Page 3 of How Much For A Broken Heart?

“Sure thing, boss.”

I drove to the daycare with a sense of unease growing with every mile that passed. It wasn’t like James not to at least acknowledge my calls, especially when he knew I would be worrying.

When I arrived at the daycare, I was greeted by the chatter of children playing and colorful, chaotic artwork adorning the walls.

“Hi, can you get Molly for me?” I asked reception, and Molly was straight out.

“Will you make sure Annie gets this?” I said, but Molly’s expression changed from puzzled to wide-eyed, and her stare sent a shiver down my spine.

“Annie isn’t here yet,” she blurted, pressing her ear piece. “Max?”

An icy dread settled in my stomach. Aware that she was still asking for Max, I pulled out my cell, instead, to check for missed calls or messages. Nothing. The tracker was stationary.

I walked out, my fingers already connecting James’s number for the umpteenth time. Again, it went straight to voicemail. “James, it’s me. Call me back immediately. Annie isn’t at daycare.” My voice was steady, but the tightness in my throat betrayed my rising panic.

“No contact,” Molly announced.

“Call 911,” I snapped at her, then ran for my car, shoving my phone into the carrier and connecting the map to the tracker, scanning the streets for any sign of them walking away from the car, or his phone, even as I headed straight there. Why wasn’t Max on comm? Why was James not answering? My skin prickled and my head ached with fear.

The drive was a blur of houses and storefronts, each moment stretching out with the terrifying possibilities of what might have happened. It had been over an hour since they’d left, but the tracker was blinking, and I was five minutes away.

I saw the smoke before the car.

I rounded the corner at full speed, nearly slamming into a group of onlookers, then got out and scrambled toward the fully engulfed vehicle.

Cops were there already, and an officer took one look at me, then noticed the gun at my hip. “Hands where I can see them!” he shouted, pulling his gun, and ordering backup, his partner reaching his side.

Instinctively, I reached for my weapon as he barked at me to keep my hands where he could see them, but I took the gun out with two fingers and dropped it to the ground.

“I’m looking for my family!” I shouted in his face. “I’m unarmed! August Fox. My family was in that car.” My heart raced as I complied with the cops who were reacting as if I’d threatened them. Where were James and Max?

Shit, where was Annie?

I stumbled to a halt, my heart hammering at the horror unfolding before me. The car was now a monstrous inferno, and I saw Max and James lying motionless on the ground. Panic surged within me, a tidal wave threatening to drown all reason. I ran to the car, trying to reach the back seat.

If Annie was in there, she’d be gone already, but I might have a chance.

Strong arms grabbed me back.

“There’s a child in there!” I shouted… screamed… but no one let me go.

A firefighter shoved past me, a hose in his hands. He attacked the flames, water hissing and steam rising in billowing clouds. And I could do nothing but watch, not even able to reach James and Max as fire crawled toward them.

The heat was oppressive, pushing against us, and sweat beaded on my forehead, the heat baking my skin, but the physical discomfort was nothing compared to the fear clawing at my insides. When the flames had died enough, and the cops were swarming, I shook off the hold and, kneeling beside James, checked for any sign of life. Nothing. Two bullet holes—one in his temple, the other in his chest. A similar check on Max yielded the same result. They were gone. James had scrapes on him as if someone had dragged him from the car, but Max had his hand curled around a gun, showing that he had been trying to protect James.

And Annie too.

She had to have been in the car.

She couldn’t have survived this.

I’m going to be sick.

Then, amid the chaos and the noise of the fire being quenched, the firefighter found me. His face, obscured by his mask, turned towards mine, and I braced myself for the words I feared most.

“No sign of anyone else in the car.”

“What?”

---