Grace

Every few minutes or so, I checked my watch to see where Ian was. Judging by the layout of Daniel’s property, we basically watched everything unfold by Ian’s watch position. When the little blue light moved, we followed his progress on Reed’s computer. We’d watched him go into the woods and come out, only to go into Daniel’s house and not move.

He’d been gone for three hours and I didn’t like it. Although, Reed didn’t seem to be worried in the least. He sat on the couch while Top Gun played on the TV.

“Do you not think it’s taking too long?” I asked.

Reed checked his watch. “It has been a while, but Ian would send us a signal if he was in trouble.”

“What if he can’t?”

With a heavy sigh, he met my gaze. “If he hasn’t called by eleven, I’ll ride out there and see what’s going on.”

His assurance didn’t make me feel better. Now I had two more hours to wait, trying my best to calm the horrible thoughts floating through my brain. If Daniel’s property was gated, no one would be able to get through.

“Okay,” I said, sinking into the couch. I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Time dragged on and I constantly checked the clock. Reed sat like a statue the entire time we watched movies, like he too couldn’t relax. A part of me wondered if he was just as scared as I was.

An hour passed and Ian’s position hadn’t changed. He was in Daniel’s house, but the light literally hadn’t moved a centimeter. Huffing, I held out my wrist, pointing impatiently at my watch. “He hasn’t moved, Reed. I don’t care if he’s in Daniel’s house, don’t you think he would’ve at least walked around?”

Reed’s jaw clenched and he stood. “Okay, I’m going out there.”

“Good. Wait for me, I’m going with you.”

He jerked around, staring at me like I’d lost my mind. “You’re not going anywhere. Ian would kick my ass if something happened to you.”

“He won’t be able to do anything if he’s dead.” I wasn’t going to back down, not this time.

Reed let out a frustrated sigh and nodded toward the hall. “Go change into something dark and we’ll go. You can’t go out there in that bright pink shirt.”

Relief washed through me. I didn’t want to wait another hour. Hurrying to the bedroom, I rummaged through my bag and found a pair of black pants and short-sleeve green shirt. It just so happened that Ian had a black jacket in his closet. Once I was dressed, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and walked out of the bedroom, only to hear the front door slam shut, followed by the roar of a car engine.

“No, no, no,” I shouted, racing to the window. Reed drove away so fast, there was no way I could catch up. I slammed my hand against the glass. “Dammit all to hell.” Heart racing, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the first set of car keys on the wall. There were two cars left in the garage; a white Maserati and a red Acura NSX. They were super expensive and probably cost more than five years of my salary, but I was desperate. With the way Reed left, something was wrong. I pressed the unlock button on the key fob and the Maserati beeped. I jumped in and started on my way.

I knew exactly where to go. I’d studied Daniel’s property until I knew every square inch of his land. I’d done this, so that if I ever got stuck out there again, I’d know exactly where to go. The longer it took me to get to Daniel’s, the sicker I got.

The roads were dark and curvy, but there was a dirt driveway that led to an abandoned house about a half mile away from the entrance to Daniel’s estate. Judging by Reed’s position, he’d driven further down the road, and was now sitting on the other end. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. If he looked at his watch, he’d know I was out there. I needed to get further in before he could stop me.

The forest was terrifying at night. I wasn’t going to lie, I was scared; almost to the level I’d been when I ran for my life. However, this time, I was terrified for Ian. Now I knew what he’d felt like when I’d been abducted.

By the time I reached the edge of Daniel’s property, there was a fence blocking my way. I grabbed onto the top of the fence and held in my scream as it sent an electrical current through my body. “Fuck,” I hissed low, drawing my hand back.

Hiking through the southside would take forever, and I didn’t have that kind of time. The only other option would be to find a way over the fence. As fast as I could, I followed the fence line until I came upon a tree I could actually climb. Some of the limbs hung over the fence, giving me the chance to jump down.

The only problem? Finding a way back out.

Looking down at my watch, Reed was still outside of the property line. I knew it wasn’t safe to go any further without him, so I followed the direction of his light, only to stop dead in my tracks. Someone was behind me.