Page 33

Chapter 32

S lamming my hands down on the steering wheel, I feel the rage I'd been trying to suppress fill my veins. This is my fault. I should have dealt with him sooner. If I had, this would never have happened.

I can’t shake the guilt of what happened to my best friend. The attack, the miscarriage... it’s all my fault.

But I can get revenge for her with my own twisted justice. Moments ago, the police still hadn’t found Dalton. This is my chance.

Grabbing the burner phone from my console, I dial the one person who can help.

“Tess, it’s good to hear from you—”

“Bryce, I-I need your help.”

“Anything, babe. Are you okay?” Concern laces his voice.

“I am. But my friend isn’t. Can you track a phone for me? I need to know where this piece of shit is and who he’s contacted in the last six months. He’s on the run, and I need to find him before the cops do.” I grit the words out, my hands shaking with barely-contained anger.

“I’m on it. But promise me you won’t do anything reckless before you hear from me.”

“Not sure I can do that.”

“Promise. Me.” His tone is firm.

Inwardly, I groan. I’m not one to sit and wait. “Okay, Dad, I promise.”

“I’m holding you to it. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

“Thanks, Bryce.” I hang up.

A sharp rapping on my window makes me jump. I press the unlock button, and Eli slides into the passenger seat.

“Tessa, what are you doing?” His eyes burn with a mix of concern and anger as he grabs my chin, pulling my face toward his. “I step away with Jace for one minute and you’re gone. Dalton’s still out there somewhere. We don’t know what his mindset is right now. I need to know you're safe.”

“I’m sorry, Stalker, but it’s none of your business,” I snap, my voice sharp.

“Anything to do with you is my business. Did you forget the part where I said you are mine now?”

“Look, I’m trying to keep you out of this. I don’t want to drag you into the dark parts of my world.”

His eyes soften. “You are my world. I want to be in every single part of it.” His hands slide to the back of my neck as he pulls me closer, kissing me gently on the lips.

“I had to make a call,” I sigh, my voice filled with exhaustion. “The police have had hours to find Dalton, and they still haven’t. So I have someone on it. ”

“You mean your friend Bryce?”

“How do you know about Bryce?”

“I’m your stalker, love. Do you really think I didn’t look into you after we met?” Eli looks at me skeptically. “Bryce Hayes, twenty-eight years old, lives in Cummings, Georgia, with his partner, Gabriel. You and Bryce met in college and have been friends ever since.”

“Well, I guess I passed the background check,” I reply sarcastically.

“You were always going to be mine. You just didn’t know it. What’s the plan?” He smirks. He actually smirks at me.

I take in his words. Words I’ve never heard before meeting him. This man understands me and accepts me for who I am. If I had any lingering doubts before, they’re gone now.

“As much as it pains me, we wait. If anyone can track down Dalton, it’s Bryce.”

“Okay, then we wait. But we wait together.” He takes my hand, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.

“I need to grab some things from my house. And a shower,” I grimace, eyeing my disheveled appearance.

“Alright, let’s get out of here.”

After showering and throwing on leggings and a black tank top, I go downstairs to find an empty house since Eli left to grab some clothes. I suppose I should give him a drawer, maybe even a small section of my closet. He’s wormed his way into my life, and I’ve accepted that— I want him in it.

I still haven’t heard from Bryce, and it’s driving me crazy. Pacing the kitchen doesn’t help, but when the alarm sounds, and I glance at my phone to see Eli pulling into the driveway, I feel slightly better that he’s returned. He has a key, and I’ve given him the code to get into the house. It’s hard to believe that I can let my guard down so completely, but with him, it feels different. It feels right.

I flip on the TV as he comes through the door carrying a pizza. The smell of cheese and garlic fills the air, and my stomach grumbles in response. I can’t remember the last time I ate.

“That smells amazing,” I moan.

I can’t help but notice how his shirt hugs his tanned, muscled arms as he sets the pizza box onto the counter. He catches me staring, and a slow smile spreads across his face as he pulls me close, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

“You need to eat, love.”

The feeling I get every time he calls me “love” is indescribable. I grab some paper plates, and we settle on the couch in front of the TV to eat. He flips through the channels while I focus on my pizza, my mind still flitting between Allie and Dalton.

He stops on a local news station, and my stomach drops when I see the man on the screen.

“Governor Hunt, thank you for being with us today. Could you tell us about your current project for underprivileged youth?” A young female journalist beams at him, eyes shining with adoration.

“Thank you for having me, Sandra. We’re building a—”

His voice fades as a ringing in my ears grows louder. My blood runs cold, my stomach tightens, and the pizza slips from my hand back onto the plate .

Eli’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise, his gaze narrowing with concern.

“What’s wrong?”

“I-It’s nothing. I’m fine.” My stomach churns with unease, and I force a weak smile, pushing the plate away with a trembling hand.

He looks like he’s about to argue when the burner phone rings. Saved by the bell, I snatch it up, putting it on speaker.

“Bryce, what do you have?”

“Dalton dumped his phone behind the Blue Lagoon Bar . I pulled up the security feed and saw him leaving in a red Mustang.”

Eli looks as if he’s about to say something, and I wave him off.

“Where did he go from there?”

“Finding that wasn’t easy,” Bryce grumbles. “Lake Falls needs more security cameras.”

My stomach sinks. “So, you lost him?”

“I didn’t say that. I hacked into his phone records, found the number he called last, and traced it to a local resident named Wilson Randall.”

My eyes dart upward, locking with Eli’s.

“His number last pinged at an old, abandoned warehouse on Central Street. At first, I thought his phone died or he’d shut it off because there was no signal, but then I realized he was using a raptor.”

“A raptor? You mean, like a cell phone jammer?”

“Exactly.” Concern tints Bryce’s voice. “I’ll send you the coordinates. I’m not sure what you’re about to do, Tess, but be careful.”

“Always,” I reply, ending the call .

“No need to look at the coordinates," Eli says solemnly. “I know exactly which warehouse it is.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, it belongs to my uncle.”