Page 61 of Savage Secrets

“Opal.” Zach’s tone drew her upright. Her spine stiffened. “You need to see this.”

She took a few jittery steps to his side and peered at the phone. “Who is that? I don’t know h-him.”

The man wore casual clothes—jeans and a polo shirt. She noticed that as he approached the McMasters’ front door, he kept his head turned aside as if expecting to be caught on camera.

But when the door opened, he couldn’t appear shady. He was forced to look directly at the person in the doorway.

“Feldman!” The word punched her breath out of her lungs.

Zach was completely quiet. Focused.

The pinched expression on his face looked like the closest thing to fear she’d ever see on the cowboy.

“No.” Her hot whisper grew louder as she said it again. “No!No!Rainie!” She took off through the house, tearing open doors and staring at bedrooms and closets. Frantic, she tore clothing off the hangers, as if she could find Rainie hiding behind the garments.

“Opal!” Zach’s boots pounded the floor behind her, uneven because of his limp. He’d been injured.

Her daughter wasmissing.

“She’s here! She has to be here! Who would take Rainie?”

He grabbed her from behind and yanked her against him. All the fight left her in one whoosh, and the tears hit.

“How low do you have to be to kidnap a child?”

“I’ll call the police!” Mrs. McMasters’ face was streaked with tears, and she visibly shook all over.

“Call them.” Zach clutched Opal to his chest. She tore away and ran out of the room, searching the house, driven to find Rainie. Even though her mind knew she wasn’t here, her heart made her keep hunting.

Zach grabbed her again. This time, she felt the warm slickness of his blood.

I have to stop. I have to help him. I love Rainie, but I love Zach too.

“When the cops come, give them the footage. Tell them that man is Eli Feldman,” he barked at the woman. He took Opal by the hand and dragged her out the door to the truck.

“You’re in no condition to drive. Get in.” He practically lifted her into the passenger seat and got behind the wheel.

The silence rang inside the cab, deafening her. There was no soft music crooned by her lover, no little girl’s laughs.

“Oh god, Zach…” She drew in shaky breaths.

“We’ll find her.”

“How?”

He yanked out his phone and got someone on the line. Her confused mind didn’t recognize the deep male voice, and in her confusion, she only caught fragments of what he said to Zach. But she knew he was here for her. Through thick and thin, she could rely on Zach. He was her rock to cling to in the stormy sea of everything her life had become.

* * * * *

“Three minutes out.” Zach bit off the words to Colton on speakerphone. It took everything inside him to remain calm and not to bellow. Furypoundedin his veins. He couldn’t remember ever being this angry.

But nobody had ever touched someone he cared so much about before.

After ending the call, he clamped his fingers on the wheel until they began to tingle from the restricted blood flow. This wasn’t about him, though. In the past, any dickhead who decided he’d be fun to egg into a fight had been gunning forhim. The guys at the Gracey had their suspicions abouthim.

This wasn’t about him. It was a relief to turn his focus outward and fight for somebody else.

He was prepared to defend Opal and Rainie with his life.

---