Chapter 383
“It’s been two weeks,” I continue, my voice lower now but no less dangerous. “Two weeks, and all we have are fake tips and dead ends. If you can’t find her, then maybe I need people who can p>
The threat hangs in the air. I know I’m pushing too far. I know they’re doing everything they can. But knowing that doesn’t change anything, because my daughter is still missing and Sierra… Fuck. My chest tightens at the thought of her.
I don’t say anything else. I just turn away, bracing my hands on the table as I stare down at the map, at the cluster of red marks that mock me with every glance.
My phone rings, the sound cutting through the tension. It’s Adrian.
“Have you found anything?” I ask without any greeting.
Our interactions have been strained to say the least. It’s like we can no longer stand each other. I saw how he hugged Sierra at the airport and honestly, it took everything in me not to march forward and rip him away from her.
I haven’t thought about it much, but I know for sure when this partnership comes to an end, we’ll both go our separate ways.
“No,” Adrian replies, just as direct.
I close my eyes briefly, exhaling through my nose. “Same here p>
There’s a pause, not long, but enough to feel.
“Either she’s really good at hiding, or someone is helping her cover her tracks,” Adrian says, his tone steady. “My bet is on the latter p>
That thought has been circling back each and every time we met a dead end. Every time a clue turned out to be a bust. Every time someone gave us false information.
“That’s what I thought too,” I say, my gaze fixed on the map. “She’s not smart enough to vanish like this without help… Someone is hiding her. Someone is moving her. Someone is making sure we stay just a step behind p>
Brook is capable; I’ve seen that for myself, but this? This level of clean disappearance, of no mistakes and no loose ends, doesn’t feel like her. Doesn’t feel like something she would do by herself.
“If there is nothing else,” Adrian says.
“Keep me updated p>
“You too p>
I lower the phone slowly when the call ends. For a moment there is nothing but stillness until, just like it always does, my mind drifts back to Sierra.
Lilly keeps me updated. She calls every day, sometimes more than once, her voice carrying a kind of exhaustion that reminds me too much of how she looked that day.
She tells me everything, but each an everyday the message is the same. There is still no improvement whatsoever.
They even brought in one of the best psychiatrists and it still hasn’t made a difference because Sierra hasn’t so much as spoken a single word. Lilly tells me all she does is sit by the window, staring outside.
Every update feels like a punch straight to my gut. Like my heart is being used as target practice with sharp daggers because this is the one thing I can’t do anything about.
I can fight. I can track. I can hunt down anyone who tries to disappear, but I can’t fix this and that… that is what’s slowly killing me.
My phone rings again. This time it’s Uncle Reaper.
I answer immediately. “Tell me you have something for me p>
“I do,” he answers, his voice calm.
Relief washes over me so fast, it feels like I’m drowning in a tidal wave.
“Where?” I ask.
He gives me the location without hesitation. “Warehouse on the east side. Meet me there p>
“I’m on my way p>
That’s all I need. That’s all I’ve been waiting for. Hoping for. Praying for… I don’t waste another second.
“Move,” I tell the men around me as I grab my jacket. “We’ve got something p>
Just like me, they don’t waste time. In seconds they’re moving before I even reach the door.