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“Theo,” I scream, charging into the woods. “Theo! The game’s over. Come out now.” Spinning around, I search frantically, hoping my eyes will fall on him coming from a clever hiding spot. But he doesn’t appear.
The shadows become ominous, and I move deeper into the forest. Branches and leaves crunch under my haphazard stampede through the brush. No matter how deeply I try to breathe, all I can manage are shallow pants. Birds stop chirping, and all of the animal chatter is silent, as though watching and waiting for something. What? The skin on the back of my neck stands up, prickling with awareness—is someone out there? Is it my imagination?
Darting from tree to tree, I look behind each, hoping to see a glimpse of his shirt or blond hair. Fuck—what was he even wearing this morning? My night of debauchery had me so distracted that I didn’t even notice. Damnation flows over me like ice dumped over my head. What kind of mother spends more time thinking about her pussy than noticing her kids’ clothing?
This place was supposed to be safe. Hidden.
I came here to protect my son—and now I’ve lost him.
“You’re such a shitty mother, Arden,” Frank spews, grabbing me by the hair before smashing me into the wall. Blood fills my mouth, and pain rattles my teeth. A warm liquid trickles down my chin, dripping onto my shirt. “A complete fucking failure.”
He rips me back before tossing me against the unforgiving stucco of the wall. It scrapes against my face, damaging my skin—but his words hit harder than the physical blows. Theo’s behavior at school has been terrible. He’s been acting out. Fighting and throwing fits. And it’s all my fault.
“You thought you could take him from me. But I’ll never let that happen, you bitch. He’s mine. You’re mine. And if you don’t fix him, then I’ll teach him a lesson he’ll never forget.”
My vision becomes blurry and I swipe at my eyes, trying to clear them, shocked when my hand comes away wet. A loud keening sound fills the woods as I drop to my knees.
“Theo,” I cry again and again until my voice grows hoarse. I’m about to wade further into the woods when a little hand grips mine. Looking down at Dylan, the fear in his eyes is palpable, and although I’m panicking, the urge to comfort this little boy brings me back. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to find him.”
Branches snap under my feet, and leaves crunch as we trek out of the woods, leaving my heart behind. The little cabin that has become a refuge appears before us, and I hustle Dylan up the stairs. “Let’s call your parents to come get you,” I say, my voice cracking.
“And we should call Uncle Jeremy. Blue’s always finding lost people,” he says. Fuck, why didn’t I think of that?
I shoot off a quick text to Dylan’s parents, who respond almost immediately, then scroll through my contacts to find Jeremy.
My finger hesitates over his name. Should I call him? Or 911?
Tapping the screen, I hold my breath and wait. Hoping like hell he’ll pick up…
Chapter Fourteen
“3, 2, 1 lift,” Tucker says, and I tense my muscles, lifting with my legs. The heavy crate rises from the floor, and as soon as we start shuffling it over to the wall my phone buzzes in my pocket. My gut tells me it needs answering, but there’s no way I can reach around to grab it. The buzzing stops and I breathe a sigh of relief, almost ready to place the heavy load where it has to go.
But then it begins again. Shit.
“Kenna,” I call, grabbing the attention of my fellow SAR member. Most of the team has left for the day and we’re just cleaning up the last of the training materials. “I think someone’s trying to get a hold of me. Can you come check my phone?”
She snags it quickly from my back pocket and checks the screen. “The name says Arden… want me to answer it?”
If it were anyone else, I would say yes, but there’s no way I’m giving Arden any reason whatsoever to doubt me. “Hold it to my ear, please,” I say with a grunt as we continue our slow, laborious journey. Kenna gives me a knowing smirk but does what I ask, snorting when Tucker makes kissy faces at me across the gigantic box.
“Hey, Sugar. Everything okay?” I ask anxiously when she puts it up to my ear. Tucker, juvenile moron that he is, begins wiggling his eyebrows at me, and I have to stifle my laughter.
As soon as she speaks, though, I can tell something is gravely wrong. “Jeremy, I need you… and Blue,” she rasps, her voice sounding like her throat is too swollen to speak.
Kenna and Tucker must see the concern on my face, because we pick up the pace, dropping the box so I can claim my phone. However, both of them remain close by.
“What’s going on? I can head your way right now,” I say, signaling for Blue and gathering our belongings as fast as possible.
“The boys were playing near the woods. And Theo is gone,” she says thickly, despair coating every word. But what she says next chills me to the bone. “I think someone took him.”
“Okay, Arden. We’re on our way. I’m going to be there before you know it. But I need you to do something for me. Okay?” I wait for an answer to make sure she’s listening.
“Okay,” she agrees hesitantly. Grabbing a pen, I jot down the info for Kenna and Tucker. Both are cops and SAR members. There couldn’t be anyone better equipped to help handle whatever’s going on. As soon as they see the words ‘lost child’ and ‘possibly taken’, they’re on their phones calling in all the teams we can get.
“I need you to go to your cabin and stay there. Don’t go looking for him,” I explain. “We’re already setting up a search, and if you stay safe we have the best chance of finding Theo.”
She sniffles a few times and my heart breaks at the sound. “This is what we do, Sugar. And we’re really good at it. I promise you’ll be hugging him soon.”
