“Holden just got a location from Gavin’s phone!” Les yells. “We need to go.”
“Go, Cole.”
“But—”
“GO!”
“I’ll stay and follow him to the hospital,” Caden murmurs lightly. “Ghost can go with you guys.”
Going against everything in me, I kiss Sean’s cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
I run back up the hill, and just as I’m shutting the door to Ryder’s Explorer, sirens start blaring in the distance.Please let him be okay.
Ryder stomps on the gas. “Where am I going, Holden?”
“About four miles. I’ll tell you when to stop,” Holden says, his voice filtering through the speakers.
“Here,” Leo says, turning in the seat. He hands me a bulletproof vest and an automatic.
I slide the vest on and sling the strap to the automatic around my neck. “Thanks.”
“Stop!” Ryder slams on the brakes, the tires squealing in protest. “It’s blinking right there somewhere. I can’t get an exact location on it.”
We all jump out of the car, with Ryder and Dex taking the lead. A bunch of empty land surrounds us, and the longer we search, I know we’ll find Gavin’s dead body. Charlie wouldn’t leave anyone alive without a reason, and he doesn’t have one for Gavin. Ryder holds up his fist for us to stop. He bends down, scoops up a cell phone, and turns to face us. “Holden,” he says into his earpiece. “It’s just the phone. Did you get a hit on his tracker?” Ryder shakes his head, and my heart sinks.
“We search this area top to bottom,” Ghost barks. “He has to be here somewhere.”
“Is there any way he could still be with Chelsea, and Charlie was lying?” Gage asks.
I rake my hand through my hair. “Yes. He could have told us that to throw us off Axel and Kai’s trail.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Les says. “We still need to at least look while Holden is searching for the others. Leo, call and get some more eyes out here.”
Les hands me an earpiece, and we split off into pairs. Before long, the entire area is covered, with everyone helping us search. I end up with Leo, and his quiet presence helps calm my mind. Every bad scenario that I can conjure up has flashed through my mind in rapid succession, almost making me weak in my goddamn knees. I can’t go through this life without my family, especially Axel and Chelsea.
When it gets dark, we flip on the flashlights at the end of the automatics. We’ve gone deep into a wooded area when Leo grabs my arm. “Isn’t that Axel’s truck?” He points the flashlight, and I take off running. It’s beat to shit, but it’s definitely his.
I jerk the passenger side door open only to find it empty. We search a little deeper and find an old, run-down house sitting there. Leo and I creep to the door. I count down from three on my fingers, and when I hit one, I shove the door open with Leo at my back. I want to put my fist through the wall when we don't find anything.
“We found Axel’s truck and an empty house,” I report.
“His tracker is jumping all over the place, so I can’t get an exact location. Someone is messing with it. Also, I keep getting hits on our security.”
“What do you mean?” Les asks.
“Someone is trying to hack into our systems. I’m trying to pin it down now.”
“Fuck.” I drop into a rickety chair. “Any update on Sean?”
“Caden said they won’t tell him anything since he’s not family. But they took him straight back when he got there.”
“This sounds like a job for me,” Gage says. “I can pull off being his brother.”
“Go,” Les orders. “Holden, can you put Gage into his records?”
“By the time you get there, it will be done.”
“Thank you,” I say sincerely.