Page 5 of Four Times Saved

My brain was rattling around in my head and my nerves were fucking fried. I was staring at his rigid features, waiting for an answer, but his eyes were plastered on the road.

"Matt!" I yelled, as a cop's siren started blaring behind us.

He swore. "Check the damn footage, Ethan!" He fired at me before stepping on the gas.

"What the fuck, man? You can't outdrive the cops," I said, before I checked the footage. Once I did, however, I started to shake, directing him to shortcuts I'd found during my drives over to Lily's place.

"Pull over. I am warning you!" The cop spoke through his P.A system. This had turned into a damn speed chase and the car still wasn't going fast enough.

Before Matt could pull to a stop outside of her house, I was jumping out and running inside. He parked halfway on the sidewalk and on the road before rounding the perimeters of the outside, calling her name, with a frustrated policeman shouting nonsense at us.

"You're under arrest for breaking the law..." The cop was outside with Matt and he must have been speaking to himself because, damn it man, read the fucking room.

"My girlfriend is missing!" Matt and I yelled at the same time. "Our girlfriend..." We corrected ourselves in sync.

The cop looked between us. "Your girlfriend? As in both of you?" The cop looked at us in wonder and disbelief that we were so casual about it. Matt scoffed and I swore. That was the most shocking thing he heard?

Matt threw a dismissive hand up and walked away from him. I did the same. Inside I flipped on all the lights as the cop followed Matt around the yard.

"Well, that's all well and good, but you still broke the law..." I could hear the cop saying and I could fucking punch him in that stupid mouth of his. He was still missing the most important detail. But he wasn't my priority at the moment.

"Lily!" My throat stung from the tears burning through me. I searched every room in vain, flipping over shit, looking under beds, searching for any fucking 'hidden' rooms. Nothing, but Mrs. Thornbread's voice echoing Lily's name back to me. "I'm coming, darling." I rushed toward her, my body shaking in the process.

With the realization of what had happened swallowing me up, I threw her medicine into a bag before putting her in her wheelchair. I couldn't imagine that Lily had just walked out of here and she was somehow safe somewhere. She would've called. She had obviously been taken.

My focus was getting Mrs. Thornbread back to the Airbnb, getting an emergency nurse or something to stay with her, and hitting the road in search of Lily. I wouldn't rest until she was back with us, safe and sound. My body shook as I fought to hold myself together. I hoped she was safe and sound. She had to be. Otherwise, I'd die.

Forgetting all about the officer, lost in my own mind, I was alarmed when I ran into both him and Matt in the living room.

"Nothing?" Matt's face crumpled before me.

I shook my head.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" The officer walked toward me.

"She can't stay here." I rubbed my forehead. Swiping my hand over my face, I reminded myself that he was an officer and I couldn't lose my temper with him, even if he was doing a horrible job at the moment. "Her daughter is missing. This is clearly an emergency. Can't you, like, do something? I'm going to put her in the car."

Matt paced to and fro, staring daggers at the back of the officer's head.

"Well, I can't just let you walk on out of here with this woman. What's your relationship to her?" The officer stood in my way.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Matt exploded. "Have you heard a single word we've said all night? Our girlfriend is MISSING. Shouldn't that be your priority?"

"Here. Take a look at this." I pulled Matt's phone from my pocket and handed it to the officer, a view of the security feed on the phone.

He watched without saying much before turning speculative eyes on us. Oh, here we go, more judgment in his eyes.

With his hands on his hips, he studied us. "Are you spying on her?" he asked.

"What?!" Matt's eyes widened, his gaze like steel.

"The cameras. It's a bit odd..." The officer began.

"Oh, for the love of... You know what? I can't deal with this right now. If you're not going to do anything about this, please..." Matt went off.

"Okay, hold on now. I didn't say I wouldn't do anything. I just want to make sure I have the facts straight." He pulled out his notepad. "Speeding," he noted out loud as he put that one down as his top priority.

Taking a deep breath, I gripped the handlebars on Mrs. Thornbread's wheelchair, wishing it was his neck.

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