Page 21 of Their Stolen Obsession

“Stop.” Saint held a hand up. “Go back a few frames.”

“What?” I exhaled, my heart beat even faster. “What did you see?”

I went back ten seconds. Saint didn’t speak. I went back a few more.

“There! Pause it…” Saint slowly shook his head back and forth in disbelief. “I can’t believe I hadn’t noticed it before.”

I blinked repeatedly after I paused the frame and glanced from the video back to Saint. Adrenaline seared through me, ready to blast me into overdrive.I couldn’t sit fucking still. I was on the edge of my seat, fidgeting.

“Quit fucking around! Tell me, goddamn it!” I yelled at Saint and peered back at the screen.

All I could see was the terror on Liv’s face. Her beautiful eyes were wide as her worst nightmare played out before her and the motherfucker held a rag over half of her face. I pondered what her final thought would’ve been prior to the ether-like scent taking effect and doing the trick.

“Lights out, bitch.” The bastard’s exact words were on repeat in my head, making me want to punch him in the face. Multiple times until his lights went out, and he was dead. Shit. I could almost picture him on the ground while I pummeled him and saved Liv from a grim fate. I wished I could’ve been there to rescue her and be the hero. The protective fucker I knew hid underneath all my scars.

“The ring,” Saint whispered.

I shook my head. “But Liv doesn’t have her engagement ring on.”

Saint smacked me over the head. “No. Dumbass.”

“Fuck! What the hell was that for?” I asked, rubbing the place Saint had hit.

My best friend took my cell phone from my hands. He pinched two fingers together on the screen andzoomed right in. Straight into Liv’s kidnapper’s hand.

Saint wore a giant grin. “Not Liv’s ring.Hisring.”

I stared at the sorry bastard’s palm smothering Liv with chloroform, and I saw the ring. It was a gold band, a chunky piece with a letterPon it.

How the fuck did I not see that?

Saint and I had both missed the clear evidence right in front of us all along. Shit! Of course, now I recall seeing the ring the first time I watched the video. Dumb fuck. We had been so stupid! Caught up in all we had lost. Our grief had blinded us from the one answer we had sought. A fucking piece of jewelry.

Our heavenly father, we had sinned upon you more times than I could count, but Lord Almighty, have you finally come through. Hallelujah! Sweet Jesus! Not that I believed in Christ, but some fucker had showed up.

“Saint. You blue-eyed genius with goddamn hawk eyes! You did it!” I exclaimed with the biggest goddamn grin in my entire life. “We have a lead.”

I slapped his shoulder, and we rejoiced. We laughed like two crazed psychopaths, ready to cock our weapons and hit the road. Guns blazing, ready for vengeance and starved to kill.

Saint cut the crap. “I’ve seen this ring before.”

I stood, crossed my arms, and prepared for the takedown. “Me too, buddy. Me too.”

We were one step closer to getting our girl back.

Fourteen

Her Predator

Saint

We needed to be in the club. Our eyes scanned everyone who set foot in Sinful Saints after what we had discovered. The ring.

I thought all damn hope was lost with the footage of Liv’s kidnapping, but I had been wrong. Too focused on that motherfucker rotting away in our penthouse and almost certain we could get an answer from Sebastian. A name, a location, anything, but the damn bastard was hell-bent on keeping everything to himself. Prick. Fuck. We never even needed him. He was a waste of space, eating away at precious time. The clock ticked down, and we didn’t know how much time Liv had left.

Goddamn it, we didn’t even know if our girl was alive. I hated the thought, where my corrupted mind went to the darkestwirings in my brain.

No. Liv was a survivor. She’d outlive us, and we’d be the ones to take our last breaths. We were her phantoms, the darkest part of her, her protectors. The men who followed her until the sun set, and we haunted her dreams. There was no escaping us in this life or the next because she was our missing piece.