Page 53 of Last Resort

Now that Evelyn had a button to push, Maci would never be free. She’d lose everything she’d worked so hard for and Chance... Chance would eventually find out what Maci had done. The first time she tried to refuse Evelyn, she’d tell him everything and he’d hate Maci for it. It was only a matter of time.

Maci didn’t know what to do with herself but she couldn’t move yet, so she curled up on her couch and cried, as the future she’d been so desperate for slipped from her fingers for good.

Chapter Sixteen

Something wasn’t right.

Chance told himself not to read into Maci’s stiffness and slightly weird pauses as he walked her out to the car, but he couldn’t help it.

Certainly, there were a lot of things for her to be stressed over...the window, the doctor’s appointment, her head wound, the stalker in general. But something hadn’t been right about how she’d left.

He’d still let her go and still forced himself to come back into the office once she was gone. He’d felt slightly better when he’d received her text—Made it okay—but something still didn’t sit right in his gut.

He made it another hour before he decided to stop fighting it. “I’m going to go. Maci and I have that doctor’s appointment this afternoon and... I don’t know.”

“You alright?” Weston looked up from his screen.

“Yeah. I just want to make sure she’s okay.”

None of them argued. Luke just tossed Chance his keys since Maci had taken Chance’s car.

But when he got home neither his car nor Maci was there. Normally stepping inside the house—especially since Maci had been staying there—made him relax, but not this time. Everything was silent.

Hoping there was some reason she was here despite the car not being in the garage, he called for her. “Maci?”

Pulling out his phone, he dialed her number and was immediately sent to voice mail. He sent texts, but got no response and no indication they’d been received.

He checked everywhere. The bedrooms were empty, the living room was clear and so was the backyard. There was no sign of trouble or forced entry. Every window was closed, every door locked.

Everything was exactly how it should have been, just without Maci.

Chance tried to focus. There hadn’t been any other signs of attack. Nothing was out of place, no blood anywhere. Plus, no one except his family knew that Maci had been living with him.

So, she probably hadn’t been kidnapped. Had there been a car accident?

No, because she’d texted him that she’d arrived safely.

He froze in the process of looking around again. Maybe she’d left? Like the night she’d snuck out of his bed and never returned. Maybe she’d decided she didn’t want to be here with him anymore.

Maybe she’d decided to cut him out of her and the baby’s life completely.

He rushed to the closet, heaving a sigh of relief when her clothes were still there.

He was about to dial his brothers to start a search party when he heard the garage door open. Relief warred with frustration so acute he had to take deep breaths to keep from losing his cool.

How he acted now was important. Because ultimately Maci was a grown woman and she didn’t have to report any of her actions to him. He needed to show her that he was concerned but not smothering.

She walked in the door and his eyes combed over her—no injuries; that was good.

“Where the hell were you?” he barked.

Great, Patterson. Nice and calm.

She stilled on her way past, eyes narrowing. “I was driving around.”

She looked tired, pale. Why?

“You were supposed to come straight home. Do you have any idea how—”

---