Page 68 of Brick

Arnie’s eyes bulged again.“Get them locked up,” he said to the officers standing around.

“Someone just took Natalie.It had to be Keetan.”Brick slowly lowered his hands, and the chief nodded for him to drop them.

“Rosealee and Tommy went after them,” the officer with Brick’s gun told Arnie.

“I need to go,” Brick insisted.“You can’t keep me here.”

“We need a statement—”

“You’ll get one later,” he snapped, glaring at the officer.He looked at the chief again.“Sir, I’m getting in my SUV.”He reached forward and took his gun from the officer.“And I’m going after them.If you’ve got a problem with that, go ahead and arrest me.”

Brick made a beeline for his vehicle, storming around the cops forcing Clyde and Justin into the station.Another officer said something to Arnie, but Brick couldn’t hear the words.

“Let him go,” Arnie countered gruffly.

Brick immediately got behind the wheel and shifted into drive.Another cop car tore out of the parking lot ahead of him, sirens blaring.He called Taschen, and the line rang through the speakers.Fear trickled down his spine.If they’d gotten Bray, if they’d hurt him...fuck, he couldn’t handle that thought.

“’Lo?”

Some of the tension gripping Brick’s throat lessened at the sound of Taschen’s lazy tone.“Where’s Bray?”

“Here.Eating a bowl of yogurt and fruit.Kid eats like a tank.”

“Keetan just ambushed us at the goddamn police station.They took Natalie.”Saying the words aloud hurt his heart.

Christ, he’d told her she was safe.He’d promised her Keetan wouldn’t hurt her again.He’d fucking kill him.

“Shit,” Taschen hissed.

“What’s wrong?”said Ellie, in the background.

Hell.He didn’t want to scare Bray.“Don’t upset them.Tell Ellie when Bray’s not listening.”

“Roger that.What do you need me to do?”His voice was hushed, and the soft click of a door closing told him Taschen had gone somewhere private to talk.

Brick sailed through a green light.He was following the cop car because he had no fucking clue which way Keetan had gone.Scrubbing his hand over his face, he swerved in front of a truck to stay behind the cops.“I don’t know, man.I can’t fucking think.”

“What precinct were you at?”

Brick told him.

“All right.Zain can stay here with Ellie and Bray.I’ll come meet you.We’ll have Ghost hack into the security cameras to identify the vehicle—”

“I got the plate number.”He rattled it off along with the color, make, and model of the car.

“You’ve saved us half the guesswork,” Taschen said lightly.

“I want you to stay with them.”He couldn’t fathom something happening to Bray.He’d never been so pulled, so equally divided, in his life.

“You can’t go after them by yourself.Do you even know where the hell you’re going?”

“I’m following the cops right now.They must have a lead on him.”As the words came out of his mouth, the cop car pulled to the side of the road.

Brick slowed and parked behind them.The siren cut out but the lights continued to flash.“I’ll call you back.”

An officer stepped out of the car.Brick hopped out to meet him on the road.“What is it?”

The cop placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.“We lost ’em.”