Page 60 of Secret Wolf Baby

That good mood lasted for the span of the car ride home. The instant I got home and registered what I was seeing, it evaporated in an instant.

The front door was open.

I stopped, staring at it for a long moment. Then I ran, the flowers and chocolates I had brought forgotten in the car as I sprinted toward the house.

Stale, unpleasantly familiar scents hit me when I crossed the threshold. Reacher’s and Saul’s. They’d been here.

A low, angry growl began to resonate in my throat, rage and fear vying for dominance. If they had been here, that meant trouble. My mind raced with all the possibilities as to what they could have done, none of them pleasant.

“Audrey? Claire?” I yelled.

No answer.

That was when I saw the crumpled heap on the ground.

I raced forward, trying to hold in my panic. Audrey didn’t move as I approached, my heart pounding. She’d been hurt. I hadn’t been here, and she’d been hurt. Please let her be all right.

“Audrey? Audrey!” I bent down next to her, lifting her halfway in my arms. She was breathing. As I lifted her, her eyes fluttered open, and she let out a soft groan.

“Thank God.” I finally breathed, some of the tension and panic leaving me.

She stirred, her hand going to her temple, where a large red mark was already darkening into a bruise.

“Jackson?” she muttered. “What…?”

“It’s all right,” I said, stroking her hair. “You’re all right.”

She pushed herself up until she leaned against the wall. “My head,” she groaned.

I cupped her cheek. “Stay here,” I said as I got to my feet. I raced to the kitchen. As I did, I kept an eye out for Claire, but there was no trace of her, or of any conflict outside of the front hall. Maybe she had gone over to a friend’s after school or had stayed back for some reason. I could worry about calling her in a moment. Right now, I wanted to make sure Audrey was all right.

I pulled an ice pack from the freezer and hurried back to the hall. Crouching in front of Audrey, I put the pack gently to her head. She sucked in a breath and tried to flinch away.

“I know,” I said, trying to sound soothing. “But this will keep the swelling down. Are you okay?”

“I think so,” she said, taking the pack from me. She shifted, pushing more of her back against the wall, and the light caught her neck. Dark lines of red and purple wrapped around her throat as if someone had been choking her.

A new surge of anger slammed into me like a tidal wave. Whoever did this to her was going to pay.

“What the hell happened?” I demanded.

Audrey closed her eyes, as if trying to remember. Then her eyes flew open, wide with terror. She reached for me, grabbing a fistful of my shirt.

“They have her,” she said, her voice quaking. “They took Claire.”

The words rang in my ears, sounding impossible.

“Who?” I snarled.

“Reacher. And Dad,” she said. Tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“It’s not,” I said, shaking my head.

She shook her head. “No, it is. When I first came here, they made me work for them. They wanted me to keep tabs on you and give them information to ensure you wouldn’t interfere with their plans. Today, they came by, and I told them I wasn’t going to do it anymore. Then Claire came home from school, and they… they…”

She trailed off, seemingly unable to finish, though from rage or fear, I couldn’t quite tell.

“They what?” I prodded her.

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