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I let out a shaky breath, my weakness threatening to take over. “I don’t want to die,” I whispered, voice cracking, speaking it because it was true. I’d lived through so much, seen so much, and yet still I didn’t want to die. It was selfish of me, because it was clear the world would continue to spin even after my death.
Sawyer didn’t need me. Kelsey didn’t need me. Declan and Travis didn’t need me; they could each find another girl to obsess over. And Will? Will nearly died because of me. He sure as shit didn’t need me, either. No, none of the guys in my life needed me. Right now, Ray was the only one who did.
Ray gave me a small smile, and I’d be a liar if I said I felt nothing towards the man standing less than a foot from me. “You know I would never hurt you. You’re mine, amorcito. Always mine.”
The hand touching my face fell to my arm, and I let myself be corralled to his car like some lost lamb. My hunter had found me, and he was about to take me home. My hunter, my stalker, my ruin. He had me wherever he wanted me.
He held my hand as he helped me to the car. He opened the passenger door for me, giving me a warm smile before helping me in. My blood smeared on his fingers, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care, even after what I did. Even after running, throwing the police at him, and hiding from him all this time.
I’d hurt him, and still he said he wouldn’t hurt me.
Ray got in the car, starting it up. He tossed me a lingering stare with his bright green eyes, and just like that, I was lost. No more Ash. I was what he made me, his completely, reverting back to how it always should’ve been.
No more running. No more hiding.
What was the point?
Chapter Twenty-Four – Travis
I was too far away, but I was able to get a good video. Whoever that man was, he wasn’t a stranger. Ash would never have gone off with a stranger, not while she was falling apart. My beautiful, broken girl…I didn’t blame her for freaking out, not after what happened in that basement, but to go off with him? I hated thinking that they were together, but as I caught his face on video, the way he watched her, it was obvious.
That fucking man was in love with her.
Really, it was too damn bad for him, because she was mine. I didn’t know who he was, but I’d find out.
They drove off, and I made sure to get a good picture of the car and license plate. My jaw clenched, and I could feel my rage steadily growing. That fucking prick in the basement got off lucky; he was lucky we were in someplace relatively public, or else I would’ve done worse to him.
And Brooklyn…
No. Now wasn’t the time. Now was the time to send that video to someone who could help me track her down and find her. I would not leave Ash in that man’s clutches for long, whoever the fuck he was.
I sent the video before making the call. I stood on the sidewalk, just over seventy feet from where it had happened. I stared at the car driving off into the distance, hating that I wasn’t there with her, to stop her from getting in. Though I wasn’t right beside them, I still didn’t like the way that man had looked at her. As if Ash was his and not mine. As if he had any right to her.
The phone stopped ringing the moment he picked it up. He practically growled into the phone, “What the fuck do you want, Travis? It’s late—” He sounded irritated and upset, but then again, that’s usually how he sounded. One of my many, many brothers.
“I need your help, Markus,” I said, inwardly flinching when I said it. Asking for help in this family was not something that came without a price, but regardless of what the price turned out to be, I didn’t care. I had to help Ash. She meant too much to me.
He let out a groan. “Of course you do. Everyone fucking does. Can no one take care of their own problems anymore?”
I chose not to address his question, instead saying, “I sent you a video. I need you to help me figure out who that man is, and help me find him.” The hand hanging at my side clenched into a fist. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became.
Ash had gone with him willingly. Why? Was she so upset at what happened in the basement? My girl was so much stronger than that.
“Hold on,” he said, “sounds like it came through.” The sound became muffled, and I assumed he was watching the video. I imagined him lying in bed, frowning at his phone screen in the darkness. “You’re shitting me, right?” When I said nothing, he went on, “You don’t know who that is?”
Now it was my turn to growl into the phone, “If I knew who he was, I wouldn’t be calling you, asking for a favor.” If he was in front of me right now, I would’ve attacked him. A good thing he wasn’t, because there was no way I’d be able to beat him. Markus was…much more unhinged than I was.
Like I said, certain things ran in the family. Obsession, an unhealthy need to control, along with some other things I won’t get into here.
“That’s the Midtown Strangler,” Markus said. “Ray Ruiz. He got off not too long ago due to some stupid cop who couldn’t collect evidence right.” There was a pause. “I don’t know who the girl is, though.”
“The girl is mine,” I said, causing him to laugh.
“Right. You and Lincoln. I fucking swear this family turned into a sitcom when I wasn’t looking.” Markus grew serious, which was good, because this was about as serious as a situation could be: “I’ll see if I can locate him, track him somehow.”
Track. Right. Ash’s phone.
“Let me know what you find,” I said, hanging up. I swiped at the phone screen in my hands, hitting the square app of the tracker. It was one my family used, one that could be installed on a phone remotely. If I could track Ash’s phone, then…
