Page 113 of Mason

She’s alive. She must be alive.

A ragged breath rips through my chest, but the relief is short-lived. Because she wouldn’t have hit that tracker unless she had no other choice. Unless she was out of options. Unless she was in trouble.

My gut twists, rage blinding, unbearable.

I’m in the car before I can think, before logic can catch up and anyone can stop me.

The engine roars to life, tires screeching against asphalt as I tear through the streets, the city a blur of neon and darkness around me.

I barely register the glow of headlights multiplying behind me until I flick a glance at the rearview mirror.

Three cars.

Hot on my heels.

I grit my teeth, fingers tightening around the wheel. Jayson must’ve rallied the crew the second I bolted, knowing I wouldn’t wait, knowing I wouldn’t sit still while Shelby’s signal blared at me like a warning shot to my soul.

He tried to stop me.

Tried to get me to sit down, to breathe, to let him drive.

But I was too far gone.

I didn’t listen.

Didn’t wait.

Didn’t say a single fucking word before I threw myself into the driver’s seat and sped off like a man with nothing to lose.

Because if I don’t get to her in time?—

I will lose…everything.

My pulse is thunder with the realization.

My rage is a living thing, clawing at my insides.

I can’t think about what I might find when I get there.

I won’t.

Because if I do, if I let the thoughts creep in—the idea of her broken, bleeding, cold?—

I’ll burn this whole fucking city to the ground.

The streets are a blur, my knuckles white on the wheel.

The tracker signal pings again, leading me to a stretch of deserted gravel and an underpass.

The tracker won’t stop beeping.

Each pulse is a hammer to my chest, drilling through my ribcage, splintering against my ribs, setting my nerves on fire.

I should be relieved—it means she’s still here.

But as I approach the location, the sight that greets me makes my blood run cold.

A white van, the back door flung open like a gaping mouth, the interior soaked with darkness. Too much fucking red against the stark white.

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