Page 129 of Crimson Tears

Yet, my heart is pounding and sweat coats my face. I decide to go to Enya’s room, sometimes just seeing her sleep peacefully helps. I can’t help this sense of urgency to get there, but when I do, she isn’t in her bed.

Enya isn’t like me, she would never leave the house at night. I try not to panic as I head downstairs to the kitchen, hoping she just needed a glass of water. But no one is there either.

I press my hand to my chest, debating whether to wake my parents. They don’t sleep in the same bed, so I could wake just one of them. Deciding that’s the best plan, I go to my mother and shake her shoulder.

“Nessa, darling, what is it?” As if she can sense my panic, she swiftly sits up and flicks on the bedside lamp. She hardlyfinches when she sees me, but her face morphs into an expression of distress.

“What is it?”

“Where’s Enya?” I ask.

She breathes a sigh but doesn’t seem to calm. “She is sleeping over at a friend’s house.”

As if on cue, her phone lights up with a call. Her face pales, and my anxiety swims to the point I’m sure I will pass out if I don’t find an anchor. I reach for my mother’s hand as soon as she answers.

“Yes?”

There is yelling on the other end of the phone. When my mother looks at me, I decide,feck it. My father is an arsehole, but he will tear down the world to ensure we are safe.

“Father!” I bang on his door, and he immediately answers.

“You better have a good…” He doesn’t even finish his words when he sees my mother running towards us.

“They took her and many more children.”

My father stands there as if debating what he’s going to do. I may only be eleven, but I’m not taking chances with my sister's life.

“Save her. Get her back, and I will do whatever, be whoever you want me to be. But you have to save them all.”

His eyes drift to mine, and that hesitancy I saw before vanishes as he nods to me.

“Let’s go.”

Chapter 37

The flight to Norway is intense. Damien’s pup, who is now a fairly grown Doberman, must pick up on our stress because he begins to pace until Evie cuddles with him on one of the couches.

I would like to say I am hopeful, but we also know we are within the window for the kids to be moved again, so I am doing my best to not have high expectations. I just pray Nessa is doing the same.

I am worried for her and Cillian. These children are their path to fixing the bad that happened to them in their lives. Nessa seesall of these kids as her little sister, and Cillian sees them all as the scared little boy he once was.

This way of thinking is not good for them, and even worse, heightened emotions make this job harder. If I have learned anything from my father, it was that learning to control your emotions was the best gift you could give to yourself and those around you.

We arrive on a runway that we think is only a few miles from the last location of the truck our contact was able to help place a tracker on. As soon as the doors open, we suit up in our gear and get our cars loaded.

I send a message to the housekeeper of the inn I had renovated, to ensure our rooms are prepared for us, just in case we find them. Evie and her family have a house here, so I am sure they will use that as they have done since we began making these trips.

We have stayed with them a few times, but now that our home is ready, I want to take Nessa there and hopefully bring the children too.

Except, as we get closer and to the destination, I begin to realize that bringing them home today was wishful thinking. And that makes me nervous about how Cillian and Nessa will respond.

Lev was able to fit his drones with tech that no longer triggers the security signal when he scans the area, so he sends them in first.

We watch with bated breath as the truck comes into view, but not a single heat signature is found within a one-mile radius. As we exit the vehicles and approach the truck, we find the driver dead in his seat and the tracker in his lap. A frustrated yell escapes Nessa before she starts to pull at her hair.

“This can’t be it. It just can’t!”

Evie looks defeated, and her men all seem wary. If they knew we were coming, this could all be a trap. Someone could be watching us or have rigged the truck to blow if we get too close.

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