Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 323(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
My stomach dropped, and I remembered every one of Dillon’s warnings.
“You know, there was a second when I wasn’t sure whether or not it was you. But then I saw your hair escaping from under that hat, and I knew that I couldn’t leave yet.”
I couldn’t believe I’d accused Dillon of being paranoid when the one time I’d broken his rule had been the one time that Alex and I had been there at the same time.
“I took a picture of the license plate and got my friend Bryan in the LAPD to run it for me. He found that meathead Dillon’s address.” He shook his head. “You know, I’ve seen him in town a couple times, and he always denied that he’d seen you, but I thought that there was something weird about him. What a fucking liar.”
He walked forward and leaned in so close that I could smell his breath. “You were fucking him, weren’t you? You’ve been fucking him this whole time.”
I shook my head, unable to swallow enough spit to answer.
“You’re lying, like your fucking liar cop boyfriend. And I’ll forgive you for that too. But you will have to pay for it.”
I didn’t see his fist before it came down on my face.
25
DILLON
I was exhausted and miles away from sleep. Hank and I had spent the whole night at the police department, trying to strategize with Jim, the older sheriff who, though he’d given me a good amount of side-eye when I walked in, immediately jumped into action.
Hank had driven me back home at dawn and come inside, immediately jumping into making coffee.
“Are you sure you don’t want to try to sleep, son?” he asked, looking at me worriedly.
“There’s no way I’d be able to fall asleep even if I tried,” I said, sitting on the couch with my hands hooked around my neck. “She’s out there, Hank. And I don’t know what he’s fucking doing to her.”
“Hey.” I felt his hand on our shoulder, squeezing it tightly. “We’re gonna find her.”
I couldn’t sit there with his hand on me, trying to reassure me. I got up from under his hand and went straight for my desk, pulling out the phone I’d lent Macy in order to call her mom. I turned it on and went outside to the porch. I briefly thought of the fact that it was six in the morning, but I knew that she would never forgive me once Macy was found if she didn’t find out right away.
Because we would find her, and we would find her okay. There was no other option.
It was easy for me to find the phone number, since it was the last number I’d used on this phone.
“Macy?” Her voice was exhausted, and I was thrown for a second. “It’s three in the morning. Are you okay?”
Shit. The time difference. Well, she’d know for sure that something was wrong as soon as I started talking.
“Mrs. Wallace? This is Dillon Ford.”
The change in her voice came immediately. “Dillon?” Her voice was suddenly far more awake. “Where’s my daughter?”
I shut my eyes against the guilt. “She—Alex found us. I don’t know how, but he found us, and he took her.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God, Dillon.”
I couldn’t help the choking tears that crawled into my voice as I covered my eyes with my hands. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. She was too far for me to grab, and—”
“Stop apologizing and tell me what you’re doing to find her.”
I swallowed thickly and thought briefly how lucky Macy was to have her as a mother. “We’re making a plan right now, and we’re working with the sheriff’s department. I went to talk to them as soon as he broke in.”
I told her about how we’d been talking—though not about how we’d been having an argument over her leaving the cabin without telling me—and how Alex had burst in with a gun. My words stumbled over my description of how I’d almost been shot and how he’d taken her with him before I could catch him.
“Mrs. Wallace—”
“Please call me Eliza.”
“Eliza.” The name was soft and fluid. It seemed like it suited her. “Do you by any chance still have Alex’s phone number? I know this is painful for you, but it would be very helpful.”
She didn’t hesitate to read off the phone number, and I scribbled it down. “Thank you so much. I highly doubt that he still has his same cell phone, but any little bit helps.”
“Would you like his license plate number too, then?”
I froze. “Do you have it?”
She rattled it off for me. “I don’t know if that’s the car that he’s driving, but I just thought that you should have it.”
“It’s extremely helpful, Eliza. Thank you.”
She was quiet for so long that I wondered whether or not she’d hung up the phone, and I decided to take a chance. “We will find her, Eliza. I swear on my life that I will find her.”