Branded (Fall of Angels #1)(70)

I rush to the bumper and check the ground, picking up the tie that I used on her wrists. It’s cut through.

Shit.

She’s escaped.

I quickly scan the car to find Matteo’s phone and a bottle of water missing. I check the hidden compartment underneath the driver’s seat and find the second phone. Guess Matteo finally listened to me when I told him to get a backup phone in case he needed to throw his old one out due to tapping.

It’s fully charged and ready to go. Lucky, because I have no fucking clue where Dixie went. Though she couldn’t have gotten far on foot, you never know with a girl as devious and cunning as her.

I should’ve known she’d do this. Of course, she wouldn’t let herself be tied down. Why did I think I’d have some time to myself?

In my rage, I kick the bumper, and scream, “Fuck!”

I chuck the tie to the ground too and stomp on it a couple of times to let my frustration out.

Then I blow out a few breaths and let it sink in.

I fucking lost her, dammit. I didn’t think it’d hit me that hard, but it does. It’s my worst nightmare come true. The girl I’ve wanted to keep in my clutches so desperately has escaped into the wild, and I have no clue how to find her.

There’s only one thing I can think of, and that’s enlisting the help of an old friend.

So I immediately phone his number.

“Hello?”

“Chase, it’s Brandon. I need your help.”

“Buddy!” he says, a little too happy. “Thought I’d never hear from you again.”

“Stop bullshitting me. We met weeks ago.”

“Oh, right,” he says, laughing. “I forgot. It feels like ages ago.”

He’s only saying that because he wants to go on a killing spree again, but I’m not interested right now.

“I’m not calling because of a hit.”

“No?” He sounds surprised. “What do you need my help for then?”

“I had a girl,” I say, “but she escaped.”

He snorts. “Brandon … really?”

“I know, don’t say it.” I sigh. “I don’t wanna hear it.”

“But you told me the same thing.”

I know what I told him. That he shouldn’t be so focused on a single girl … a girl he caught like she was some goddamn prize he won. A girl he kept as a prisoner.

God, I’m turning into such a hypocrite.

I rub my face, and say, “Just help a bro out.”

“You’re asking the wrong person, Brandon,” he says. “You know what I did.”

“That’s exactly why I’m asking,” I say. “Listen. You and I go way back. I know how good you are at tracking people down.”

“Me? I thought that was your forte.”

“No, I find the targets. You track them down, remember?” I hiss. “The point is … she’s my target.”

“And you want me to find her?” he asks. “Some random girl I’ve never met and don’t know?”

“She’s not some random girl,” I snap. “She’s—”

“Special. I get it,” he interjects.

No, he doesn’t. But there’s no point in explaining because I’d have to tell him the entire history of my life, which I’m a hundred percent sure he’s not interested in. Nor am I in telling it.

“Okay, where are you?” he asks.

I look around a bit. “Nevada desert, probably.”

“Probably?” he asks.

“I don’t exactly have a map in my pocket, now do I?”

“How the fuck did you get there? And why?” he asks, laughing. “What the fuck, Brandon?”

“A car, how else? Look, it doesn’t matter. The point is, I’m trying to find this girl who escaped me.”

“How? On foot? Or did she take the car?” he asks. “Because that complicates things.”

“No, I had the keys in my pocket, thankfully.”

“So on foot then. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

“I know, but I have no fucking clue which way she went. The place is huge, bro. Huge.”

“Yeah, it’s a fucking desert, Brandon.”

“No shit,” I reply a little louder. He’s getting on my nerves right now.

“What do you want me to do?” he asks.

“I don’t know. Use your magic fucking computer thing to track her down.”

“Did she have a tracking device on her?”

“Not that I know of,” I say, staring at the remnants of what used to be a fire. All that’s left now are twigs turned to charcoal and blackened soil. A bit like my soul when I found out she was gone.

“Well, then I can’t help you,” he says.

“Oh, c’mon!” I yell as if it’ll cross the distance or some shit.

“I’m not a fucking magician, Brandon. You know that,” he says. “Shouldn’t have let her run if you wanted to keep her that badly.”

“Dude, you don’t know her. She’s an expert at escaping.”

He chuckles. “Sounds like you got yourself into a fine mess.”

“That I’m trying to get out of, yeah,” I respond.