Chapter 36: Chapter 35

HUNTER FOLLOWED BEHIND US. I glanced in the side-view mirror as Alexa sped down the road, her lights and sirens blaring. My body felt cold as I thought about the house. About the stench in the basement.

If Thomas was the killer and David’s brother, then maybe it wasn’t a dead animal causing that smell…Maybe David had been helping him all along and we hadn’t realized it.

The thought made my gut twist. There had been so much death in this town recently, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a body down there. But surely Sarah or the boys would have noticed something like that. There was only so much one could do to ignore things.

My gaze raised to the clouds. A storm was rolling in, a dark wall in the distance promising rain and thunder. It was the type of weather during which I should have been snuggled in bed with Haley.

Not trying to find out if she was still alive.

Another steady breath. One that would keep me from falling apart. One that made my side burn with pain, pain that I pretended didn’t exist. I had to stay together and ready for anything.

“I hope she’s there,” Alexa whispered, her knuckles whitening on the steering wheel. “If she’s not, we’ll figure it out, Cam. Thomas isn’t that smart. And now that we know it’s him, he can only hide for so long before we find him. An electric car in a small town in Texas? Someone will have noticed.”

“She has to be there. When Haley and I moved Sarah and the boys out, there was a stench. Like a dead animal. I thought that’s what it was at the time, but now that I know he’s a murderer…”

“Oh god,” Alexa breathed out. “Do you think there are bodies down there?”

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “All I can do is hope she is down there alive.”

Alive and unharmed. That we’d get there in time to save her. If she wasn’t…

My heart pounded faster in my chest.

I thought about Thomas, about the man who had been in this town for so long. What happened to make him into a killer? Why Haley? Why didn’t we know about David’s brother?

Obviously David and I never got along, but I never knew him to have siblings.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Alexa whispered.

“Don’t promise anything,” I said. I glanced in the side mirror, seeing Hunter. We were hauling ass. “When are you taking Bud’s job?” I asked, trying to keep us talking.

Alexa laughed as she swerved around a car in front of us that was going too slow. I tensed in my seat, ignoring the flare of pain in my side. I looked down, seeing the blood staining my shirt.

Later. I would deal with my wound later. I drew in a long breath, trying to steady myself.

I glanced at Alexa. “I’m not joking. You seem to keep the whole department together.”

“I do,” she answered. “And when he retires, maybe I’ll take over. But for now, I’m fine with not being the boss. Because otherwise, I’d have to be coordinating with the others instead of taking off like this.”

She took a sharp turn, heading down the main road into Citrus Cove. Right before we hit Main Street, she took a right, entering the neighborhood close to where Sarah’s old house was.

Thunder rolled in the distance.

“I’m going to park a block over, and I’ll go in on foot. I have a gun. You don’t. So you’re staying put. I’m going to check the premises, and then if it looks like she’s here, I’ll call the other units in. Okay?”

“I’m not staying here,” I argued. “I’m coming with you. I’m already here. And I know how to handle a gun.”

She glared at me. “You’re just a civilian, Cameron, not a superhero.”

“And? I’m coming with you. You already said the department is stretched thin looking for her. It’s a small town. Hunter will come too.”

Alexa glared for a moment, her gaze flickering back to where Hunter was behind us. She cursed under her breath and lifted her radio, sending off her location as she stopped the car. “I go in first. I’ll handle Thomas if he’s there, and you find Haley. I call the shots.”

“Deal.”

My adrenaline was already pumping. She got out of the car and popped the trunk. I followed her, and she handed me a Glock 19. Hunter came up to us, his brows pulling together.

“We’re going in?”

“We’re checking to see if we think she’s there,” Alexa said. “And both of you should stay here, but⁠—”

“No,” Hunter snorted. “First of all, my brother is bleeding. Second, his girl might be in there. We’re going in.”

“Are you sure you know how to use a gun⁠—”

“Yes. We need to go,” I said. “Stop with the protocol bullshit. We’re going in.”

She shut the trunk and nodded. “Fine. We go in. If it looks like she might be there, we alert the other officers and wait for Bud.”

Yeah, no. I wasn’t waiting for anyone. I didn’t say that aloud though.

She led the way, leading us around the neighborhood block. I glanced at the houses, wondering if some of the neighbors were watching us. If they were, no one came out.

We looked around a white picket fence, peeking to see if the car was in the driveway of Sarah’s house.

It wasn’t in the driveway.

Pain split through my side, but I ignored it. None of that mattered right now. What mattered was getting Haley back and away from that monster.

“The car could be in the garage,” I said.

Alexa nodded. “We’re still going in. Follow me.”

She ran across the yard quickly, and I followed, the two of us rushing to the front door. She motioned for me to be quiet as she reached for the knob, twisting it as silently as she could.

The door was locked.

“Here,” Hunter whispered. “I grabbed this from Colt the other day when we were moving and forgot to return it.” He pulled out a copper key.

“Great,” Alexa said.

She took the key and unlocked the door, slowly turning the knob and opening it.

She stepped inside, the two of us following. The house reeked and looked nothing like how we’d left it. The furniture was destroyed, broken bottles littering the floor. Blood stained the rug in the living room.

Nausea rolled through me. Hunter cursed under his breath.

Alexa shook her head, glancing back at us. “The two of you check the rest of the house. I’m going to check the basement. Okay?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

I didn’t like it, but I nodded. Hunter slipped past me and led the way toward the kitchen. Alexa left us, all of us doing our best to be as silent as possible.

The house had truly been destroyed. The kitchen was just as bad as the living room. Rage was evident in every smashed dish and mangled piece of furniture.

It chilled me.

The sound of boots had the two of us pausing. I turned, expecting to see David. The kitchen connected to the hall, and I watched as Alexa stood at the top of the stairs that led down to the basement.

A grunt echoed through the house.

“Fuck,” Hunter snarled.

Suddenly, all three of us were moving.

“Alexa!” I called, but she was already down the staircase and swinging open the door.

I ran down the staircase after her, Hunter right behind me. Right as I hit the bottom step, a gun went off.

“Who the fuck are you?” A slurred voice shouted.

I hit the basement just in time to see Alexa shoot David Connor in the leg. At least, he looked like David. Beer cans littered the floor around him and he had a gun, one he’d fired into the doorframe, narrowly missing Alexa.

He howled as he went down, blood gushing down his leg. Rage pumped through me as I stormed past Alexa, grabbing him by his collar and shaking him.

“Where is she?” I snarled. “Where is Haley?? Where did your brother take her?”

He looked up at me, his eyes lighting up with amusement as he panted through the pain. “He got her, then? I tried to tell her to leave. Such a stupid whore.”

I punched him hard enough to break his nose.

“Cam,” Alexa growled.

I ignored her. “Where is Haley?”

“I don’t know. Don’t know where he took her.”

I punched him again, my hand going numb this time. Hunter let out a curse. “You’re bleeding everywhere, brother,” he growled.

I didn’t care. “Where is she?” I asked again.

David smiled, his teeth bloodied.

Thunder shook the whole house now. Hunter pulled me back from David as Alexa took over, making a call in.

All while he kept grinning and grinning.

All while Haley was still out there with the killer.