Page 92 of Into The Light
The trail of blood leads part of the way across the parking lot, abruptly stopping near a pair of tire marks.
Out of options and desperate to find Bear before he does anything else, I fumble my phone out of my purse and call Riley—I've spoken to him a few times to coordinate picking up and dropping off Bear.
He answers after two rings. "Noelle, hey. What's up?"
I'm hyperventilating, my broken nose making me slur and spit blood. "Bear—attacked. Apartment. Help. Please help."
"I'm not even five minutes away. Hang tight. be right there."
Hyperventilating, choking on blood, all I can think about is Bear—where he is, how badly he's hurt. I pace back and forth and in circles until I see Riley's silver pickup fishtail around the corner and barrel toward me, skidding to a halt.
Panzer puts himself in front of me, growling viciously, until he sees it's Riley.
"Ruhig," I mumble;ROO-ihg: quiet. "Platz." Panzer goes silent and lowers himself to his belly onto my feet.
“Holy fucking shit," Riley shouts as he leaps from his truck. "Noelle, what thefuck? You saidBeargot attacked!"
I point at the apartment. "In—in there."
“Yeah, but what in the fuck happened toyou?” He whips off his shirt, approaching me warily, since Panzer, even lying down, is rumbling softly, daring Riley to make one wrong move.
"Duane," I mumble.
The adrenaline leaches out of me all at once, and I collapse to my butt. Heedless of the fact that my chest is exposed, ignoring the blood still dribbling from my nose, I cling to Panzer's neck, sobbing.
"Hey, hey." Riley crouches in front of me. "Let's get this on you, yeah?"
I nod. He gently slides the shirt over my head, and I shrug it on over the ruins of my cut-open top.
"Be right back," Riley says, jogging up the steps toward Bear's unit. A peek in, and he trots back down to me. "Bear's not there."
I shake my head, pulling my arms in and wriggling out of the cut-open shirt and bra, pull the remains out, and re-insert my arms into Riley’s oversized T-shirt. I use the scraps of my shirt to pinch my nose and sop up some of the blood. "I dunno where he went. I guarantee you he knows it was Duane. Probably looking for me." I grab Riley's wrist. "Wehaveto find him before he does anything, Riley. Hecan'tgo back to jail."
Riley helps me to my feet. "Come on. We’ll find him."
I command Panzer into the back seat of the truck and let Riley help me up into the passenger seat.
Riley turns toward me. "Can I set your nose? It'll help."
"Okay," I mumble, dazed and panicking.
"Just make sure Panzer doesn't, you know, eat my face. It, um…it'll hurt at first and then feel better."
"Panzer—bleib," I command, as Riley puts his hands on either side of my face, earning a warning rumble from Panzer. "Ruhig."
“Ready? On three. Deep breath. One—two—three.” On three, he jerks his hands backward, away from my face.
A bright bolt of white light and lancing agony blast through me, and I scream. Moments later, though, the throbbing pain subsides to a dull ache.
"Let's check your house and your work first," RileyRiley says.
I nod.
He guns the engine, driving recklessly fast. He taps a speed dial entry on his phone, putting it on speaker.
It rings once, and then I hear Felix's voice. "Riley, what’s—"
Riley cuts in. “Noelle got attacked by Duane, and Bear got jumped in his apartment. He fuckin' wrecked the shit out of them—fuckin' eight of 'em, man. They're alive but royally fucked up. Now he's missing. I’ve got Noelle, and she's in bad shape too, but we gotta find Bear before he does something he can't come back from."
