Page 66 of Captive Wilderness
Please don’t be a wrong number.
“Hello?” Brooke’s voice shook, her nerves and fear slapping at me. I ran my hand down her spine, trying to give her some amount of comfort no matter who was on the other end.
“Brooke. Thank God you’re okay.”
“Sabrina.”
When Brooke’s knees collapsed, I caught her to me, my arm around her middle, her back supported. I took the phone too so she wouldn’t drop it. The relief pouring out of my mate made me heady. A large part of her had thought her sister dead.
Her entire body shaking against me, Brooke swallowed, her throat clicking with the effort. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m okay for now.”
I took note of the “for now” part of that sentence as my eyes flew to Landon’s. He’d heard it too.
A moment of silence on the line, then, “When I heard your message… God, Brooke, I was so worried about you. Are you somewhere safe?”
Fingernails squeezed into my forearm. “Yes. I’m protected.”
“Thank God. What about Mom? Have you heard from her?”
“Yes, she’s okay. She’s safe.” Brooke said, her voice shaking. “Where are you?”
There was a bang and another voice, a man, and he didn’t sound happy. Brooke and I tensed at the same time. My hand tightened on the phone.
“I don’t have a lot of time to explain,” Sabrina said, and I heard the strain in her tone, the panic. “I got free, but I have some things to take care of.”
Brooke straightened against me. “What things? We can help. Just tell me where you are.”
“No!” Sabrina’s voice came out a bark. “I don’t want you anywhere near here. If you’re safe, you stay safe. I’ll contact you again when I’m done with this.”
“What is ‘this’?” Brooke was practically shouting now, her anger and frustration washing over me in a tidal wave. “Sabrina, you’re scaring me.”
“Just know I’m okay. I’ve got to go. I love you, little sis.” The call disconnected.
“No,” Brooke whispered, her hands gripping my forearm tight.
We were both so relieved Sabrina was alive and well, but from that phone conversation, would she stay that way for long? I tried not to dwell on the fact that it sounded like Sabrina was saying goodbye for the last time. The same dread echoed to me through our bond.
Brooke turned her face to me. “How can we help her if she won’t say where she is?”
Turning her so she faced me, I hugged her. I sent her my belief that we’d find her together. A sob shuddered through her body, and I pressed my lips against the top of her head.
Our emotions flowed back and forth between us until I couldn’t be sure who was feeling them first. It had all started in Detroit. That’s where her sister pulled Brooke from the club, where those men snatched them from the street. Someone in Detroit would know something. We needed to go there to find answers.
There were no longer any questions between us. We were doing this together. There were no other options.
“We need to fly to Detroit.” She pulled away from me to look up at my face. “I don’t have a passport, though. How do we figure this out?” A fierce frown puckered her brow.
“I can help with that.”
Landon’s voice broke through our internal conversation. I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“I have a private plane and connections with the American embassy here in Van.”
A small portion of tension eased from me and Brooke at the same time.
“But I think I need to go with you,” Landon added. “The last time I heard from Walker, he was in Detroit.”
