Standing in the doorway, watching Rox leave was one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He wanted to run after her, pull her off the bike and keep her in the house. The thought of her out there on her own, whether Jon was out there or not, made him ill. Knowing what she’d been through, all the people in her life who let her down or treated her like shit made his blood boil and made him want to track each and every one of them down.

He needed to get this out or he was going to explode. Grabbing his wraps, he jumped down the stairs to the basement and eyed the punching bag. It would have to do as a replacement for all the people out there that couldn’t just be decent human beings and not beat up their wives or girlfriends, neglect their daughters or abuse their own kids.

Kicking and punching the crap out of the bag down in the basement, Liam was berating himself for fucking things up so royally with Rox. He should have told her about Jon, but he was afraid she would do exactly what she had done tonight. That she would run off and leave without thinking about her safety. He wanted to get confirmation, living, breathing confirmation that he had actually been locked up. Putting off getting someone to go down there was another one of his mounting mistakes when it came to doing the right thing by Rox.

The smell of the leather as he landed punch after punch filled the basement. He’d only been down there minutes and he was already sweating. The screw-up with the pregnancy test, that was his own fucked up past coming to haunt him. Palimony be damned, Yvonne had seriously fucked with his head when it came to trusting a woman and her being pregnant. And he’d let her turn what should have been a happy moment into something ugly. And by letting her get in his head and not putting it on straight, he’d driven Rox away. She wasn’t even pregnant.

That little light feeling in his chest that radiated out to his fingers when he’d thought of her carrying his child was shut down and shut up the moment he thought back to the trap that had been laid for him before. Rox being pregnant still made him want to shout about it from the rooftops, even more so now. If she was pregnant, at least he would still be connected to her by a tie that would bind them together forever—a child. A child that would have Rox’s spunk and his penchant for problem-solving—current situation notwithstanding. They’d have to spend time together and he might have had a chance to win her back. He should have never even doubted her, but that tiny voice that sounded a lot like Luc’s kept telling him to be cautious. And look where it got him!

The intercom buzzer went off three times, so he stopped punching the bag and held onto it trying to catch his breath. Then a sharp noise that sounded like a scream, shot through the basement. Throwing off his boxing gloves he ran upstairs, taking them three at a time. He wrenched open the front door and everything sounded quiet. Something didn’t feel right, he could feel it in his stomach. That pit of anxiousness and uncertainty was getting deeper by the minute.

Making his way down the long driveway, the gate finally in view, he saw Rox’s bike and took off running. Hitting the button to open it, he saw the bike on its side right outside of the gate and looked around, seeing nothing else. He glanced at the keypad and saw it had bloody fingerprints on it.

Rox! Something had to have happened, she wouldn’t have left her bike like that and if she were in an accident she wouldn’t have let them take her without sending someone to tell him. Pulling out his phone, he activated the find my phone app he’d installed on Rox’s phone. He’d ask for forgiveness later, but right now he knew something was wrong and he needed to find her. He saw the little pinging dot getting farther and farther away from him. Running back up to the garage, he grabbed his keys and jumped into his car, gunning the engine as he peeled out of the driveway. Burning rubber and tire marks marred the stone as he peeled out and began following the blinking dot.

He called the police while on the way.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“I’d like to report a kidnapping.”

“Who is it that’s been kidnapped?”

“My girlfriend.” He took a sharp turn to get onto the freeway to continue tracking the dot.

“Who’s taken her?”

“I think it was her ex.”

“You think it was her ex?”

“Yes, we got into a fight and she stormed out. She got on her motorcycle and left, but it was outside the gate when I went to look for her.”

“And how do you know she’s been kidnapped?”

“I don’t know, but I suspect. There were bloody fingerprints on the keypad to the gate.” He was getting out of range. The dot signaling the phone’s location disappearing and reappearing as he got within the radius it could track. And every time it did his heart jumped up into his throat.

“Where do you think she’s been taken?”

“I don’t know. I’m tracking her phone now. She’s moving.”

“Okay, sir. Can you give us more information? Do you know who took her? What they were driving?”

He slammed his hand against the steering wheel. “It would be her ex, Jon Hollis. All I know is she stormed out and her bike is by the front gate and she’s gone.”

“What if she had her ex pick her up?”

“She didn’t! She wouldn’t do that. He’s supposed to be in jail for attacking her. I’m in the car right now trying to track her down. I’m following the tracker I have on her phone, but she’s getting out of range.” He changed lanes to take an exit that seemed to be closer to where the dot was headed.

“Okay, sir. If you can pull over and tell us where you are, an officer will be there shortly to help you.”

“Fuck that. If I stop driving, they’ll be out of range and I’ll have no idea where she is.”

“I’m going to need you to pull over.”

“I’ll call you when I find her,” he said, ending the call and holding his phone up. Then he lost the dot. His heart was beating a mile a minute. It reappeared for a second and he floored it, weaving in and out of cars, leaning on the accelerator the whole way as he raced to where he last saw the dot. Then it was back, moving slower now. If her phone battery died before he found her, he wouldn’t be able to track her anymore. The dot stopped moving.

He got to the location where it was, but there was no Rox. No Jon, nothing. It was an empty lot. Her battery must have died when they were here. He tried to think of other things he could do. He’d have to call someone he’d said he wouldn’t.

“Luc!” he shouted, running his hands through his hair while he stood in the middle of the lot turning and pacing.

“Liam? What the fuck man? It’s late.”

“Luc, I need your help. Something’s happened to Rox and I think her ex took her. I found her bike ditched outside my gate and blood on the keypad. Were you serious before when you said you had friends who could track my phone and you’d send me male strippers?”

“You want to send her ex male strippers?” he said, groggily.

“No, moron! I want you to track down his phone. Rox’s phone died while I was following them and now I have no idea where they might be.”

“Yeah, I have a couple of people I can call.”

“Good, I need the tracking info on his phone yesterday. He’s got her, man.” His throat tightened and he barely got the words out.

“Okay, tell me what you need and I’ll get it done. Did you call the cops?”

“Yes, but they know just as much as me. I have no idea what kind of car he was driving or where he would go. And I’m sure it will take them longer to get his phone tracked through legit sources. So I need this now.” His world was spinning out of control and it was getting harder to breathe.

“Right, I’m on it.”

He rattled off all the information he had about Jon and Luc told him he’d call him back as soon as he had anything. Getting back in his car, Liam started to drive around the area looking for anything or anywhere someone might take someone they were trying to hide. The odds were against him and he knew it. He thought back to that first encounter with Jon and what could have happened if he hadn’t been there. The knowledge that he could be hurting her right now had him letting out a primal scream and pounding on the dashboard.

He shouldn’t have let her leave. He should have tied her to a fucking chair. She might have hated him for it, but she would have been safe. Heart racing, he tried to keep his cool and drove down every side street he came across. He would find them and when he did, Jon was going to wish he’d never been born. He’d drive around as long as it took. He only hoped he wouldn’t be too late.