Page 67 of Her Protector Daddies

“Fuck!”

Selena. I’m so sorry.

My search eventually led me back to my car where Jay was waiting. His hair was ruffled, and his face drawn tight. As I approached, his brows pinched together.

“Any sign?”

“Nothing.” I dragged in an exhausted sign. “It’s been, what, ten minutes? They could be fucking anywhere by now.”

“The place is crawling with cops, that might force them to move more like regular people,” Jay offered, sliding into the passenger seat as I took the driver. Shoving my keys into the ignition, I forced myself to focus on the radio as Tyler’s voice crackled through.

“Bailey? You there. Pick up, you fuck.”

“We’re here,” Jay replied. “We’re scouting. See if we can get a glimpse of anything. Hoping the police presence that’s crawled out of the woodwork will be enough to force them to drive slower.”

“Makes sense.” Tyler’s strained sight was audible. “The Captain is setting up roadblocks everywhere she can reach, including the bridge. Andrés won’t get far. Not this time. Also sent a list of plates of cars missing from the valet desk. Keep an eye out for any of them. Could be Andrés.”

“If he’s harmed one hair on her head,” I growled, gripping the wheel so tightly that the leather creaked and complained. “I will kill him.”

“Easy,” Jay warned, but from the tone of his voice, he had no plans to stop me.

“Wait what? The hell are you—.” Tyler trailed off, moving away from the radio so that his voice became little more than a buzz. My grip tightened further as we drove through the winding streets, scanning every scar and alley that we passed.

“Tyler?” Jay called out, and he glanced over at me. “You don’t think?—.”

“Don’t say it,” I snapped. I didn’t need to hear whatever horrible scenario was flooding Jay’s mind at that moment. There was more than enough horror in my own mind.

Andrés wouldn’t just hurt her if he decided to. He’d outright kill her.

I promised her she would be safe. I promised.

A static sensation flooded my chest, wrapping its claws around my throat from the inside and breathing became impossible for a few long moments until Tyler’s voice crackled back to life on the radio.

“Shit, sorry.”

“What happened?” Jay demanded.

“Fucking Trask is here. The Captain swore to keep him away from this thing. Listen, I gotta deal with this, but I’ll keep you updated. Call me if you find anything.”

“Will do.”

The radio crackled once, and then a deathly silence fell in the car. Jaw was a tense, rigid line next to me, matching my stiff movements as our search took us further and further away from the Gala. A hopeless search in a city full of dark corners.

“Wait!” Jay’s hand shot out to my arm, gripping my bicep tightly as he pointed forward, then ducked his head to his phone where the list Tyler sent through was displayed.

“What? What is it?”

“That pale sedan. The plates are on the list.”

“You think it’s Andrés?”

“If they run, we’ll know for sure.” Jay reached up and flicked on the police siren. As the sharp wail cut across the night air and lit up the surroundings with red and blue flashes, the sedan in front of us suddenly sped up with a screech of tires and dirt.

That was all I needed.

I slammed my foot down on the accelerator and followed the car as it recklessly spun around one corner and then the next.

“Tyler, we’re in pursuit of one of the vehicles from the Valet list. They started running as soon as we threw on the blues,” Jay recited into the radio. As he listed off the make, model, and license plate, I poured all my attention into following the sedan as closely as possible.

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