Page 125 of Always Knew It Was You

My father nods and whips out his phone when my grandfather speaks up.

“I play golf with the commissioner,” he says, surprising me. “I’ll call him up and have him station officers at the roads going out of state. They’ll be on the lookout for whoever has taken her.”

I narrow my eyes at him and hearing my unspoken question, he continues, “It doesn’t matter how I personally feel about her. You love her and you’re determined to marry her, and no piece of shit is going to kidnap a daughter-in-law of mine and get away with it.”

“Thank you,” I say. I wish I could show my appreciation more, but I’m still too anxious, too uncertain. I don’t know what to do now. Do I go back to Laketown and handle the demands myself? Or do I call Declan and make him do it?

Restlessness rifles through me. I can trust Declan with handing over the pearl but the cops might need convincing to let go of Nate Huntley.

I’ll convince them.

It’s while I’m heading out that Declan finally calls me back.

“Micah,” he says. “Where are you?”

“In my car planning how to raze the Earth to the ground if I don’t find Carly.” It’s not an exaggeration. I’m not sure what I’ll do, who I’ll become, if my Carly doesn’t come back to me safe and sound.

Declan hesitates for a few seconds before he keeps talking, “I think we recognize the man in the video. It took Emma some time but she said the gait looked familiar. She had to call her grandfather and he confirmed that it was Jordan Rojas.”

“He’s related to Hal?”

“Yeah. His dad.”

So Hal is also involved in this. Jesus. No wonder he was so damn sweaty and nervous-looking all the time.

Declan continues talking. “We’re driving around trying to find Hal right now, but he’s nowhere to be found.”

“Of course, probably hiding like a rat.” But I’ll find him. One way or another I will. And I’ll make them all pay for Carly getting hurt. “Get me in contact with the security company you got your bodyguards from, and the best damn PI money can buy.” Declan has more contacts in that regard than I do. “I’ll be there soon.”

I hang up and I’m once more conflicted. On one hand, I don’t want to leave New York without Carly. On the other hand, she might already be gone from the state. Even if she’s not, I’m not going to be of much good to her from over here. The only way of getting her back is by getting to the bottom of this, which I can’t do from all the way over here. My father and grandfather already have the situation with the police here handled. So I need to go back to Laketown and figure out what the fuck is going on and why they took my Carly.

“I’ll be there in two hours,” I tell Declan. “Arrange a meeting between me and Nate Huntley.”

The second I touch down in Laketown, I’m on the move. I step out of the airport and the cold night air hits me in the face, mirroring the ice in my heart. At the same time, my body burns with rage.

Driving through Laketown doesn’t feel the same as all the other times. Everything feels still, colorless. Scents are muted and colored with a tang of steel. Carly’s not here. Nothing feels right.

The first thing I do is head to the sheriff’s station to meet with Nate. Declan was able to get him out of prison for this meeting, using his innumerable contacts. He’s now at the Laketown station waiting for me.

Thirty minutes later, I walk in there and it immediately quietens.

The sheriff must have had another field day because several people sit in the jail cells, and they were previously arguing with him about something, but they say nothing when I arrive. Even the sheriff doesn’t say a single word. I guess that one look at my face gives them a hint of the kind of mood I’m in, and no one wants to mess with me right now.

“Where is he? “ I ask the sheriff and he simply points in the direction of a cell at the back of the room. I walk there, my footsteps the only sound clicking in the room, the scent of metal heavy in the air.

I stop right in front of the bars and find Nate Huntley sitting at the table, glaring at me.

I walk in, sitting down across from him despite his defiant gaze. I don’t give a fuck what he’s mad at. I just need him to help me save Carly.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he snarls. “You were supposed to protect her.”

I raise an eyebrow. “So were you. Especially since something tells me that you’re the reason she’s in this mess in the first place.”

Anguish and guilt squeeze his features. I don’t feel a shred of pity for him. He looks away. Silence echoes between us for several tense seconds. A sheen of sweat rolls down the side of his face, and his Adam’s apple bobs rhythmically. Meanwhile, I just sit still, steadily staring at him as he tries to find the gumption to talk to me, while I rapidly lose my patience.

“I don’t fucking have time for this, Nate,” I warn him, my voice quiet but brimming with violence. “I don’t give a fuck what you’re hiding. Tell me how to save her, because if anything happens to her, I swear to God you will not escape my wrath.”

Nate finally meets my eyes. Something in there convinces him to start talking.

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