FRIDAY, JUNE 27
Mud squishesthrough my toes as I climb up the hill, running as fast as I can toward Mayte’s home. That’s where they would’ve gone.I’m sure of it.
The thought of my best friend, practically mysister, in harm's way because of me has the contents of my stomach threatening to make an untimely appearance. I choke the bile down, angry tears streaming down my face.Isabela.God, what if they hurt her? I’ll never be able to live with myself.
My gut wrenches, joints screaming for me to quit running, butI can’t.I refuse. I have to make it there in time.
Ihaveto.
Lightning cracks overhead, and I jolt in panic, my heart racing, the sound pounding violently behind my eardrums.
The soft, wet earth is unforgiving, and I slide through the grass, falling to my knees multiple times as I make my ascent to her house. I see the small blue cottage on the top of the hill, Russ’s black Ford Expedition pulling into the driveway giving me a renewed sense of hope that I might make it in time, and I’m cursing myself for not taking Ryder up on his offer to teach me how to drive.
I drag myself up the hill, my lungs protesting with each wheeze. Rain pelts my skin, everything burning, aching, the pain made up of every excruciating sensation I can think of all mixing into one horrendous potion of my own destruction.
Teddy’s gun weighs heavily in my hand, the metal cold and biting, as I sob.
“I’m almost there, Mayte. Just hold on one more minute.”
Fear races through me as my feet pound against the hard clay at the end of her driveway. My eyes are trained ahead, thunder clapping around me.
I’m fifteen yards away when my whole worldstops.
Two gunshots bang through the air, the sound muffled by Isabela’s screams, muzzle flash lighting up her nursery window.
I fall to my knees, suffocated, like the walls of despair are closing in around me, crushing me beneath their weight. The lump in my throat feels too thick, too heavy to swallow around.
Isabela needs me.
It’s the only thought that has me picking myself up from the water-logged ground, dragging my limp body into the house, where I’m certain the image will haunt my nightmares until the day I die.
I’m glad Ryder isn’t here to witness this.
Chapter Seventy-One
PANIC CALLING
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
I’m vibratingwith nervous energy as I approach the gate, my heart sinking to my toes when I see the electric gate hanging off its hinges.
Nugget shuffles around his seat, unable to sit still the entire ride back, his tongue hanging from his mouth as he pants, fogging up the window.
I drive through the gate, cataloging my surroundings as I go, looking for anything else that might be out of place. My phone pings with messages and missed calls, one after the other, the sound grating on my nerves.
Nothing prepares me for the sight before me as I make it further down the dirt path onto the ranch. The little blue house I once went to for morning coffee and game night is now surrounded by an ambulance, a fire truck, and no fewer than six police cars.
Flashing red-and-blue lights surround Mayte’s home, and my lungs cease to work.
My heart hammers in my chest, my breaths coming shallow as darkness clouds my vision. I throw my truck into park,unclip my seatbelt with unsteady hands, and toss myself out the door, my legs wobbling beneath me.
Fear.Unbridled fear fills every crevice of my soul as I fight through a panic attack that won’t wait much longer before it pulls me into its current, whether I’mready or not.
Chapter Seventy-Two
ANXIETY SHITS
FRIDAY, JUNE 27
