Page 86 of Mending Scars

Once Kamden navigated to Bryce’s condo, I kicked down the door without even bothering to knock. Darkness blanketed the inside as I went in and switched on the light. “Kaiya!”

I surveyed the room, looking for any sign of Kaiya or Bryce. A chair was overturned and some picture frames lay broken on the ground. I searched the rest of Bryce’s place and found more signs of a struggle, especially in the bedroom.

Pillows from the bed were on the floor, and the covers were bunched up at the foot of the bed. A lamp was turned over on the mattress and one of the nightstands was on its side.

I gripped the edge of the dresser as I fought to stay calm. I needed to be level-headed if I was going to find Kaiya, but the thought of Bryce hurting Kaiya, or worse, raping her, sent me over the edge.

I roared in fury as I swiped everything off the top of the dresser. Everything that was on top scattered to the floor as I turned and punched a hole through the wall.

Then, I saw something that made my heart sink—Kaiya’s bracelet. It lay on the floor next to the bed. Kamden rushed in. “What? What happened?”

Ignoring him, I walked to the bracelet before bending over and picking it up. The link at the end of the chain was broken, probably during whatever happened. My eyes burned as I thought about Kaiya being hurt or worse, dead.

I closed my fist around the bracelet as a few tears fell down my face.

Not my Warrior. Please let her be okay.

A hand came down on my shoulder, and I turned and flung it away, preparing to punch whoever touched me.

Kamden put his hands up. “Whoa, it’s just me. As much as I want to kick your ass, we have other things to worry about. Like finding my sister.”

He was right—I needed to focus on finding Kaiya and not get sucked into my emotions.

Where would he have taken her?

I put Kaiya’s bracelet in my pocket before wiping my face. “Okay, let’s search the house—maybe there’s a clue as to where he would go.”

We ripped the condo apart, looking for anything that would lead us to Kaiya. Bryce’s office was where we had concentrated most of our efforts, but papers were strewn all over the floor and desk—it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Kamden sat in an office chair, going through papers on the desk. He huffed in frustration before throwing the papers down. “There’s nothing here.”

“Keep looking.” I was searching through Bryce’s filing cabinet when I came across a file of interest. It was labeled as “Real Estate Documents.”

I pulled the file out and opened it. I began reading the papers, and finally found something that might help. I looked up at Kam, who had his elbows propped on the table as he held his head in his hands. “Hey, I think I found something.”

His head jerked toward me, and he practically jumped out of the chair. “What?” he asked anxiously.

I scanned over the document one more time just to be sure before looking up at Kamden again. “Apparently Bryce has a house in Cape Cod.”

“Do you think he might have taken her there?”

“I don’t know.” I took the paper and dropped the rest of the file on the ground. “But I’m gonna find out.”

“Cape Cod is more than an hour away,” Kamden pointed out as I started walking.

“Which means we better not waste any more time.”

My eyes fluttered open slowly. Wincing from the pain swarming most of my body, I attempted to move, but couldn’t. My hands were fastened to a chair behind my back and my ankles were tied together. Duct tape covered my mouth, stretching the skin around my lips uncomfortably.

My eyes darted around the room, attempting to take in my surroundings. I was in a bedroom, one that I’d never been in before. The walls were painted a light blue, resembling a springtime sky, and various beach décor adorned the room. The muted sound of waves barely registered, so I guessed that I was somewhere near a beach.

Where has he taken me?

Bryce didn’t live near a beach, but I vaguely remembered him mentioning something about wanting to take me on a mini-vacation to a beach condo in Cape Cod. If he had brought me there, I was fucked. It was about an hour away from home.

Squirming, I tried to see if I could free myself and escape, but Bryce had firmly secured the knots restraining me.

Fuck.

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