Page 141 of The Good Girl

“Who’s Ellwick?” Ambros asks.

“The guy they thought kidnapped Nevaeh’s sister. Cops killed him when he resisted arrest.”

Ambros taps his fingers on the wheel. “You think this Markham guy was the one who fingered Ellwick for the abduction?”

“Without a doubt, he had priors that included raping a twelve-year-old girl. The only reason he walked free was thanks to a technicality. Ellwick was the perfect suspect to keep the police busy, and in doing so, Markham slipped right under their radar,” G answers.

“What was Markham in prison for?”

He taps away on his cell before he replies. “He served twenty-two months of a three-year sentence for fraud. He had no priors involving violence or any kind of sexual abuse. He hid his provocations well.”

“The best kind of predators do.” I growl.

“I don’t get it. This Markham guy sounds like a pedophile, but Nevaeh isn’t a little girl anymore. Why would he want her?” Ambros frowns, looking over at me briefly before returning his focus to the road.

“Maybe it’s because she looks like her sister. Maybe he has a thing for twins,” G says.

Ambros hisses. “Her twin?”

I run my fingers through my hair. “It’s been fifteen years, why now?”

“It’s because of me.” Ambros hits the steering wheel. “The photo of me and her outed her real identity. Before that, she used a pen name and lived a quiet and sheltered life.”

“This Jasper guy knew who she was all along and where to find her.” I point out.

G sits forward. “Until she moved here. Maybe that’s it. If he’s always known where she was, it would have tripped his trigger to find her gone. And when he does find her, she’s not the pure preacher’s daughter anymore––she’s tangled up with an MC.”

I close my eyes, remembering Nevaeh in our bed with that just fucked look on her face. I picture her smile from the day of the book signing, how happy she was and––

My eyes snap open. “He was at the signing. He walked right up to her and introduced himself as Jasper. I thought he was odd, but…” I let my words drift off.

“Nobody could have predicted this Havoc,” Ambros says quietly.

But I should have. It’s my job to protect her, and right now, she’s on her fucking own.Fight for me, baby. I’m coming for you,but you gotta fight for me, fight for us.

I listen to G give Ambros directions, but I keep my mind on Nevaeh. I refuse to believe that she won’t come home. I know her, even terrified she’ll fight to get back to me.

I fist my hands, trying to keep my own fear at bay. If I give into it, I’ll tear this car apart with my bare hands. If I lose her, I’m done. I won’t live in a world where Nevaeh doesn’t exist. If she dies, I’ll follow her. Some might think that’s the coward’s way out, but they have no idea the hell I’ll rain down if I stay. I won’t stop until the streets run with blood and there is nobody left alive to remember her. All the memories left will be mine and mine alone.

I think of G and Amity, the club, and all the people who love Nevaeh––it wouldn’t be enough to stop me. Is a monster born or made? I’ve never weighed in on that, but I know now that losing Nevaeh will make me into a monster. I’ve always been fair. I might skirt the laws of morality to suit my needs, but I’ve never crossed any lines I couldn’t live with––Until Nevaeh.

There isn’t anything I won’t do for her, any line I won’t cross, or law I won’t break. I’d sacrifice everyone, friend and foe alike, as long as I got to keep her.

“Turn left here.”

I tune back into what’s going on around me and find us on a long dirt road. I sit up and look around, seeing nothing but trees on either side of us.

“We might need to bail out and do the rest on foot,” G says, but I shake my head.

I think about the house I took Nevaeh to and how far off the beaten track it is. “Not sure how long this road is. Stay on it for now. I don’t want to leave the car and find we have ten miles to run. Time is not our friend right now.”

After fifteen minutes, I knew I had made the right call. When the trees start to thin, I see the outline of a house in the distance. “Now we bail. How far out is Hannibal?”

“Seven minutes. He’s on the path behind us. Should hear him soon,” G answers.

“I’m not waiting. Seven minutes might not seem like much to us, but it’s plenty of time to kill someone. Hands around her throat would take no longer than five minutes, a gunshot, seconds.”

“We don’t know what we’re walking into, Havoc. We should wait for backup, in case?—”

---