Page 123 of Hidden Memories

A car door slams.

An engine revs.

And my dad’s roar fills the air.

“Theo!”

I break into a run to the other side of the heap where Theo had been digging just moments ago. A jar of worms sits abandoned on the ground, the lid rolling slowly in the dirt.

My pulse slams into overdrive, my veins ice-cold and burning all at once. Kat is running toward me. “Theo!”

I skid to a halt at my father’s side. “Where is he?” My words are filled with raging heat. “Where’s Theo?”

He’s panicked. “Go! The guard!”

The green pickup is speeding away, a cloud of dust billowing behind it. It heads through a gate that none of us even noticed was left wide open.

For an escape.

Kat races toward the truck like she can outrun the nightmare.

“Stop!” Her cries split the air.

She doesn’t stop running after her son, breathless, clawing for something she can’t reach.

Without another word, I bolt for my truck, pulling my phone from my pocket as I go. “Kat, call Gabriel!” I bark over my shoulder. “Now!”

She doesn’t hesitate, her fingers fumbling with her phone, rushing to follow me to my truck. I jump into the driver’s seat and slam the door shut. Kat’s in the passengerseat before I can tell her to get out. I don’t want to put her in this mess but there’s no time to waste.

I fire up the engine and throw the truck into gear, tearing after the dust cloud.

Theo. We can’t lose him.

Gabriel answers and Kat presses her trembling finger on her cell to put it on speaker.

“What’s going on?” He asks.

“Damon,” I bite out. “He’s got Theo. He headed out the south gate.”

There’s a pause, heavy and charged as I wait. I resist the urge to shout at him, tell him to hurry the fuck up. I trust my brother and Anton are on the other end taking action.

“We got him,” Gabriel says, focused. “The truck has a GPS tracker, and we’ve got one on Theo, too. Stay there, we’ve got this.”

Kat is beside herself. “You have a tracker on Theo?”

Gabriel explains. “Popped one under his insoles. They’re on you, too. Stay with Santi; we can only chase one of you at a time.”

“How on earth…?” She shakes her head but thinks better of giving a shit about how and when they decided to track them.

It was a good fucking idea.

She yells at the phone, “We’re following that damn truck whether you like it or not. We can see him.”

Anton must be driving because his voice comes through, but it’s a mere tinny echo. “Hold tight.”

“Hold tight?” I snap. “That bastard has Theo, Ant. I’m not waiting around for a play-by-play.”

I shove my foot down on the gas pedal, and Kat grips the dashboard.

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