Page 38 of Don't Leave Me

Please answer, Peck. I need you.

Chapter 16

Pecker

“Hey, beautiful,” I smile as I answer Sophia’s call. I haven’t gotten a chance to talk to her since I dropped her off at Colt’s before work this morning and it’s killing me. Especially after sleeping with her in my arms last night.

“Pecker,” Sophia whimpers. “We need you and Colton. He’s not answering his phone.”

“Colt’s right here. His phone died, what’s going on?” I’m instantly on high alert. Something is wrong and I need to figure out what. I promised I’d protect her and I refuse to break that promise.

“What happened?” Colt motions for me to put the call on speaker and I quickly connect to the car’s speakers.

“We went to Leslie’s house to get some things. When we were packing up the car, a man was walking towards the house. When he realized we noticed him, he started hurrying towards us.”

“Are you in the car or the house?” Colt asks.

“The car. I'm driving down Beech Tree Road,” Leslie says with a shaky voice.

“Shit, the roads out that way are horrible. How much are you sliding, babe?” Colt asks.

“It has to be a lot, these roads are shit, Colt,” I murmur so the girls can't hear me. “If they hit one patch of bad ice, they’re in trouble.”

“I know,” he whispers.

“A lot,” Leslie says softly.

“Is anyone following you?”

“Yes. Someone’s been behind me since soon after we left the house.”

“Can you tell what kind of car?”

“No, but I passed a black Ford Explorer parked on the side of my street.”

“Motherfucker!” Colt roars.

“We’re on our way to you, Leslie. I want you to keep driving until you get to the Farmer’s Market. Right before you get to the parking lot, I want you to slow down and pull over on the side of the road.”

I take the lead on this, knowing I need to keep Sophia and Leslie safe. Colt isn't thinking rationally right now. I can tell he’s seconds away from losing it.

“Pretend you’re having trouble with your car. Put on your hazards. Put the car in neutral and rev the engine like you got stuck in the snow.”

I’m already pulling away from the accident scene we were responding to before I finish telling them what to do. The guy who crashed into the parked car throws his hands up in the air and stares at us like we’re crazy. I'm sure he’s pissed we’re leaving without giving him a reason why, but I don’t care. My sole focus is on my girl.

“Why would we do that?” Sophia shrieks. “He probably wants to kill us.”

“Because we’ll be waiting and we’ll protect you,” I say softly. “Trust me, Soph.”

“Zoey?” Colt’s voice is full of emotion. I glance over at him and find tears in his eyes.

“Yeah?”

“I love you, baby. Be careful. We’ll stop at nothing to protect you from him.”

“I love you too,” She chokes out.

They’re quiet on the other side of the line. I need to do something to keep their minds off of him and focused on the end goal of getting to us.

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