Page 54 of Fall

“Harley, calm down,” Luke says, stepping in front of me.

“The baby has been kidnapped. Surely you have watched the news? The baby called Hope King who is missing?” he asks her, and she nods, pulling out the folder. She flips it open.

“Room eight, that’s on the top floor. I haven’t seen the baby as I only clocked in this morning and they checked in last night. But they’re the only ones staying here who asked for a travel cot,” she says, and I turn away to find the stairs. The hotel has four floors, which I run up as fast as I can, and I find room eight at the top.

“We should knock; he wouldn’t expect that. You don’t want to scare Hope,” Luke says, putting a hand on my chest and stopping me.

I nod, lifting my hand and knocking on the door three times. There’s a tense silence as I hear footsteps, and then the door is opened. The man standing in front of me is Daniel. I know from the research I did on him when Tilly told me she ran away from him. He is shorter than me, with blond hair, a scar near his eyebrow, and blue eyes. That’s all there is to him; he looks like a regular guy, a guy you would never expect to steal a baby.

“Daniel?” I ask him, stepping closer and lifting him off the ground by his shirt. He wrestles with me, but he isn’t strong enough as I slam him into the wall. I press my face close to his.

“If I didn’t have a family, girlfriend, and a baby to bring up. I would kill you for this,” I tell him, and he tries to pull my hands away from his shirt as it chokes him.

“She is mine, mine. You can’t take my girlfriend and my baby.”

“You don’t force yourself on your girlfriend. You lost her and Hope when you tried to do that,” I spit out.

“She wanted it. She always did.” Daniel laughs, and I bang his head into the wall as he keeps laughing. The sick fucker.

“Harley?” Luke says. I barely hear him through the haze of wanting to kill the man in my hands. Then I hear Hope crying, and everything slows down. The sound of her crying makes me step back a little, but I keep my hands on him.

“I’ve got him,” Luke tells me, and I drop Daniel to the floor. I know Luke will sort him.

I walk into the bedroom, seeing the empty bottles on the sides, the car seat, and Hope in the travel cot. I lift her out, holding her close to me. She instantly stops crying, like she always does. I jump when I hear a male scream and then a gunshot.

“Luke?” I cry out as I run around the bed toward the hallway where Luke is standing, holding one hand to his side, where a knife is sticking out of his stomach, while his other hand holds a gun. On the floor is Daniel, with blood pouring from his neck. Luke shot him, and he won’t be surviving that.

I turn Hope’s face away so she can’t see as I pause, not knowing what to do.

“Did you bring a gun?” I ask Luke, who nods, resting against the door.

“POLICE!” I hear shouted up the stairs, just before three police officers run up the stairs, take in the scene, and Luke falls to the ground.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Tilly

“Hope is okay? You have her?” I repeat again to Harley, who just told me he has Hope in his arms right now. I hear her cry a little and sink to the floor of the lounge, holding my hand over my mouth as I hold in my own cry. I feel Izzy wrap an arm around me, but everything is blurry. My baby is safe.

“She is safe and healthy. Tilly . . . you need to come to the local hospital and bring all of my brothers, and Izzy. I will text you the postcode,” he tells me.

“What? Why? What’s wrong with Hope?” I ask quickly.

“Nothing, Tilly. But I need you here,” he tells me, his voice cracking a little.

“On our way now,” I tell him.

“I love you,” Harley replies.

“I love you, too,” I respond before the line cuts off.

“They found Hope?” Izzy asks me.

“Yes. They are at the hospital, and Harley wanted me to get you and all your brothers there as quick as possible,” I say, and she frowns, wondering what is going on as well.

The police officer who stayed with us comes running into the room. “They have found the baby,” she says, and I nod, holding up my phone and standing up.

I grab my changing bag off the side, which is packed with anything Hope will need, and throw it over my shoulder. “Harley just called. He said we need to get to the hospital, so excuse us,” I comment.

---