Page 84 of Sincerely, Your Enemy

I scan the dimly lit parking lot thoroughly, my pulse wilding out in my neck.

No one.

I’m on the verge of tears as I croak, “I don’t see her.”

“Keep driving. Looks like the parking lot wraps around the whole thing,” Theo suggests.

Images of my sister rotting away in a basement crash into me. I can hear the voice of the reporter breaking the news on the radio, adding my sister’s name to a long list of victims, all of whom will never be seen again. Is it human trafficking? Or a serial killer targeting young girls? Will we ever know? Will we?—

“There she is,” Kelsea yells from the back seat, bringing my downward spiral to a close.

Sure enough, I spot my sister’s silhouette the instant we reach the back of the building. She’s walking hand in hand with a man, most likely Gabriel, and glancing around nervously. I’m guessing she’s starting to realize just how weird this is while still holding on to that tiny voice in her head telling her that she’s being totally paranoid.

TJ slows down to assess the situation. We’re far away enough that they don’t see us immediately but not so far away that we don’t hear the roar of a speeding car in the distance. My stomachdrops when blinding headlights appear around the corner, shining directly at my sister and the boy I’m sure is responsible for many young girls’ disappearances.

The scene looks like it came right out of a movie. From the black van rushing toward Sierra and screeching to a halt to the back doors flying open and the two large men jumping out of the car.

Sierra steps back, filled with terror as the men approach her, but Gabriel holds her tighter, forcing her forward as she resists with all her might, letting out a piercing scream that makes my blood run cold.

“Go! Go! Go!” I scream, and TJ slams the gas, making our presence known as we charge in their direction.

Seeing us kicks the men into high gear, and they launch themselves at my sister, attempting to quiet her by covering her mouth as they both take her on, dragging her to the van.

It all happens incredibly fast from there. TJ pushes the engine to its limit, cutting across the parking lot in the blink of an eye. Then, TJ and Theo are bursting out of the car and throwing themselves at the two men attacking Sierra without a moment’s hesitation.

As for Chance, he goes straight for Gabriel, grabs his collar, and delivers a strong uppercut that sends him crashing to the ground.

“Stay in the car,” I tell Kelsea before climbing out of the passenger’s seat, but she doesn’t listen, rushing out, too.

“Sierra!” I shout from the bottom of my lungs, my voice mixing with her panicked screams, and Kelsea runs to my side, gripping my arm.

TJ and Theo successfully separate Sierra from the two men with a handful of punches, ripping them off her and allowing Sierra to run to us. Every fiber of my being is begging me to trapher in a suffocating hug, but I know we’ll have time for that once she’s safe.

“Get in the car and lock the doors!” I command the girls, but neither of them moves a muscle, paralyzed by fear.

At the same time, TJ, who’s still grappling with one of the men, catches on to what we’re saying and screams, “Girls!Now!”

That’s enough to snap Kelsea out of it. She grips Sierra’s hand and drags her into the back seat of my car, locking the doors as soon as they’re inside.

TJ elbows the guy coming at him in the face at the same time as Gabriel pushes to his feet and grips Chance’s shoulder from behind. Gabriel spins him around and smashes his fist against the side of Chance’s head, near his temple. Chance drops to the ground like deadweight, and I let out a shrill scream at his inert body.

I look to my right to see Theo and TJ holding their hands out in front of the two men as one of the guys waves a knife at them, stalking closer.

The two men are bruised all over, their already unattractive faces now bloody messes. TJ and Theo look relatively okay in comparison, although I’m not sure how well they’ll fare against a knife.

I grip my phone, ready to call the police, when a deep “I don’t think so” sounds on my right. The next thing I know, Gabriel’s grabbed me from behind, his hand coming to wrap around my throat and squeezing until I’m gasping for air. He steals my phone with his free hand and chucks it across the parking lot.

“You just had to ruin everything, didn’t you?” Gabriel seethes against my cheek, his fingertips digging into my neck and making me cry in pain. “You fucking bitch.”

“She’ll have to do,” the man holding the knife says.

“She’s too old,” the other argues.

“Well, we sure as fuck can’t show up empty-handed, now can we? Come on.” Knife Man gestures to the van with his chin.

I know exactly what that means, and judging from the look on TJ’s and Theo’s faces, they do, too.

Whoever hired these bastards is looking for underage girls, but because I intervened, they’re stuck with me.

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