Page 115 of Love Me Dangerous

If I don’t, my guilt and fear will destroy me.

A blast of wind hits me head-on. I tuck into myself and shut my eyes.

The only thing stopping Dustin from hurting Sofie is the payoff he’s after. As long as he thinks I’m going to help him get it, he’ll keep her alive. I have to believe that, or I’m going to lose my mind.

But even if I manage to double-cross him and save Sofie, what about William?

I scream in frustration.

How can I stop Dustinandprotect the people I love?

Think!

With Kai a no-show thanks to the search for Linnea, will Dustin try to rendezvous at another location?

Right now, Sheriff Olson is planning a bust at The Limelight. But the handoff was scheduled for mid-day. That makes me think that this fake bust is to cover something else. Something that’s going downtonight.

If Kai had made it safely back to the ranch with the delivery, what then? Does he cut it to increase their profit? Or is it ready to sell, maybe at a party or some event?

What is Dustin’s plan?

The only way I’m going to fix this is to find him. The wind stings my eyes as I blink them open, but the path ahead is clear as day. I’ll follow the tracks, until I can’t.

Sheriff Olson’syou sure as hell aren’t getting out of this mess without some kind of planrings in my ears.

I can’t ask him for help. Not when Dustin’s got Sofie.

Yet the sheriff isn’t my only ally.

I start running, willing the details of this crazy plan to come together.

It’s risky. And if it backfires, none of us will escape unscathed. I slide out the burner phone and punch in another number I have memorized.

“Hello?”

“I need your help,” I say over the wind and my heaving breaths.

“Zach? What’s going on?”

Another gust slams into my back, and I stumble. The ground swirls, but I recover, breathing hard. “Sofie’s been taken.”

“Tell me where you are, and we’ll be there.”

Tears sting my eyes. Maybe it’s relief that I’m not alone. Or maybe it’s fear that I’m putting people I care about in danger.

The terrain falls away steeply and I pick up speed, fast. The wind blasts me from the side, and I windmill my arms for balance. My heels tap my butt and my breaths turn ragged. I try to stay upright but my momentum is all wrong. I launch forward.

I land, flipping and tumbling, cold snow packing into every crevice—down my back and front, up the cuffs of my sleeves. I lose my hat and the glove I removed to make the call, the snow burning my skin. When I finally come to rest, I lay there breathing, making sure nothing’s busted, then roll to my knees. Everything is white—the ground, the sky. My body aches, and the cold is everywhere on my skin, robbing me of warmth. The wind flicks its icy tendrils through my hair.

But worse than all of that, I’ve lost the phone.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

SOFIE

Dustin slamsover a bump in the dirt road, sending me flying. I crack my head on the cold truck bed. Pain spiders through my skull, and my stomach flutters with a nauseous tickle.

Dustin’s driving a rough road, fast. The engine is loud, with exhaust seeping through the seam in the tailgate.

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