and Isaiah, she’s gone. I skid to a stop, frantically glancing from side to side, but I can’t find her. She just… disappeared.

“What’s going on?” Lucas demands as he slows beside me.

“Isaiah is here. He has Haven.”

“What?”Colton comes up on my other side. No doubt, he saw us running and took off to follow.

“I saw them from across the field. They were right here.” I’m still glancing around, trying to figure out which way Isaiah would’ve taken her.

“We need to split up,” Colton says. “We can’t let him take her. He’ll…”

He doesn’t say the rest out loud.

Doesn’t have to.

We take off in different directions. Getting lost in the crowd makes it easy to hide, but Haven could cry for help, which would ruin his plans. He probably knew she’d freeze up in panic for a minute and took advantage of that to get her away from everyone. So I head for the closest place to get out of sight.

The tunnel that leads to the locker rooms is empty. I’ve never been back here, so when I reach the end, I glance to my left, then my right. This place is huge—a university like this has more cash than they know what to do with—so I don’t know which way to go.

“Haven?” I holler, and at first, the only thing I hear is my own voice echoing.

But then her voice sounds, small and scared.

“Xan! Hel—mmfgh.”

My feet are moving before I’ve fully processed her words, heading in her direction. “I’m coming,” I yell. “Isaiah, I’m going to fucking gut you.”

The hallway I’m in splits, and I hear a muffled scream to my left. Haven is still out of sight—I’m not sure how far ahead they are—so I push myself to run faster.

“Haven,” I call out again, but this time, I don’t get a response.

It’s not until I sprint past a set of doors leading outside that I realize why.

Shit.

Doubling back, I charge through them, immediately catching sight of Haven. Two men are shoving her into a car—Isaiah and an older man.

“Xander,” Haven screeches when she sees me. She’s trying to fight them off, but she’s helpless against them.

My feet pound across the pavement, but it doesn’t matter.

I’m too late.

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