Page 72 of Instinct & New Identity

Fuck!Myheart sank to my stomach as dread filled my entire body.

Chaos erupted behind me.JackandArcherran up beside me and checked onRuthie.

I turned and ran back to the house, yelling out to my dad, who was on the porch. “Keys!Someonegive me their keys.Ineed to go after the van.”

“Son, stop,” my dad yelled back, holding up his arms to stop me. “There’sno way you’ll catch up to them.Comewith me and we’ll look at my security footage.Yougo out there now, you’ll be wasting your time since you don’t know who they are or where they’re going.”

Logically,Iknew he was right, butIwas also impatient. “Fine.Let’sgo.”

I followed him into the house to his computer to see if he had caught anything.God.Ihoped and prayed his cameras caught something useful.

“Cops are on their way,”Wadesaid from behind me. “AndanEMTforRuthie.”

It took a moment to sink in butIrealized what he’d said. “EMT?”

“She got hit in the foot.ArcherandJackhave her.”

Fuck.Ifelt like an asshole for not even noticing that, but instead,Ifocused on findingCat.WasCatshot?Sohelp meGod, if those guys shot her,Iwould kill every last one of them.

“Got it,” my dad barked out, pointing to his computer screen. “Righthere.”

Dad scrolled through the camera feed.Itshowed the girls near the car as the black van, which was initially parked a few houses down, took off onceCatandRuthieopened the vehicle.Theysped up, then halted right next toRuthie’scar.Theman in the back came out and grabbedCat, while the driver of the vehicle went afterRuthie.Twomore men emptied out of the van and made their way around.

Cat struggled with the man who had her, andRuthieput up one hell of a fight, even getting in a few good blows to the man who attacked her.Hemust have had enough because he reached for his gun at his back and fired.Ruthieducked, but it appeared the second shot landed right at her foot.Bythen, the additional men helped liftCatinto the vehicle, and the other jumped into the driver’s seat.

The man who shot atRuthiehopped into the back, still firing in her direction, and then the van took off.Itwasn’t the clearest image, butIcould make out a few letters from the license plate.

“Jack andAxelare going withRuthie,Ellie, and your mom to the hospital,”Archerspoke from the doorway. “Diegois meeting them there and will stay to make sure they’re all safe.JackandAxelcan meet us wherever we need them.Valis going to stay here where the cops and your dad can protect her.”

“Jack can stay with them at the hospital.Wedon’t know anything yet,”Wadepointed out.

“I know, but he’s pissed aboutRuthiegetting shot and wants in on whatever goes down,”Archeradded. “Thoughit might be smarter to haveAxelmeet us since he would be more clear-headed about this.Idon’t need two of you going all half-cocked in this rescue mission.”

Several cops filed into my dad’s office, includingParker.

“Walk us through what happened,” he commanded.

We filled him in on everything we knew and gave him and the other cops the chance to look over the security footage as well.Mydad was on the phone with some men he knew from his bounty hunter days.Likelycalling in favors and markers from anyone he knew.Iwould take any helpIcould get at this point.

29

CAT

I woke with a terrible headache.AsIpried my eyes open,IrealizedIwas in a warehouse of some kind.Iwas surrounded by large barrels with big warning logos that saidDanger:FlammableSolventson the sides.Whateverthey contained must have been the reason my eyes stung and my throat burned.Despitethe sting,Itried to keep my eyes open to take in my surroundings.

I was on a hard chair, my ankles tied to the two front legs, and my arms tied behind me.Iheard a noise behind me and turned my head quickly to see what it was.Iinstantly became dizzy and closed my eyes, wincing in pain.

“Good, she’s awake,” a voice bellowed behind me, making my head hurt even worse. “Grabthe phone.”

Two men came into my line of sight.Onewas tall and skinny and looked high as a kite.Theother was much shorter and pudgy.Hehad a scruffy beard and looked disheveled.Bothhad ugly red snake tattoos on their necks.

“Smile for the camera, darlin’,” the shorter one said as he held up his phone and snapped my picture.

I didn’t smile, which only made him laugh.

“Send that toFletcherthen wait a few minutes to call him,” a third voice said behind me. “Iwant him to panic for a bit after he sees that photo before we reach out.”

“You got it, boss,” the short man who took my photo said.

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