how to get to her.”
I
yelled out again and this time, the sound surprised me. It wasn’t a threatening
growl, but a cry of desolation. The tears were pouring from my eyes before I
could stop them and I thought I would collapse again. I tried to stand but I
fell to the ground again and Jude caught me. I felt his strong arm around my
shoulders holding me up as I broke down. My beautiful Everleigh had been taken
by the sadistic fuck that tried to violate her, murdered her friend, and tried
to kill me tonight. This was a huge city and rationally I knew there was no way
in hell anyone would be able to find her in time before he raped her…or worse.
I
closed my eyes and tried to feel her…I had to know she was still alive. He
could have her anywhere and he could be doing anything to her right now. I
imagined her in some dirty motel room, terrified as he hovered over her. I
imagined him tearing at her clothes and her screaming for help. I imagined him
finally getting what he wanted…to violate my sweet Everleigh in such a heinous
way and her being powerless to stop it. The thought made my heart break a
thousand times over.
I
barely registered anything as I felt Jude’s arm leave me and several people
crowding around me, touching my head and applying something to my cut that
stung and burned. I heard someone say I didn’t need stitches and that I might
have a possible concussion from the hit, and then I felt someone trying to
stand me up. “Ryder, come on, you’ve got to focus. Everleigh needs you to be
strong right now,” I heard Beau say. “We need to find her and you have to lead
the way.”
I
shook my head and tried to dissipate the fog in my brain. Beau was right…my
beautiful Everleigh needed me right now. I had to be strong for her and not let
that fucker knock me down. If anything happened to Everleigh I wouldn’t be able
to go on…I had to save her. “Right. Okay,” I said, gathering my thoughts and
feel my urge for revenge burning through me. I wiped the tears from my eyes
with the back of my hand and said, “Where is my phone?”
“I
have it,” Kris said. “She hasn’t called yet, man. My guess is that Scott took
her phone. Just try to stay calm, okay? At this point I don’t think he will
kill her. He’s been desperate to get her back so if anything he will try to…”
“Don’t
fucking say it, man,” I said, stopping him. I knew what he was thinking. Hell,
we all were probably thinking the same thing but if I stopped to think about it
again I might kill someone.
The
cops came into the bathroom at that moment and we all walked out into the hall
so we could talk. They introduced themselves but I knew I wouldn’t remember
their names later. When I finally focused on what they were saying, I heard one
of them say, “Mr. Matthews, we are doing everything we can to find your
girlfriend.” That statement made me see red.
“Are
you fucking kidding me?” I snapped.
“Ryder,
calm down, man,” Jude said, grabbing my arm, but I shoved him off.
“You
are doing everything you can? That’s fucking hilarious. Where the hell were you
assholes when we called you last week telling you that Scott Adams had fled
Indiana after murdering a woman and was here in the city stalking my
girlfriend? Where were you when he showed up at my penthouse a week ago and
sent a picture of Trisha Cramer’s dead body to Everleigh? What have you all
done to try and find this psycho before he tried to kill me and then kidnap my
girlfriend? Oh yeah, that’s right, you’ve done nothing !” I screamed, not
caring that my head was pounding so painfully I was on the verge of passing
out.
“Mr.
Matthews, I am sorry that we haven’t been able to track down Mr. Adams, but I
can assure you that we have every available officer on this,” said the cop, who
was trying hard to stay calm.
“Well,
that doesn’t fucking mean a thing to me. Until I see Everleigh again and she’s
safe and unharmed everything you say to me at
Kade Boehme, Allison Cassatta
Lori Foster, Janelle Denison, Kayla Perrin