Page 115 of Sardonic Burn

“And she was supposed to send him back the report by one. He’ll wait for the morning, so he doesn’t upset Kalina.”

Lyla approaches us and leans against Lucas’ chair. Her eyes squint as she stares, then she points her finger. “Wait, what’s that?”

Immediately, Lucas enhances the image. It’s maybe an hour away from the forest, around an hour after Noelle was taken. It’s an ice cream truck; however, it doesn’t have any license plates.

“Who the hell drives an ice cream truck this late?”

“And why the fuck doesn’t it have the license plates?”

“Track him,” I say through gritted teeth. “Follow it and see where it goes.”

The next thirty minutes is spent with both Lucas and Mika creating the history of the path the truck took. It’s not clearly shown where it first appeared, but I can see that it went on the highway. It didn’t stop by any gas stations or even sway off the road.

Instead, the trail goes cold when the CCTV disappears.

“Motherfucker,” I hiss.

“Calm down.” Lyla strokes my forearm. “It’s a start.”

“It’s not fucking good enough!”

Lyla speaks carefully. “Then let’s just use the teams from tonight and go to all the locations at once.”

“That’s risky,” Niko says, finally speaking with reason. “Most likely, it’s all being monitored. One wrong move, and they’ll transfer her somewhere no one can find her.”

“Then what do you suggest? To wait? With the two of you on the verge of insanity?”

“I say lure him out,” Niko says. “Burn his company to the ground. Force him out of his hiding spot.”

“Can we do that without getting caught?”

“We want to get caught. There’s a high chance they will take us to the same place as Noelle. We’ll just be prepared for it this time.”

“Lyla, get me some gasoline.”

It’s not the smartest idea, but it’s all we have at the moment. A stupid idea can at least be useful in some ways.If nothing, it will distract him long enough for us to find her somehow.

Hold on, Noelle.

I’ve failed you once. I’ll never do it again. I vow with everything that I am—everything that you made me—that I will find you and bring you back safely into my arms. I’ll never let you do anything like this again, and you’ll never be in danger.

Just wait for me, please.

Don’t lose yourself to the anger and the pain.

I’ll carry all of your burdens, all of your pain. It will be mine to shoulder so that you never have to experience something like this ever again.

THIRTY

This is all just a terrible nightmare.

It has to be a nightmare.

There’s no way that I was betrayed, kidnapped, and chained to a wall by the man who just tonight pushed our wedding date forward. It’s the same man who held me in his arms when I had a mental breakdown. The same man who rarely went a day without buying me chocolate or flowers.

When did it all go wrong? When did all of those little changes start to happen?

Did it start when I killed Franco De Santis? Or did it start way before, and I just never realized it?

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