32

T he door to the police department slammed open.

Renard turned to look out Jake’s office window, staring at the parade of Malones walking in, led by Alec.

“Fuck. This is all I need,” Jake said tiredly.

Opal had been missing twenty-four hours now. And they still didn’t have any real leads. He was going out of his mind.

Jake stood and walked out of his office. Renard and Saxon followed.

“What are you all doing here?” Jake asked.

“Simple. We’re going hunting,” Alec said grimly. “We’ve left our women at Dirty Delights under Devon’s supervision.”

“You can’t go hunting,” Jake said. “You have no idea where to look.”

“So we’ll look everywhere,” West said seriously.

“Fucking finally. I’m coming too,” Renard said. He had to do something. He couldn’t sit around here doing this the cops’ way anymore.

“Me too,” Saxon said.

The door opened again and Remington Jones walked in along with Gavin and Colin Richards and Max and Logan Ferguson.

“Fuck,” Jake said.

“Heard what’s happened,” Gavin said. “We want to be part of the search party.”

“There is no search party,” Jake said. “This is a kidnapping.”

More people entered the police station until the noise became almost unbearable.

“All of you shut up!” Duncan Jones roared as he stood on a stool.

“Listen, I know you all want to help, but?—”

“I’ve got something!” Linc yelled, interrupting Jake. Everyone turned to look at him as he stood up. “Barney’s father committed suicide.”

“Right. What about it?” Jake asked.

“The place where he was found . . . it’s an old, abandoned farmhouse about an hour north of here.”

That could be where he was hiding her.

“Fuck. Let’s go,” Jake said. “All of you need to stay here. No one is coming who isn’t in uniform.”

“Except for me.” Renard stepped forward, glaring at him.

Jake glared back, then he nodded. “Fine. Saxon and Alec come with you, though. And you follow behind and you don’t interfere. None of you.”

“Right.”

He wouldn’t interfere.

Unless he had to.

* * *

They were a few miles out when the police car ahead of them sped up. And it was already going fast. Then Saxon’s phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, seeing that it was Jake calling.

Saxon eyed him as they drove. Alec was in his own vehicle with Tanner behind him.

“What is it? You’re on speaker,” he said, hitting a button on his phone.

“Shit,” Jake said. “Just got a report from a motorist. She said she found a woman in her twenties with blonde hair in a bad way walking along the side of the road. And with her is a half-conscious older woman, who also isn’t in a good state. We’re three minutes out. Prepare.”

Prepare.

Prepare for what?

His heart raced. It had to be Opal and Mrs. Grackle.

Thank God.

He’d been thinking the worst. Worried that they wouldn’t find them in time. Scared that she’d end up like his team.

And then he saw a vehicle up ahead that was pulled over to the side of the road. The back of their truck was open.

Saxon hadn’t come to a stop before he was out of his vehicle and racing toward that truck. He ignored everyone’s yells at him to get back. To stop.

Then he saw her.

She stared at him out of one eye, the other was swollen shut. Her hair was a mess. So was her face and clothes. And her hands . . . her fucking hands were bound at the wrists and bleeding. One of them looked swollen, the fingers crooked.

But she was alive.

She was fucking alive.

“Gem,” he said in a choked voice. He reached for her, grabbing her just as she fainted in his arms.