Whispers of You (Lost & Found #1)(69)

I wanted to laugh, could almost get there, but no sound escaped my lips. I didn’t need to hit something. I needed to breathe.

Pushing the back door open, I stepped outside. The night air still had a bite to it, and I sucked it in. The slight hint of pain helped ease the anger a bit, and the clean pine scent helped me reach for peace.

Guilt pricked at me as I took in Amber’s empty parking space. She needed a friend—someone who could talk her around to sane decisions. Grae had always been that for me, but not everyone was so lucky.

I pulled out my phone and tapped out a text.

Me: Lucky as hell to have you, G. Love your guts.





There was no response, but I didn’t expect one. Grae had to lead a hike tomorrow, and she needed her rest more than the average person.

I shoved my phone back into my pocket.

Gravel crunched against the asphalt, and I turned. The blow caught me before I could get there, knuckles cracking against my temple in a vicious hit. Lights danced in front of my eyes.

It was all I registered before falling.

I hit the ground with an ugly thud. The pavement tore at my skin, and I let out a moan.

A shoe came flying at my face, but I rolled, my shoulder taking the hit instead. My fingers locked around the keys in my pocket, and I tugged them free.

A hard kick landed on my back, right above my kidneys.

I cried out, frantically searching my keychain for what I needed. A second later, a piercing siren split the air.

I thought I heard someone curse and then footsteps running away. But I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was that the darkness was trying to claim me.





33





HOLT





“You’re sure about this?”

The uncertainty in my second-in-command’s voice had me fighting annoyance. “I’m sure.”

Jack sighed. “We’re gonna miss the hell out of you. Things won’t be the same.”

I set down the tweezers I’d been using to lift out a watch’s face. “I’m not disappearing. I’ll be a chopper ride away. I’ll still sit in on meetings when you need me. I’ll always be a second set of eyes.”

“But you won’t be in the field with us.”

“No.” Because what would I prove to Wren if I left every other week to take on some job? And more than that, I didn’t feel the pull to take off to parts unknown like I had before. Maybe because I wasn’t trying to distract and numb myself any longer. I was facing things for the first time. And as painful as it had been, I couldn’t imagine anything more worth it.

“I wanna meet this girl.”

I grinned down at Shadow and gave her head a scratch. “You’re gonna like her.”

“I know I will, which just annoys me because she’s stealing my best friend.”

I chuckled. “She has an awesome dog, too. I’m training her for SAR.”

“You’ve already got a sidekick.”

I leaned down, pressing my forehead to Shadow’s. “What do you think? You gonna be my sidekick?”

Shadow let out a low woof, and Jack laughed. “I think that’s a yes.”

My phone beeped, and I pulled it away from my ear. The name on the screen had dread pooling in my gut. “That’s my brother on the other line. I need to take this.”

“Sure. Keep me updated and let me know if you need some backup out there.”

“Will do.” I hit the button on the screen to switch calls. “Law?”

There was a split second of silence before he spoke. “Wren’s fine.”

Everything in me locked, my muscles turning to stone, heartbeat stilling. “What happened?”

“She was attacked outside the station.”

He barely had the third word out before I was moving. My keys were in my hand, and I was jogging toward the door, giving Shadow the command to stay. She obeyed, but I could tell she didn’t want to.

I yanked open my SUV’s door. “Is she hurt?”

My voice didn’t sound like my own. Even. No emotion.

“The doc is taking a look at her right now.”

“Station?” I clipped.

“Yes. Drive safe.”

I hung up before he could say anything else. Rocks flew as I reversed out of my makeshift parking spot and took off down the dirt road. My pulse pounded in my neck, and images flashed in my mind.

Wren. Too pale. Blood everywhere.

The sickly slow beat of her pulse fluttering beneath my fingertips.

I slammed my fist into the steering wheel, trying to shake the memories free.

“She’s fine.” I said the two words over and over, a mantra and a prayer. I said them more times than I could count in the five minutes it took me to get to the station—less than half the time it should’ve taken.

I screeched to a halt in front of the building and threw my vehicle into park. Jumping out, I ran for the door. The officer behind the front desk pushed a button, making the door buzz before I could reach it. It flew open, and I charged inside. “Where is she?”

“They’ve got her in the gym,” Abel called from dispatch.

There was none of his telltale grumpiness in his expression, only concern.

My ribs tightened around my lungs, making it hard to take a full breath, but I forced myself down the hall toward the gym. The door was open, and as I stepped through, I saw a cluster of people huddled around a massage table.