Page 97 of The Thief
“You’d better be telling the truth, because I swear to God, if you’ve led us on a wild fucking goose chase, I will gut you, hang you from that tree over there and invite your mother to come here and cut you down.”
“I wouldn’t fuck about,” the man replied. “Not when it comes to kids.” And hearing him say that made me explode.
“You’ve done nothing but fuck about,” I hissed, staring out of the windscreen, shaking, unable to look him in the eye. If I did, I wouldn’t be held responsible for what I’d do, and we needed him. I needed him to show me where Ava was. So instead, I snarled, “Enough with the bullshit. Take me to my daughter. Now!”
We all got out of the van, and I watched as Adam took something from Devon and put it in his back pocket. Devon moved to Tyler, but he put his hand up, stating, “I don’t want anything. I’d rather use my bare hands to kill him.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Adam barked, giving him a stern look. “You need something.”
“I’m here for Ava,” Tyler replied firmly. “So, let’s just fucking move, yeah?”
“We’re wasting time,” I pleaded, the desperation in my voice clear as I peered around at the desolate wasteland where we stood.
“Over here,” the man stated, and we followed him to the metal gate.
He yanked it open, struggling to pull it wide from how overgrown the ground was. But as I peered down, I could see the gate had been opened recently. They were here. They had to be.
Adam climbed through first, then Tyler held the gate open for me as I joined Adam on the other side. Once we were all through, Devon pulled the gate shut to conceal us, and we started to pick our way over the uneven ground. To the side was a wooded area, and the guy turned, leading us that way, stepping up a grassy incline and heading into the thick of the trees. Then his phone started to ring, and he stopped, pulling it from his pocket and peering up at us as he said, “It’s him.”
“Quiet,” Adam instructed, and we stood still. Then he nodded at the phone and said, “Put it on speaker.”
My heart was beating so loudly I couldn’t hear the wind in the trees or any birdsong, only the beat of my fear. But when he started to talk on the phone, reality came crashing down on me.Every one of my senses was alert, waiting, listening, desperate for answers.
“What?” the guy snapped as he answered.
“Nice to speak to you too, Dan.” Three gave a low chuckle that made my insides crawl. “I had an idea, about the kid.” My heart stopped.
“What idea?” Dan asked, swallowing as he spoke. He knew more than he was letting on, I was sure of it.
“I say we take her somewhere they won’t find her. Make a few voice notes, maybe videos of her, you know, the sort of stuff to really fuck with their heads. We need to make them pay for fucking with us.”
My fear turned feral. I had to stop myself from being sick. Time was running out, I knew it. I had to get to her.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Dan spat as I tried not to let my gasps for air or my rabid panic be heard. “Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Think about it,” he urged, sounding totally and utterly deranged. “They think they’ve got the upper hand. They fucking mutilated Anton and Rory. Do you even care about what they did to Holmes? He was your fucking friend. Remember? We need to teach them a lesson. That they fucked with the wrong men this time.”
“I won’t let you hurt the girl,” Dan seethed. “She’s just a kid, for Christ’s sake. Are you fucking crazy?”
Three started to laugh. “I am fucking crazy. Magnificently crazy, and I fucking love it.”
I’d heard enough.
“Where’s my baby, you sick fuck?” I screamed, and the laughter down the phone echoed louder.
“I see you have company.” Three cackled. “Bring her over. Let’s make it a real party.” And then the line went dead.
“Fuck, we don’t have much time,” Dan said, breaking off into the woods at a sprint. And we all started moving, chasing after him as he clutched his phone, racing through the trees.
“Where the fuck is he?” Tyler shouted as he ran past Dan.
I tried to keep up, I wanted to go faster, but Tyler was ahead of us. He’d get there first.
“Just up there.” Dan pointed to the left as he tried to match Tyler’s speed. “There’s a clearing. That’s where he is. That’s where he took the photo. It’s where he’s keeping her.”
But as we ran, our feet pounding the woodland floor, all I could think was, he knows we’re coming. He won’t be there. We’re too late. He wants to hurt my little girl and he’s insane. My baby is in the hands of a monster.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
