Page 85 of Every Single Vow
Damn those hurt.
I take a small breather, watching as we leave the Mayson Ridge city limits. A stretch of darkness surrounds us, and I know my time is running short. The farther away from town, the longer I’ll have to get back. There’s only going to be one way to stop him.
Saying a quick prayer, and channeling my inner badass, I make my move.
My hands dart out quick, snatching the gun from the console. He reacts a little too late, swerving as I point the barrel at him. The sudden jerk of the truck has me crashing against the door, my hand colliding with the headrest which catapults the gun to the back seat.
His voice is a roar as he swerves away from the ditch, overcorrecting as we travel across the opposite lane.
It all happens so fast. One second, we’re on asphalt, and then the next, we’re tumbling.
And everything goes black.
Chapter fifty-six
Cooper
“Where the hell are they?” I seethe, my boots pacing across the parking lot of the track.
When we didn’t find her at the trailer, we came directly here. Knowing that asshole would do anything for a buck, I was certain he wouldn’t flake. Billy Sterling was as crooked as they came. So the fact he wasn’t sitting in this parking lot, waiting on his demanded $500,000 was alarming.
Ryder picks up his phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling Jefferson,” he grits out. “I’m done with this bullshit.”
Ryder had notified him about Dean, and officers had the place swarmed by the time we left. He had agreed to have him and three other squad cars nearby while we waited for Billy to show up. We didn’t have much of a plan, or his money, but I was getting my girl back regardless. We’d use force and manipulation if necessary.
“We need a trace. Now. He’s still not here,” he barks into the phone.
He’s silent for a moment before he hangs up. “He said it should be within ten. Techs are working on it. He could be using a burner.”
Something in my gut tells me this isn’t right. That he wouldn’t just demand we show up then bail. But thisisBilly. What if he just wanted us to be distracted while he got out of town.While he took her with him.
A flash of light flickers across the lot as Jefferson barrels out of a squad car.
“We have a problem,” he says, his strides long. “Got a trace. Pinged at the trailer first. Last location was on the highway right outside of town, then it disappears.”
“Just like that?” Ryder asks.
“Just like that. Either he turned it off or threw it out the window. Something.”
“It doesn’t make sense.” I pull off my hat and run my fingers through my hair. “We need to physically check the last location,” I call out, already on the move to my truck.
“We’ll follow you,” Ryder calls before he gets behind the wheel.
When we all file out of the parking lot, I still can’t erase that gnawing feeling that we’re missing something. And it may be too late.
“This is it?”
Jefferson nods. “Yeah. It ends here.”
We’re parked on the highway that’s leading out of Mayson Ridge.
“I can’t see shit,” Ryder scoffs. “There’s no way we’re going to find a phone in all this overgrown grass.”
The fact it disappeared doesn’t sit right. He was only about ten miles from the track. Why would he not show?
