Page 68 of Outlaw Ridge: Griff
Griff’s phone buzzed on the table, the sharp vibration cutting clean through the quiet tension hanging in the kitchen. He grabbed it, already expecting Hallie or Jesse again. When he saw Jesse’s name flash across the screen, he answered and put it on speaker.
“Sorry to interrupt your downtime,” Jesse said, his voice tense. “But there’s something you two are gonna want to know. Margo’s bio son, Caleb Davidson, has been reported missing by his adoptive parents.”
Griff’s breath froze in his chest, and some really bad scenarios started to fly through his head. “When?”
“About a half hour ago. Just saw the Amber Alert hit the system.”
Lily’s fork dropped to her plate with a soft clatter. “Oh my God.”
Griff pushed his chair back from the table, adrenaline already firing again through his veins. “Did he run away?”
Jesse blew out a breath. “Parents don’t think so. Said he’s a solid kid. Respectful, no behavioral issues, never done anything like this. No warning signs.”
Lily shot Griff a look. “You think Margo took him?”
Griff rubbed a hand down his face, processing fast. “Or Everett. Or Rhett. If someone’s feeling the walls closing in…”
Jesse picked up the thread. “Then yeah. Grabbing the kid could be leverage. Or insurance.”
Lily’s expression was already shifting, the professional mode locking in. “Any sign of where Caleb might be?”
“None yet,” Jesse answered. “They’re starting a grid search around the Davidson house now. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Thanks,” Griff said. “Call us the second you get anything.”
He ended the call, the weight of what Jesse had said hanging in the air between them.
“They took him,” Lily murmured, eyes dark. “Someone did.”
Griff nodded. “Question is… what the hell do they want with him now?”
Lily didn’t get a chance to answer because there was another sound of an incoming text. Not on his phone this time but on hers. Griff watched as Lily’s eyes flicked down to the screen, her posture shifting from tense to rigid in the space of a heartbeat.
He was already on alert before she even spoke.
“It’s a text,” she said, her voice tight. “Unknown number.”
He moved to her side as she angled the screen so he could see it too.
You should have stayed out of it. Photo attached. If you want to save him, destroy the entire file on Hannah Cole’s murder and stop digging. You’ve got one hour to officially declare the case closed. We want proof. Make it public. Or the kid dies.
Griff’s gut twisted as he took in the photo. It was Caleb, clearly terrified, with duct tape across his mouth, and his arms and ankles bound with zip ties. He was sitting on a concretefloor. There was a dim bulb overhead and nothing else. No windows, no landmarks to tell them where he was.
But he was alive.
For now.
A cold, hard fury burned in Griff’s chest as he stared at the image of Caleb bound and terrified. “They’re using him,” he said, voice like gravel. “Trying to shut us down before we get too close.”
Lily didn’t answer right away. She pressed her phone to her chest, like holding it might keep her heart from shattering. The weight of the photo settled between them, one brutal truth echoed in his head.
How the hell were they going to find Caleb in time?
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Chapter Seventeen
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