Page 19

CHAPTER 19

Brooklyn moved the food around her plate. She had no appetite, and her stomach was too full of screaming pterodactyls to really think about putting anything else in it. She wasn’t worried about getting lightheaded from lack of food, but she was worried about eating and then puking her guts up later if things didn’t go well.

She tried to squash the panic. Negative thoughts wouldn’t help Liam, and they wouldn’t help her. She needed to think positively and trust Ethan and his team. She took a sip of her tepid tea, grimaced, and set the cup down.

Slumping in her chair, she ran her hands down over her face and then glanced at her watch. Not long now. Time had dragged, but now, suddenly, it sped up.

“How are you doing?” Ethan asked as he put a new cup of tea down in front of her. He glanced at her plate but didn’t admonish her for not eating.

“I’m…” She had no idea how to answer that question.

Ethan sat across from her. “It was a stupid question. I know how you are.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “You will get through this. We’ll get Liam back and you two will move past this.”

“Promise?” she asked but then waved him off. “That wasn’t fair. I know you can’t promise to get Liam back safely.”

“I will do everything in my power to make that happen. To keep both of you safe.”

Ethan looked so serious, so solemn that her heart squeezed a bit more. She was falling for this man, no question. He had done all the right things through this crisis. He’d been there for her at every turn. Said and did all the right things to make her feel safe. She’d been so mean to him, thinking he had ghosted her when he had no memory of their night together. Guilt washed over her for how she treated him. She needed to apologize. Anything could happen tonight. Anything. She needed to clear the air between her and Ethan.

Leaning forward in her chair, Brooklyn started. “Ethan, I want to apologize to you.”

Ethan frowned. “What for? You’ve done nothing wrong.”

“I’ve been treating you…badly up until…this crisis, and that’s not fair to you. Even though I was an utter bitch, you stepped up and have done everything possible to help me and Liam. I owe you everything.”

He shook his head. “You owe me nothing. I promised you I’d protect Liam, and they still managed to grab him. That’s on me. If anything, I owe you an apology.”

She shook her head. “There’s no way you could’ve known they would grab him at school. That is on the school and quite frankly, Liam. As much as I hate to admit it, he got into that SUV willingly. It’s not his fault, he’s just a kid, but there’s no way for you to anticipate that he might do something like that.”

She cleared her throat. “I need to tell you something though. The reason I was so cold to you, so bitchy is…I thought you ghosted me.”

The shrill sound of her cell phone ringing rent the air. It was as if all the oxygen was magically sucked out of the room.

Cooper, Bellamy, and Rusty rushed into the kitchen area, their expressions grim. The air was thick with tension. Ethan gave Brooklyn’s hand a reassuring squeeze before pressing the button to put the call on speaker. The faint crackle of static filled the space, each second stretching unbearably long.

“Hello?” Brooklyn’s voice wavered, her throat tightening with fear.

“You have the USB drive?” The voice on the other end was so distorted and emotionless it sent an icy shiver down her spine.

“Yes.”

“Bring it to the Pu’u O Umi Nature Preserve. Twelve-thirty.”

Brooklyn’s pulse pounded. “That’s more than ten thousand acres!” she burst out, frustration laced with fear.

“I’ll send you coordinates.” The voice remained eerily calm, unaffected by her panic. “Come alone. No cops. And you have to be the one who delivers the USB. Your boyfriend can drive but you have to be there.”

Brooklyn swallowed hard, her fingers trembling as she clenched Ethan’s hand. “I want to talk to Liam,” she demanded, her tone turning steely. “I’m not coming unless I know he’s okay.”

Silence stretched; suffocating and heavy. Then, a small voice broke through the static.

“Aunt Brooklyn?”

Brooklyn gasped, her breath catching in her throat. “Liam! Are you okay? We’re coming to get you, buddy.”

There was no response. Just dead air.

Brooklyn sat frozen, the phone still clutched in her grip. The sudden, deafening silence rang louder than the call itself. The room seemed to close in around her, the walls pressing against the fear clawing at her chest.

“They cut the call,” Ethan muttered, his jaw tightening.

Brooklyn sucked in a shaky breath, blinking hard to push back the rising panic. They had a location, but no guarantees. Liam had sounded scared, vulnerable. And now, with no way to reach him, they were walking straight into the unknown.

“We’re running out of time,” Rusty said, his voice grim. “We need to move.”

Brooklyn nodded, forcing down the panic. They had no choice. They had to go. They had to get Liam back. No matter what it took.