Page 74 of Love in the Wild

Thea groaned. “I can’t thank you enough for doing this. I know it’s dangerous being with me, and I hope you know I really appreciate everything you’re doing.”

Hadley reached for her friend, resting a hand on her arm. “I’d do anything for you. You and Brett deserve this happiness. We’ll make sure everything works out.”

A truck rounded the corner and slowly drifted into Hadley’s lane. She leaned on the brakes, but the truck was gaining speed. Releasing Thea’s arm, Hadley gripped the wheel.

Think, think! Deep ditches lined both sides of the road, and there wasn’t anywhere else to go.

Pressing harder on the brakes, Hadley braced for impact. “Hang on!”

The truck slammed into the car, jolting everything back and then forward. The world jerked again and again, throwing her shoulders and head against one hard surface after another.

When the car finally came to a stop, thick dust clouded the air and clogged Hadley’s lungs when she gasped for breath. The adrenaline coursing through her masked any pain in those first few seconds as she turned and coughed. “Thea. Thea. Are you okay?”

Could Thea even hear her? Hadley could barely hear her own voice. The ringing in her ears drowned out everything else.

“Yeah. You?” Thea asked.

An ache in her left arm grew as if numbness was wearing off. The pain mounted as Hadley gripped it with her other hand. “My arm.”

Everything in the car was scattered, and Thea searched through the haze that still hung in the air. “Where’s my phone?”

“Mine is in the console,” Hadley said, gesturing to the closed compartment between them.

Tires screeched on the road nearby. “Help!” Hadley shouted.

A few seconds later, someone pulled on the passenger door. After a few jerks, the metal creaked and the bent door opened. A man with greasy hair and a sadistic grin came into view.

“No! No!” Thea screamed.

A tightness gripped Hadley’s throat. The man wasn’t here to help. He’d purposefully crashed into them, and Thea knew him. “Thea!”

Thea reached for Hadley, grabbing onto her. Her other arm stung with pain as she tried to use it to latch onto Thea. The man jerked her whole body, dragging her from the car with ease. Hadley’s grip on her friend slipped as Thea kicked against the man.

“Thea!”

Hadley jerked against her seatbelt, flinging it off. She grabbed the door handle, but it didn’t move. Pressing her shoulder into it, the pain burned hotter down her arm. She pushed the bile rising in her throat back down and screamed for Thea again.

“Cain, stop! Bruce, no!”

Thea’s shouts drifted farther away as Hadley continued pushing against the door. She had to get out of here before they took Thea. Cradling her left arm, she pulled her legs up and draped them over the console. With her good arm, she lifted herself up over the console and into the passenger seat.

The roar of a truck engine rumbled behind her, and she fought to suck air into her paralyzed lungs. The airbag must have done some damage when it deployed onto her chest.

“No, no, no,” Hadley chanted as she climbed out of the vehicle, but the truck was already speeding down the road headed back toward the ranch.

“No!” she shouted as the truck disappeared around a corner. Ducking back into the cab, she swiped her hand over the mess. When she found her phone on the passenger floorboard, she called Brett. She gripped the phone as it shook in her hand.

He answered quickly. “Hey, everything–”

“They took Thea!”

“What? No,” Brett said, clear disbelief lacing his words.

Hadley turned, looking down the road both ways. No sign of any other cars. “We wrecked. A truck ran us off the road. We’re in a ditch on Pickens Road, and someone just pulled her out of the car and…”

Her sobs took over. Thea was gone, and the ugly truth welled up like a balloon inside Hadley’s chest.

“And what?” Brett prodded.

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