Page 94 of Protecting Addison
Yana nodded against her.
“Well, how about we see if we can figure out what’s inside them? I bet there has to be some good stuff. Maybe some blankets we can lie on. Or maybe, just maybe, there will be a box of cell phones ready to be used.”
As far as she could tell, the container wasn’t moving yet. The sooner they figured something out, the better. Once this box was put onto one of those huge ships, their opportunity for escape would be drastically reduced. They needed to get to work.
Standing up, Ellory helped Yana do the same. She had no idea how she was going to get into the boxes—she didn’t have a knife, didn’t have anything sharp—but like MacGyver, she would figure it out. She had no choice. If she didn’t, she and Yana would disappear forever.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
“What do you mean, she isn’t here?”
“Ellory’s father said you’d been in an accident, that he needed to bring her to the hospital to say her final goodbyes to you.”
Addison stared at the woman in disbelief. How could this have happened? Brady wasn’t on the approved list to pick up her daughter.
“He was very convincing,” the woman fretted, not impressing Addison at all. “And when we called Ellory in, she seemed all right to go with him. She wasn’t afraid of him at all. In fact, when they left, he had his arm around her shoulders.”
Addison wasfurious. So mad, she could barely see straight. Someone was going to pay dearly for this fuck-up. She was going to chew out the principal and call the cops and make a report—wasn’t going to letanyoneoff the hook—but right now, she needed to find her daughter.
Spinning around, she left the office and sprinted for the parking lot. As soon as she was outside the building, she called Yana’s school. A sick feeling was spreading in her gut, and she had a feeling she knew what she was going to be told when she got a hold of someone there.
She was right. Yana was gone too. Ellory and Brady had taken Yana out of school. And now she couldn’t get a hold of either Ellory or her ex.
Suddenly feeling lost, not sure what to do or where to go, Addison did the only thing she could think of. She called her husband.
“Hey, you think of something I need to pick up on the way home?” Ricky asked in lieu of a greeting.
“Ellory and Yana are gone.”
“What?” Ricky said, immediately all business.
“I arrived here at school to get Ellory and was told Brady picked her up earlier. He told them we were in an accident and in the hospital, and he needed to bring Ellory to see us.”
“He’s not on the list to pick her up,” Ricky said, his voice hard and flat.
“Iknow,” Addison practically wailed. “But the secretary is new—which isn’t a fucking excuse and someone’s head’s going to roll once we find our kids. But she let him talk her into it. She said Ellory went with him without hesitation.”
“If she thought we were hurt, of course she would,” Ricky said. “Yana too?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m on my way home right now. I’ll get the boys before they can get on the bus and— Wait, did you call their school?”
“No.” The sick feeling increased tenfold. What if Brady had taken Artem and Borysko too? She couldn’t bear even the thought. It was too much.
“I’ll call them right now. You go home, Addison. Drive safely, I’ll be there as soon as I can. I’m calling Julie Hurt. She’s the closest to our place. You met her at Caroline’s, remember?”
“Uh-huh.” It hurt to think. All Addison could see in her head was Ellory. The day she was born. When she turned one, and stuffed a piece of cake in her face. At six, when she learned to ride a bike. The first time she had to take her to the emergency room because of pain in her belly. How she looked just that morning. The memories were painful.
Would that be all she ever had? Bittersweet memories?
And Yana. The little girl had to be scared out of her mind. She’d be so confused, unsure what was going on. At least Ellory was with her…Addison hoped.
“Addy!” Ricky barked, clearly realizing he’d lost her for a moment. “Listen to me. We’re going to find them. No one is taking our girls from us. I’m sending Kevlar and Blink to find Vogel. They’ll make him tell us what’s going on. Where our babies are. Hear me?”
“Yeah.” The world was coming back into focus.
“I’ll have Smiley and Flash meet you at the house too. They’ll probably beat me there, since I’m going to get the boys. Safe will meet up with Wolf and his team, and they’ll start scouring the town to see if they can find the girls. Wolf will call Tex. Trust me when I say, Tex can find even the smallest trail. Okay?”
