Page 74 of This Time I'm Keeping You
“You said he was in his house!”
“I’m checking on that, Nick, but you need to calm down.”
“I don’t know the plate number, Billy!”Nick’s pulse was racing, and his skin felt tight.Davy had his girl.Poppy, the woman he loved.
That realization hit him hard.He loved Poppy, and she didn’t know.
“Go to your parents’ house now,” Billy ordered.
“No.I’m looking for her,” Nick said, his voice sounding hoarse.
“There are lots of white vans in Brook.You won’t find her,” Billy said.
“I have to try.”He cut the call.It rang constantly for the next twenty minutes, and he ignored it as he drove up and down streets.
When he found a white van, Nick stopped to search inside or question the driver.
Where is she?Knowing what Davy was capable of, Poppy would be terrified.He was fucking terrified!
“Poppy,” he whispered as the fear slammed into him.He hadn’t protected her.
Nick didn’t know how long he drove for, but when he saw the familiar gray sedan and black hatchback parked on the side of the road, he stopped.
His siblings then got out of the cars and surrounded his pickup.
“Move over,” Sam said, opening Nick’s door.
“Yeah, yeah, take a breath!”Em yelled when someone laid on the horn behind them.
“I need to find her,” Nick said.His fingers clenched around the steering wheel.
“I know you do, and we’re going to help,” Sam said, putting a hand on his shoulder.“Now move over.”
Thomas and the girls got in the back, and Nick slid over because they’d stay there doing nothing to find Poppy if he didn’t.
“Eat this.”Thomas handed him a bag.
“I don’t want to eat,” Nick gritted out.“I want to find my girl now!”
“And to do that, you need to keep your strength up.Eat,” Gracie said.
“I can’t lose her,” Nick whispered.
“We’re not going to let that happen, Nicky,” Em said, resting her hand on his shoulder.“We’re going to find her.”
“Denton,” Nick said suddenly.“He’s being interviewed by Billy.He’ll know where Davy has taken her.”
“We can’t storm into the station, Nick,” Thomas said.“Let’s keep looking.”
“Go to the police station,” Nick gritted out, cursing himself for not remembering that his cousin was interviewing Denton.
Sam did a U-turn in the middle of the street.Horns blared, brakes squealed, and then they were speeding toward the station.
“Billy, we’re coming to you,” Gracie said from the back seat.“I know you told him that, but he’s sure Denton knows where Poppy is.We bring him, or he brings himself.”Nick heard a lot of cursing on the phone before Gracie hung up.
“Behave like a human, not a crazed bear,” Em said, this time jabbing Nick in the shoulder.“Billy said he’ll put you in cuffs if he has to.”
All he could see was Poppy in his head.Crying and in pain.That bastard hurting her.Nick wouldn’t rest until he’d destroyed Malcolm Davy if he had touched her.
