Page 43 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable (The Beautiful Scars Duet #2)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Levi

I rub my burning eyes, staring at the wall of monitors finally coming back online. Four days with only a few hours of sleep is catching up to me. The security room's dim light doesn't help.

"Last camera's up." Z's voice sounds as exhausted as I feel. "Perimeter's fully covered again."

My shoulders ache from tension. "About fucking time."

All I can think about is getting upstairs to Sunny. She's been practically catatonic since Jade was taken, barely eating, barely speaking. The guilt eats at me—we should’ve seen this coming. Been more prepared and known no one was off limits.

"Get some rest," Z says, his eyes still fixed on the screens. "I've got this."

I don't argue. My feet feel like lead as I climb the stairs. The house is quiet except for muffled voices from the kitchen where Chase and Wolf are taking a break.

The bedroom door creaks when I push it open. "Angel?"

The bed is empty. My heart skips but I force down the immediate panic. She's probably wandered downstairs, maybe even felt well enough to eat something. God knows she needs it.

I check the bathroom. Nothing.

Back down the stairs, scanning the living room. Empty.

"Anyone seen Sunny?" I call out, trying to keep the rising feeling of panic settling in my gut under control.

Rex looks up from his laptop. "Not since yesterday."

The kitchen is empty except for Wolf making coffee. He shakes his head before I can ask.

My chest tightens as I move faster through the house. "Sunny?" Each empty room ratchets up my pulse, my voice getting louder. "SUNNY!"

Z appears in the hallway, tension visible in his shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"She's not in our room. Nobody's seen her." The words come out choked.

"She has to be here somewhere." But I hear the edge of fear in his voice too.

We split up, searching every room, every closet. My calls for her get more desperate with each empty space. This can't be happening. There is no way she's gone.

When I burst back into our bedroom, something catches my eye on the bed. A folded piece of paper. My hands shake as I pick it up.

Z comes in behind me. "Levi?"

I can barely read the words through my blurring vision.

"No." The paper crumples in my fist. "She wouldn't do that. There's no way she—."

Z grabs the note, scanning it quickly. His face goes pale. "The override codes. We gave her everything she needed...”

"How long?" My voice sounds strange in my ears. "How fucking long has she been gone?"

He checks his phone. "We were the last ones to see her. Right before we went downstairs...fuck. Maybe four, five hours ago."

The room spins. Four hours. She's been with that monster for four hours while we sat here staring at blacked out fucking security screens.

"We have to find her." I'm already moving, though I have no idea where. "Now."

"Levi." Z's hand catches my arm. His grip is iron but his voice shakes. "She could've left four hours ago. She could be anywhere by now."

"I don't care." I wrench away from him. "I'm not losing her again. I can't lose her Z."

But we both know the truth. We didn't lose her. She left. Willingly.

We gave her the tools—we gave her everything she needed to sacrifice herself. We were so focused on keeping threats out that we never seriously considered we'd need to keep her in. Now she's gone. She walked right out the door and into Garrett's hands.

"I'll get Wolf and Colt." Z's voice is hollow. "Start checking traffic cams, put out alerts to our contacts."

I stare at the crumpled note in my hand, remembering how small and broken she looked these past days. How we thought we were protecting her by giving her those codes.

Instead we taught her exactly how to slip away from us.

"We'll find her." Z says it like a prayer. "We have to find her."

But we both know with each passing minute, the chances of that get smaller. And somewhere out there, that sadistic bastard has both her and Jade now.

I slam my fist into the wall, welcoming the pain. Better than this helpless terror. Better than imagining what he's doing to her while we stand here useless.

"I'm sorry, Angel," I whisper. "I'm so fucking sorry."

Zane

I can't stop staring at the letter she left. The words blur together after reading them for the hundredth time, but I keep coming back to that one line: 'I did my best to make it as easy for you as I could.'

The house feels like a tomb. Levi's rage echoes through every room. Colt hasn't spoken in hours, just sits at his station with dead eyes. Even Chase and Wolf are silent as they work.

My hands shake as I try to focus on the security feeds. The tactical part of my brain— the part that's kept us alive all these years—feels wrapped in cotton. All I can think about is her face right before we left her and went downstairs. Did she know then? Was she already planning this?

"Fuck!" I slam my fist against the desk. She had to know Garrett would never actually make a trade like that. She's too smart not to realize he'll keep them both. Which means she went anyway, walked straight into his trap to buy us time or...

The letter crumples in my grip. Something about that line keeps nagging at me. Make it easy for us to do what exactly? Tracking her phone had gotten us nowhere. He's either blocking the signal or it's been destroyed. Either way it's worthless to us.

And then it hits me.

The jacket.

Three days ago, right after Jade was taken, I slipped a tracker into her favorite denim jacket. Told her to keep it close, just in case. At the time, it was more about making her feel a little safer than thinking it would be something she’d need.

I bolt from my chair, and fly up the stairs. Our room still smells like her—that mix of vanilla and flowers that clings to everything she touches. The closet door stands open, hangers askew.

It's gone. The jacket’s gone.

"Levi!" My voice booms through the house. "LEVI!"

He appears in the doorway, eyes wild, knuckles bloody. "What?"

"The tracker." I'm already pulling up the app on my phone. "She took it."

His expression shifts from confusion, to hazy understanding to relief. "Our clever girl."

"We're not flying blind." I can't help the grin spreading across my face. "She left us breadcrumbs."

"BOSS!" Wolf's voice carries from downstairs. "Car at the gate!"

We thunder down to the security room, crowding around the monitors. A black sedan with heavily tinted windows sits idling at the newly repaired at gate. The plates are blacked out.

The back door opens and a body hits the ground hard. Black hair spills across the dirt.

"Jade." Colt's voice breaks on her name. He's already moving, chair clattering behind him.

"Colt, wait—" But he's gone, tearing through the house like hellfire.

I grab the radio. "Everyone! Keep your eyes on that car. Do not engage unless they make hostile moves. Let's not spook them while Colt's exposed. While Jade's exposed."

The feed shows Colt reaching Jade, gathering her into his arms. She's moving, alive at least. The sedan peels away, leaving rubber on asphalt.

"Wolf, get medical ready." I keep my voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through me. "Chase, Rex—sweep the perimeter. Make sure this isn't another distraction."

Levi grabs my arm, eyes fierce. "Z, the tracker—"

"Already on it." I pull up the app again. The signal is strong, moving steadily northeast. "She knew exactly what she was doing."

"That's our girl." His voice is rough with emotion.

I watch the little blip on my screen, silently thanking whatever instinct made us plant that tracker. Hold on, Sunny. We're coming.

The security feed shows Colt carrying Jade inside, her face buried in his neck. She's alive. She's here. Which means Garrett kept his word about the trade.

My stomach turns. Because if he kept his word about that, it means he has exactly what he wanted all along.

He has our Sunny. And he wanted her even more badly than any of us could've imagined.

But this time, she's given us a way to find her.

I meet Levi's eyes, see the same determination reflected there. Time to get our girl back.