Page 131 of Mile High Daddy

I can’t leave my mother out there.

Before she can protest again, I take off, slipping through the shadows toward the garden.

When I arrive, my breath is coming in shaky bursts as my eyes dart around.

But there’s no sign of her.

My pulse pounds in my ears, my fingers curling into fists. Where is she? She said she was here.

Then—

A loud thud echoes from the warehouse just beyond the tree line.

My stomach knots.

I don’t think. I just run.

The cool night air bites at my skin, twigs snapping under my feet as I push toward the sound. My heart is hammering, my breath shallow, every nerve in my body screaming at me to turn back, to be careful, to think.

But I don’t stop.

I burst through the doorway, the heavy scent of dust and wood filling my nose. The warehouse is dimly lit, crates stacked high against the walls.

And then—I see her.

Bound and gagged.

My mother is tied to a chair, her hands secured behind her back, her mouth stuffed with cloth to keep her from screaming. Her eyes are wide, frantic as she starts to move, making muffled noises against the gag.

A cold, paralyzing fear grips me.

“Mom!” I rush forward, my hands reaching for the ropes?—

“Not another step.” A sharp, icy voice freezes me in place.

I turn slowly, my stomach sinking.

Ryan.

He stands a few feet away, his gun trained directly on me.

His expression is calm. Too calm.

Like he’s been waiting for this.

Like he’s been waiting for me.

“Well,” he says, tilting his head slightly, his grip on the gun steady. “Looks like you found her after all.”

A chill races down my spine.

My body locks up, every instinct screaming at me to run, to fight, to do something.

But the gun doesn’t waver.

Ryan watches me, his expression eerily calm, like he’s just chatting with an old friend instead of holding a weapon to a pregnant woman.

“Let her go,” I say, my voice steady even though my heart is going wild.

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