Fractured Sky (Tattered & Torn #5)(83)

I still analyzed every single log, looking for points of weakness or anything that might help. When I reached the last one, my panic ratcheted up a notch. Instead of falling apart, I moved to the door.

Faint voices sounded from outside the room, and everything in me twisted. My breathing stuttered, each attempted inhale tripping over the exhale. Memories assaulted me in a barrage: Howard Kemper’s rage-filled expression, the blow of his hand against my face, the fear that held me captive, and thoughts of never seeing my family again.

I stumbled back, leaning against the wall. I squeezed my eyes closed and focused on my breaths. Ramsey’s voice echoed in my head, telling me to focus on one thing. I could see his eyes as if he were standing right in front of me, those glittering, onyx depths soothing away the worst of the panic. He was here with me because he was a part of me. Just like I was a part of him. Nothing could ever steal that away.

The door flew open, and a figure filled the space. His towering form had me pushing off the wall and bracing for an attack. He simply laughed.

“We meet again, Shiloh. I heard all about you for years and years. Howard wouldn’t shut up about you. But hearing is different than seeing it in person.”

It took a few moments to register that this was Howard’s cellmate, August. And the single word slipped from my lips without me giving permission. “Why?”

It was all I really wanted to know. I needed to understand the reasoning behind him wanting to terrorize me.

August’s mouth curved into an ugly smile. “I had to know if you were as special as he said you were.”

My stomach cramped as nausea swirled through me. “Where’s Ian?”

It had to be the two of them. The other voice had sounded so familiar—the one that sent shivers of fear through me. August might be morbidly curious about me, but Ian wanted to end me.

August chuckled, rubbing a thumb across his lower lip as his gaze tracked over me. “Oh, he’ll be here before long. But someone else wants to say hello first.”

The panic was back, a bolt of electricity running through me as I searched behind August’s hulking frame. Footsteps sounded on the wood floor, a heavy, echoing thump that reverberated in my already thrumming head.

August stepped to the side, making room for whoever was coming. The hall was dark, and the only thing I could make out was shape and size. Yet something about the way the figure moved was familiar, recognizable in a way that had ice sliding through my veins.

He stepped into the room, his face twisted with a mixture of anger and something I couldn’t identify. “Shiloh, you disappoint me. I thought you were different. Special.” His head shook as if he were trying to clear it. “No, you were special. And I’ll get you back there. Even if I have to take a switch to you every day for a year, you will return to what you were always supposed to be.”

A trembling took over my body, intensifying with each word. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. The only thing I could do was mouth a single word.

Howard.





42





RAMSEY





I paced back and forth as a tech worked on the security system. She was on the phone with one of the experts at Halo, trying to get all the data they could. But the lines hadn’t just been disconnected. Someone had cut them.

Whoever had taken Shiloh had been watching for weeks. Long enough to see the new security going in and paying close enough attention to know exactly how to cut the power source. The thought had me fighting the urge to put a hole in the wall. Instead, I simply picked up my pacing.

Shiloh’s family sat in the cabin’s living room, her father’s arm around his wife, trying to console her. Hadley held one of the twins on her lap, cradling Birdie to her chest as Calder held the other. Beckett rubbed Addie’s back as she wrung her hands. Everly brewed a pot of tea in the kitchen, a faraway look in her eyes.

They were in hell. And, worse, they’d been there before, so they knew the depths of that landscape. Hayes held a hushed discussion with the officer he’d put in charge, Lieutenant Ruiz. He hadn’t made some power play to remain in control; he’d simply asked to be involved with the search and decisions.

I moved closer to the two men, hoping to hear something. Ian’s name caught my attention. “Did you find him?”

Ruiz scowled at me, but Hayes held up a hand to ward off whatever the man was about to say. “Not yet. He’s not at the ranch he inherited from his uncle or any of his usual hangouts. But we have an all-points bulletin out on his truck, and his parole officer is looking, too. We’ll find him.”

But would it be soon enough? That question pinballed around in my brain. With each cycle through, horrible images appeared, each one worse than the one before. Was she cold? Was she terrified? Was she still breathing?

She had to be. If someone had wanted to kill her, they could’ve done that already. There would’ve been no point in taking her. But some things were worse than death.

I shoved that thought from my head and focused back on Hayes. “What about August Ernst? Have you located him yet?”

Kenny Chambers was still locked up, so it couldn’t have been him. Even with everything Shiloh had been through these past few weeks, the possibilities were limited.

Hayes shook his head. “I talked to his parole officer. August isn’t supposed to check in until tomorrow. He’s made every other appointment. But he did call in sick from work today.”