Page 53 of Forever After Fall

“Why?” I ask, my heart racing into overtime.

“Look at this!” Hazel holds up her phone to show me the breaking news of the day.

A prison bus overturned during a prisoner transfer a few miles from here, and several of the prisoners escaped. Their photos are plastered on the page, and one of them is very familiar. Too fucking familiar, and my heart practically lurches out of my chest.

Chris.

“Fuck,” I curse, the pieces all colliding together.

“Right?” Hazel shakes her head. “It’s absolutely wild.”

“He has her.”

“What do you mean ‘he has her’?” Hazel’s brows knit together, and she frowns while looking over me as if I’ve lost touch with reality.

“Chris is here. He has her. There’s blood in the haunted house. Up to the attic.” I brief my sister on my discoveries while I’m already moving on to the next part of my plan.

“What? Oh my god!” Hazel starts to charge toward the house, and I catch her arm.

“Don’t panic,” I demand in a harsh whisper. “I don’t know if they can see us from the window up there.” I nod to the small circular window that stands like a watchful eye just under the peak of the roof. “I don’t want them to know we’re on to him and have him make a rash decision.”

“But we have to get her. Who knows what the hell he’ll do.” Hazel’s eyes fill with tears as they dart up to the window.

“I need a gun. A knife. Something. I need Ramsey’s help. Is he here? Do you have cameras on the building?” I’m overwhelming her with questions but I have to move quickly. There’s no telling what he’ll do to her when he finds her uncooperative with whatever fucking plan he’s mustered up.

“He’s up at the house still. I can go get him.”

“No, stay here near the vendor row.” I nod to the series of booths lined up along the main corridor for the festival. “Keep a loose eye on the house. Do not move from this spot. Do not try to approach him. Just stay here and call me if you see anything. Got it?” The last thing I need is my sister in his crosshairs too.

“Okay.” Hazel takes a deep breath, blowing it out slowly as her eyes narrow. “I’ve got this. Go get Ramsey.”

“Don’t let anyone go in the house either if you can stop it, but don’t make a scene out of preventing them. Like I said, I don’t know if they’re watching us, and we don’t want them to know we know.”

“Yes. Okay.” There’s still a hint of fear in her eyes, but my sister doesn’t blink in the face of danger. Especially not when it’s someone she loves.

“I’m getting Ramsey. My phone is on me if you need me.”

One last nod and her face stays trained on mine, but her eyes track up to the house.

“We’ll get her out of this.” It’s a declaration on Hazel’s part. She’s as determined as I am.

“We will,” I promise my sister and myself.

I can’t risk losing Bristol. Not now that we’ve finally found each other and are so close to being what we could have been for years. I need her more than I need my next breath and if he hurts her, I can’t be held responsible for what I’ll do.

TWENTY-FOUR

Anson

“There!” I point to Chris on the screen as we review the footage of the CCTV that’s aimed at the old foreman’s house. It’s currently serving as the haunted house for Bull Rush Ranch’s Fall Festival. The Stocktons have had plenty of trouble the last few years, and while I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, right now I’m grateful as hell that it means every inch of this part of the ranch is covered in cameras.

“Fuck. Yeah. I see it.” Ramsey nods at the shadowy figure I spotted rounding the bushes. It disappears through a back door a few moments later. I’m cursing the fact we left it unlocked, but then with all the cameras, guns, and security on this ranch, we thought there wasn’t a lot to worry about.

“It’s Chris. Has to be. Look at that. Looks like a prison jumpsuit, doesn’t it?”

“Absolutely.” Ramsey nods along. He would know. He spent time in one himself.

“All right. Any recommendations?” I look to Bishop Bradford and Levi Stockton, Ramsey’s brother-in-law and older brother, a former merc and the family’s head of security, respectively.