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She smacked my arm and laughed, shaking her head. “I’m not going to poison you or anything. It’s hard to mess up tacos.”
“We’ll see,” I said with a smile.
She pulled out her phone and scrolled.
“That’s strange,” she murmured.
“What is?”
“My mother hasn’t called me six times today or sent me an itinerary of what I should be doing instead of what I have planned.”
I chewed on my bottom lip, thinking of the best way to tell her. Do I say she’s missing? No. I need to be more specific.
“She’s probably busy,” she said, and pursed her lips. “But that never stops her from taking the time to tell me what I should be doing. It’s one of her favorite things.”
She hit a button on her phone and raised it to her ear.
“Who are you calling?”
“My mother, of course.”
Pick up. Pick up.
I prayed the governor would answer her phone, but it kept ringing and ringing. Nikole ended the call and frowned.
It was one thing to wait for more information when she was oblivious to the situation, but now she was worried.
“Nikole,” I started and grabbed her fingers. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
I balanced my attention between the road and Nikole. She blinked and furrowed her brow.
When I finally stopped at a red light, I turned to her and shared my suspicion. “I think your mother’s been kidnapped.”
I knew I could have worded it better, but I felt pressured to say it all while stopped at the light. It was the worst-case scenario, but something in my body told me it was true. I’d rarely been wrong whenever I’d had this feeling in my gut. I owed Nikole the truth. I braced myself for the tears, but her lips twitched, and she laughed instead.
She smacked my arm and chuckled. “You’re outrageous,” she said, shaking her head. “As if I’d believe that.”
The light turned green, and I pressed the gas pedal but kept returning my attention to her. She was still smiling. “I’m telling you the truth.”
She tilted her head. “Do you think I’m going to fall for this a second time? It’s really not necessary, you know. You don’t need to scare me anymore. I think being chased by a man holding a rifle did a pretty good job of that.”
All right, enough of this.
I pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the car. Reaching for both of her hands, I spoke as calmly and as clearly as I could, without making her panic.
“Nikole, I’m not trying to scare you, but this is what I know. Will is at your mother’s apartment right now. She and Christian are not there. They’ve only found his cell phone. Jager is trying to trace your mother’s phone, but nothing has come up yet.”
Her jaw dropped, and her mouth opened slightly. Then her bottom lip trembled, and she pressed a hand to cover her mouth. “Oh, my god. My poor mother. They’re going to hurt her.”
“We don’t know what they want from her yet. There’s been no ransom or demands.”
“But you’re worried. And I’ve never seen you worried. Will my mother be okay?”
Her voice cracked, and it was the first time I’d seen Nikole look crushed. Yes, she was scared when I’d kidnapped her, but she had fought back. Her arms now fell limply to her sides and her shoulders slumped forward.
“We’ll find her. I promise. We’ll find her.”
22
