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“Erick? I—uh—”
“Get here. Now. Don’t call a single person. Don’t tell a soul where you’ve been. Do you understand me?”
Panic flared in her blue eyes as she lifted them to him. “What are you talking about, Angus?”
“If you want to see Matt alive, you will keep your mouth shut and get here.”
The call ended. Horror etched across her face as her phone fell from her hand.
Wes grabbed her cell and pulled her to the elevator, pressing the call button. “We need to get out of this building.”
“But Matt—”
“We can’t do anything for him until we leave here.”
“They know we’re here. Erick has Matty.”
Wes would destroy anyone who hurt a hair on that kid’s head. He didn’t have the words to explain it. Every time his heart punched into his sternum, he wanted to explode. The elevator opened. “Let’s go.”
He pulled her in, selected the lobby, and held down the close door button. His mind raced. Wes needed to calm his thoughts and come up with a plan. Something more than find and kill.
Bailey threaded her hands into her hair, tugging until the strands pulled at her scalp. “This can’t be happening.”
“I will fix this.” The descent took an eternity, but they finally walked into the lobby. “Everything will be fine.”
“Promise me?”
He couldn’t make that promise. Uncontrolled factors were enough to send a solid plan into a tailspin. But he had no choice. “I swear on my life, baby. I’m bringing him home to you. Safe and sound.”
“How?”
The plan hadn’t formed yet. He led her out and turned toward the parking garage. “They don’t know I’m with you, correct?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“And they don’t know you went to Granite Creek. Right?”
“Right, but Erick knows I hired you to help. If this has been Erick—or Angus—this entire time? God. What is happening?”
He ran his hands into his hair, thinking, thinking, trying to organize a plan through the absolute fury clouding his judgment. “They have a way to track you. Your Jeep. Maybe your phone. Either way, we keep heading their way. I’ll call Vivian—”
“No.”
“I have to loop Viv in. It’s what we do.”
“We can’t.”
They waited for the light to turn. “Then what’s your plan? Show up and ask Angus if he knows what Erick and his buddies have done? Promise you won’t ever say anything? They killed Ryan.”
She pinched her eyes shut. “They did. Didn’t they? They really did. God.” But her eyes flashed open. “But that’s why we can’t.” The light turned, and their group stepped onto the crosswalk. She lowered her voice. “They’ll kill Matt if I don’t do what they want.”
“They’ll kill you—Bailey.” They stepped onto the curb. “Stop. Listen a second.” He pulled them out of the foot traffic. “I promised I’d keep you and Matt safe. Let me do that.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Baby, I know I don’t. I know you’re terrified, but God help me, I will fix this. Let me do what I need to. Trust me.”
“He’s my baby,” she whispered, tears spilling.
