Page 99 of Fighting Conviction

Choosing the direction he thought she’d gone, Neal ran as hard and fast as he could until he couldn’t feel the grass against his feet anymore. The hard dirt underneath him vanished and he felt nothing but warm air underneath his legs.

The sky stretched forever, above and below him. There was nothing but white light everywhere he could see, so bright it almost burned and he had to blink moisture back into his dry eyes.

“Cici?” Neal called out but choked on an acrid burning sensation in his lungs. He opened his eyes, widening them past the smoke to see an inferno raging around him. He tried to get up, but his pleather chair glued him to his seat. The crackle of fire around him pulled him under and heat washed over him like scorching water, consuming every pore.

He was encompassed in pain, so intense he couldn’t even scream, and for moments that seemed like lifetimes it was all he knew.

Until it stopped.

Neal opened his eyes. The silence rang in his ears and the darkness blinded him, swallowing him whole. But at least the pain was gone. The euphoria he’d become addicted to was back.

Cici was right. It was peaceful.

It was terrifying.

He screamed.

And then there was nothing.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Come on, Snake, do you have the location or not?”

“Been working on it since you asked me to hack into Virginia’s phone and pinpoint it two minutes ago, Devil. You know this shit takes longer in real life than in the movies.”

“He’s got it, man. We’ll find her,” Hawk murmured to Devil as they and Phoenix ran to the parking lot where Hawk had parked the BlackStone SUV. Snake was on Hawk’s speakerphone while Devil checked his own phone every fifteen seconds to see if Ellie had called him from a different number.

When the car was in view, he raced ahead to the driver’s side. He wrenched the door open only to have Phoenix slam it closed.

“Fuck no, dude. You’re in this too deep. I’m drivin’.”

Devil growled and opened his mouth to object.

“Get in the passenger seat, Devil. Phoenix drives,” Hawk’s command came out as he hopped in the back, and Devil followed out of habit before he knew what he was doing.

He rounded the SUV and hopped in just in time for Phoenix to peel out of the parking lot.

“Why the fuck didn’t I ever ask for Virginia’s number?” He shook his head and punched the glove compartment box.

“If you make the airbags go off and slow us down, Jaybird’s gonna kill you,” Hawk warned.

“Does he know?” Phoenix asked, looking up at the rearview mirror.

“I texted him. Told him to go to BlackStone ASAP and we’d meet him there until we figured it all out,” Hawk answered.

“He just walked in. Devil, how sure are you she’s with Virginia?” Snake asked over the speaker.

“Zero percent sure. It’s just a hunch because Virginia’s been driving her everywhere since her bike got stolen.”

“Copy,” Snake responded. “Let’s see… huh… looks like she’s near that park again.”

“What the fuck?” Jaybird’s voice was loud and clear. Like he’d grabbed the phone from Snake. “Why the hell is she there at night again?”

“I don’t know,” Devil growled, wondering the same thing. “She wouldn’t go there at night. Not again.”

“How do you know? If she was that careless the first time, why not this time, too?” Jaybird asked, obviously fuming.

Devil bristled at the accusation. He would’ve thought the same thing at one point, but it wasn’t a fair assumption anymore. “That was weeks ago. She wouldn’t do that again. Besides, last time was an honest mistake.” Ellie had worked hard and Devil felt the need to defend her. She’d earned the benefit of the doubt in his eyes. “She’s smart. Whatever happened, it was either out of her control or she fought like hell.”