Page 47 of Capturing Hearts

“Hey! Finally! I’ve been trying to get ahold of you,” he whispers, Nicole asleep beside him.

“Mark. He took her. Annie’s gone. Tommy kidnapped her tonight. I didn’t get your messages. I didn’t hear the news. I fell asleep and wasn’t there to pick her up.”

“Brendan,” he tries to interrupt, hearing the pain in my voice.

I choke, “He followed her to her car last night. We didn’t know it was him. She thought it was a robber. Bobby saved her and no one saw him. But he came back! We all thought he was a robber, Mark! I wasn’t there! I wasn’t there for her! And he fucked with my car to make sure I wasn’t. I just checked. It’s been fucked with. I thought it was just a weak battery. What am I gonna do? She’s gone!”

Mark’s taking in the horror of what I’ve told him, and he interrupts me. “Brendan! Stop! Listen to me. I’m coming. I’ll catch a flight out today. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you,” I whisper.

“Where are you now?”

“I’m at our house. I can’t go in. There’s a tree in there! We got a tree!”

Mark knows what this means. He knows who I am, who I’ve been. How jaded I was about women and love and commitment. He knows me better than anyone, which means he knows I will never survive this if she doesn’t come home. I will never survive.

“What’s going on?” Nicole’s sleepy voice asks in the distance.

“Honey, hang on. It’s Brendan. I’ll explain in a minute,” he murmurs. “Brendan? I’ll be there. I’m coming. We’ll find her. We’ll find her together, okay? Now go inside and try to sleep so you can have your head screwed on straight.”

“I can’t sleep tonight.”

“Then pray. Pray for her safe return. Pray for the baby. Pray. I’ll call you in a half hour when I’ve booked the flight, tell you when I arrive.”

I make a sound close to a snort. “You want me to pray?” Even as I say it, I know that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

“I’ll call you right back.” He hangs up and I head inside, taking the elevator up. When I walk in, the tree lights hit me hard and I fall to my knees in front of them, right in front of that little blue and white sweater ornament.

“Dear God, Please watch over my wife tonight. She’s carrying our son and they’re with a bad guy. Please make him see what he’s doing. Please help him wake up…do the right thing. Please help him have the strength to call me and let me come get her. Please, God, I’m begging you…”

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