Page 118 of Whispers of You
A million nightmares played in my mind. All the ways someone could’ve gotten Wren’s phone. How they could’ve unlocked it.
Dad squeezed my shoulder, hard. “Don’t go there. We’re gonna find her.”
We had to. There wasn’t another option. Because I couldn’t live another ten years without Wren. I couldn’t live another second.
“We’ll meet you at the cabin,” I told Lawson.
“The crime scene techs are on the way. I put out an APB for her, too.”
“Thanks,” I said, a gruff edge coating my voice.
I hit end on the call and stared at my phone. It was the same photo background. The one of Wren, her head tipped back, taking in the rise of twilight.
“Dad’s right. We’re gonna find her. Law will have his people on it and—”
Another incoming call cut Nash off. Jude’s name flashed on my screen.
Hope sprang to life in my chest. Maybe he knew something. Had a lead. Anything.
I hit accept and pressed the phone to my ear. “Is Wren with you?”
A dark chuckle cut across the line. One I’d never heard slip from Jude’s lips in all our years of friendship. “She is.”
Everything around me slowed as dread took root in my gut. But still, some part of me hoped I was wrong. “Can I talk to her?”
“She’s a little indisposed at the moment.”
“I’m okay,” Wren shouted.
Relief swept through me, quickly mixing with sickening fear.
“Shut up,” Jude snapped.
I motioned to my dad in the back seat, mouthing words I hoped he could read.Text Law. Jude has Wren. Track the call to my phone.
Dad’s eyes widened, but he began furiously typing on his phone.
I shoved down the panic threatening to swallow me whole. “Where are you, Jude?”
“I’m going to tell you because it’s time for us to have a proper reunion. But I’m gonna need a few things from you first.”
“Name them.” I would’ve given him anything, ripped the still-beating heart from my chest if it meant Wren would be okay.
“Lose the cops. I see one sign of a badge, and I blow Wren’s pretty little head off and save us all the trouble of a get-together.”
Fury swept through me, melting the ice in my veins and turning it to lava. “Done. I’m in Nash’s SUV, though.” He didn’t need to know that Nash was with me, not until it was too late for him.
Jude cursed. “Fine. Park at the start of the access road behind Wren’s cabin. I’ll give you more instructions once you get there. You’ve got ten minutes.”
“Don’t hurt her.” The plea was guttural, pulled from the depths of my soul.
He chuckled. “She’s already a little hurt. Only time will tell how much worse it gets.”
Bile swirled in my gut, and images of Wren flashed in my mind—a slideshow of the worst things I could imagine interspersed with the best memories I had of her. It was a special kind of torture having those two paired together.
My breathing grew ragged as I struggled to keep it under control. “Don’t.”
“Then you don’t want to test my patience. Where are you?”
