Page 48 of No Turning Back
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I’ve been on the jobsite for a couple of hours when a need I’ve never felt before hits me. I pull out my cell and text her.
Me: Spitfire, how is your day going so far?
I need to know she’s okay. My heart clenches as I think about how she looked at me before I left. She was acting weird.
When we made love this morning, I felt like she was saying goodbye. She kept touching me all morning. I almost called in and told Jayden I couldn’t come to work, but she insisted I go and said she took the day off to spend time with Mari and had an appointment with her counselor. I slip my phone back into my pocket, thinking that’s probably where she is and why she isn’t answering me back right away.
I don’t know how much more time has passed, but it feels like hours when emergency lights bounce off the wall. I turn to look out the still open walls of the house we are working on. I recognize Dax as he gets out of the car, then I see Aries pull up in his SUV. But when I spot my brothers and father walking up the driveway, I know this is about me.
I pull out my phone and dial her number, noticing it’s been only an hour since I sent the text. The call goes immediately to voicemail, and I dial her number again. Again, it goes to voicemail. This time I leave her a message.
“Call me back, spitfire.” I watch Dax and Aries make their way toward me. I look around as I feel like the walls are closing in on me. I shake my head. “Nope. I don’t believe it.” I choke.
I look at my dad and brothers, and when they all have matching somber looks, my knees buckle. My body falls, and I hit the floor before Aries can catch me.
“Brother.” I hear the pain in his voice.
I shake my head over and over. Tears are falling from my eyes. I can’t do this. I won’t survive it.
“There was a fire,” Dax says, but I won’t believe it.
I fight them. I don’t think as my knuckles connect with skin. I’ll get away from them all.
“She and Mari weren’t in it.” Dax’s words break through the fog.
“Where are they?” I growl as my vision clears, and I see I hit my own father. “Fuck. I’m sorry, Dad.”
“It’s okay, son. But what the heck do you eat to have fists like that?” He chuckles, but I can see the pain in his eyes. He’s grown close to Sydney and Mari.
Zeus and Hades are holding me back, each have an arm in theirs. I’m bigger than my brothers. I outgrew them when I was in the military.
“Her house is completely destroyed. No bodies were found. Her car wasn’t there either.”
“You could have fucking started with that.” I stare Dax down. “Where is she?”
“We don’t know. We can’t reach her mother. She’s in court.”
“Wrenn said she saw her leave with a couple of suitcases before the fire broke out.”
“Why would she torch her own house?”
“She didn’t. We have two men in custody who were fleeing the area. They don’t speak English. We are trying to get an interpreter.”
My phone goes off in my pocket. I pull it out, sure it’s her, but when I see his name, I click it on.
“Tell me you have eyes on her,” I demand.
“I don’t. Sorry, man. I lost her at the bus station. Her car is there along with her cell phone.”
“Fuck.” I throw my phone at the wall, and it splinters apart.
“That isn’t going to help,” Jayden says, and I turn to stare him down. “I know how you’re feeling, kid. But what did he say?”
He’s told me about what happened to Autumn, but he can’t possibly know how this feels. She lied to me. She told me she loved me and then left me.
“He lost her at the bus station. Her car and phone are there.”
