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“He’ll sign on with us,” I replied confidently. “We’re offering everything he wanted, all for less than the last company. Why wouldn’t he?”
“Maybe we should start charging more. I don’t want people thinking we’re the budget option.”
“I’ve been thinking the same. Now our name is getting out there, I think we can up our rates. We have the reputation to back it up,” I agreed.
“Let’s see what Aleks thinks,” Harris suggested and I nodded my agreement as I gathered up my own laptop and notes, shoving them into my backpack.
“Shall we grab something for lunch on the way home?” I asked. We were short on food back at the house, in serious need of a run to the grocery store.
“Sure. I’ll call Aleks and see what they want. They should have picked Zack up by now.” Harris pulled out his cell, but it started ringing in his hand before he could even unlock the screen. “Speak of the devil,” he laughed as he answered.
I busied myself puling on my jacket and zipping up my backpack, ready to get out of there. I was eager to get home, and back to Evie. It was getting harder and harder to be away from her, if I were honest with myself. I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss we shared either. It had been mind blowing. And yes, I knew how lame that made me sound, but it was true. I had kissed many women in my life, and slept with most of them too, but I had never had a moment like the one I shared with Evie that morning. It was like she had turned my whole world upside down with that one kiss. Suddenly I could see a future for myself – for both of us. I could see her light seeping into the darkness within me and pushing it back. I could see her changing everything and I wanted that. I wanted her.
“What?” Harris barked, his tone instantly capturing my attention. “What the fuck do you mean? Where is she?”
“What’s going on?” I asked as he turned to look at me, panic filling his face. He pressed the screen of his cell, then placed it on the conference table between us. I didn’t miss the way he grabbed the leather chair and gripped the top of it so hard his knuckles turned white.
“I was gone for less than three minutes. They wouldn’t let her come back with me because her name wasn’t on the list. I…I thought she’d be safe,” Aleks explained frantically. “When I came out with Zack, she was just gone. I…I checked the truck, but she wasn’t there and I’ve looked all around in case she just got scared and freaked out, but she’s not here. She’s fucking gone!”
“Evie?” I asked, dumbly. I couldn’t take it in. She couldn’t be gone. She couldn’t!
“FUCK!” Harris roared. He picked up the chair he’d been gripping and launched it across the room violently. I was freaking out too, ready to smash up the whole damned building. If that bastard had taken her again, she wouldn’t survive it. I knew she was strong, but she had already been through so much. She was barely beginning to find her feet again. She wasn’t strong enough to survive more torture. And what if he just killed her this time? I couldn’t lose her. We couldn’t lose her. We needed her.
“Guys! We need to do something. The longer he has the her, the further away he’s getting!” Aleks snapped.
“He’s right,” I agreed as I pulled my hands from pulling at my hair and looked to Harris.
“Aleks, call Nick. Tell him to do whatever needs to be done to get the cops looking for her. We can’t worry about them knowing everything anymore. We need their help to get her back,” Harris said, a calm washing over him as quickly as the anger had.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll access the surveillance footage at the daycare too. See if we can see what direction they headed.”
“Are we sure he took her? What if she just ran away?” I asked, and hoped.
“That’s what I was hoping for too, but I searched everywhere around here, and I don’t believe she’d have gone any further. She was too scared to be alone in public. I’m sure this was that fucker,” Aleks replied.
“Check the surveillance footage and let us know. If he took her, he had to have come into the building, so he should be on there,” Harris said. “We’ll meet you there, but I need to ring her brothers first. They can help us search this time.”
“Evie wouldn’t want them getting involved,” I warned, knowing how scared she was that any of her family would be hurt.
“We’re not playing this fucker’s games anymore! He has her and we need to use every resource we have to get her back before it’s too damned late!” he growled.
“Okay,” I nodded. He was right. We’d been cautious for Evie’s sake up to that point, but screw that now. We had to find her. Nothing else mattered.
Aleks hung up and I listened as Harris dialed the burner number we had for Evie’s brothers, while moving to the hidden cupboard in the corner of the room. There were several of them in the office, and in our home – hidden, secured weapon storage. We were paranoid fuckers after everything we’d been through, and wanted to make sure we were always prepared.
I pulled out three Glocks and several cartridges, checking they were all loaded and ready if required. Nick had his service weapon, but I wanted to make sure the rest of us were armed. When we caught up to this piece of shit that had her, we were taking him out. No way he got to live a second longer.
“Evie?” One of her brothers answered after just two rings, the call on loudspeaker, Harris’s cell on the table as he pulled on his coat grabbed one of the Glocks, tucking it at the small of his back.
“It’s me,” he said. “We need you guys here as soon as. Evie’s been taken.” Harris was keeping his tone calm and professional, but he wasn’t fooling me. The worry and panic were all over his face.
“What?” The voice on the call roared. “How the fuck did you let that happen?”
“We don’t have time, Kyle. You can kick my ass later. She’s already been gone twenty minutes. I’m not wasting time arguing. Get here if you want to help. I’ll text you our address. Call me on this number,” Harris leaned in to disconnect the call.
“Wait! Was it him? Does he have her again?” Kyle asked.
“We think so, but it’s not confirmed yet. Working on it now,” Harris replied as he put two spare ammo cartridges into his pockets.
