Page 11 of ForeverMN

“No,” She sobs, “It’s Mila. She’s gone, Ci.”

“What do you mean?”

“We got home, and she wasn’t here. My mom checked her room and her office area, and all her things are gone,” Saylor starts crying harder.

“Did she leave a clue, or a note, or anything?” I ask, trying to keep calm even while my brain is splitting in two directions. Ican’t leave the issues here, and I know Saylor needs me. Where the fuck would Mila go?

“There’s a note, but it just says she’ll contact us later,” Saylor replies.

I sigh, “Look, babe, I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but that’s a good sign. It means she left on her own, and plans to communicate. Maybe she just needed a break.”

Saylor huffs, “Or she was coerced to write it. Seriously, I don’t know what’s been going on with her, and I’m scared, Ci.”

“As soon as I’m done here, we’ll head back and figure it out, okay. I promise,” I tell her.

“You aren’t supposed to make promises,” She sighs, but I can hear in her voice that the waterworks have stopped.

“I can make promises to my fiancée, just not targets,” I joke with her and it gets me a small chuckle. I bet she’s at least smiling. “I’ll call Reed too.”

“I think my dad was going to have Matt contact him,” Saylor informs me. I hope he does, so it is one less thing on my plate.

“I have to get going, but keep me updated okay. Lux should be calling you soon too. We’re mobilizing the Yankee team, and I need you and her to help run point at Rogue until we get back. Level Yellow is being activated,” I make her aware of the plans.

“We’re on it,” Saylor answers. “Be safe. I love you.”

“I love you, Princess,” I tell her and hang up, pocketing my phone.

“What happened?” Silas and Kai both ask at the same time.

“Mila is gone,” I tell them. I see the look of anger and panic cross Silas’ features.

“She left a note, but all her things have been cleared out. We need to take care of what’s here so we can get home and help our family,” I tell each of them, and they both nod, but their faces are grim.

Mila is like a younger sister to us all. Silas was really worried in the beginning about how she would feel towards him because of his dad, and her dad, but Mila accepted Silas right away. She treated him as a brother from the first day, and never looked back. For a guy who never had siblings growing up, suddenly having two sisters was a lot for my best friend, but in a good way. He has two sisters who love him, and care about his burly ass. I know he would do anything for either of them.

“Let’s get this done so we can get home. They already identified the house. We need surveillance pictures of the area, and blueprints of the property,” Silas grits through his teeth.

“Oak is on it,” Kai reassures us, and slaps a hand on Silas’ shoulder. The next week is going to be long, and I wonder if we can accomplish everything in that time. Fifty-five lives hang in the balance. Mila’s safety swings right next to them.

It’s time to go Rogue, or go home.

Saylor

When Ciaran gave the mission a week, he was being hopeful. It took ten, long, excruciating days of living in limbo, and hoping against all odds for things to work. Lux and I spent all our free time at Rogue, only going home to shower and sleep a few hours. There are very few cases we ask Matt to step into, but my mom and dad were busy with Mila’s situation too, and couldn’t spare any time. We ran everything with minimal staff due to the level yellow safety increase, and it was exhausting for everyone.

Ten days.

Ten days before they popped back up on the map, alive, and brought fifty-five targets to safety. When their plane touched down back in Minnesota, living spaces, homes and families were ready. My office was prepped and would start contacting everyone once they had time to sleep, eat, and bathe.

Lux, Oaklynn, and I were able to wrangle the guys home so they could get some rest too, before jumping back into work. Their dedication and determination to everyone in Rogue always coming first, even before their own health. Kai had a knife scratch that needed stitches, and I swore Silas would have passed out on the spot if Ciaran didn’t have a shoulder under him. And of course, the first thing my brother wanted to know about was Mila.

Besides the letter, we haven’t heard from her since she left, supposedly, to have some space. My feelings were completelyconflicted. If Mila did write the note and left of her own freewill, what was so difficult she needed to be away from her family? We didn’t baby her. My mom and dad worked hard to get her a place of her own that she could navigate with her wheelchair when she went away to college. She made her choice of places she wanted to go, and we had done nothing but encourage her. Mila had never complained about space, or spending time with us. It didn’t make sense. The only other logical conclusion is that she was taken against her will, and forced to write the letter. And every time my brain comes full circle to this belief, my eyes fill with tears. It’s like we’re wasting time when she might be in danger.

“Hey,” Oaklynn’s voice interrupts my thoughts. Sitting up straighter behind my desk, I give my best friend a small smile.

“Hi.”

“How are you holding up?” She sinks into the chair across from me. My lip wobbles while I take in a shaky breath.

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