Page 89 of Sutton's Shadow

But first, he had to eradicate the shadows that he himself had so callously implanted.

His eyes drifted across the street to the woods. Something pink poked through the branches. His curiosity drew him across the street to where he’d last seen the out of place color.

He approached carefully, watching as the foliage shuddered. Someone was hiding under there and doing a piss-poor job of remaining unseen.

“Hello?” he called out.

A head popped up from the green, one he was terrified he’d never see again. “Wyatt?”

“Bethany?” he breathed, too stunned to do anything more than stare. With a hard thud that echoed in the empty cavern, a piece of his heart fused back into place.

She lurched into action, hurtling the bushes and throwing herself into his arms. He clutched her to him tightly, breathing her in. She smelled musty, like an old attic, but it was the best thing he’d ever inhaled.

“Fuck. Where have you been?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she cried. “I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’m sorry.” She buried her face in his neck, her words muffled.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“No, no. But Sutton,” she sobbed.

“What about Sutton, little heart?”

“I don’t think she made it.” Wyatt’s world shattered around him as he stood frozen with his sister in his arms. The dull clunk of his disassembled heart struggling to find a steady rhythm stung. She couldn’t have meant what he thought she meant. Sutton wasn’t gone. If she was dead, he’d know it. He’d feel it. It was illogical, but it was the truth to him.

“She... she got us out,” Bethany hiccupped.

“Us?”

“Me, Lia, and Kaitlyn,” she said, waving behind her, where two girls stood with wide eyes. “She said she’d be right behind us, but she never came. She got us out, but not herself. Oh God. The scream. I heard a scream. She’s trapped down there. They found her and they’re going to be so angry that we escaped. Oh God. The scream. Wyatt!” She spoke so fast he could barely follow what she was trying to tell him.

“Whoa. Slow down, little heart, and start from the beginning.” She took a deep breath and did just that. Explaining her messages with Lia, sneaking out to help, finding Kaitlyn, getting caught, the text she’d scheduled to Sutton, and Sutton freeing them. The words were sometimes a jumbled mess, but Wyatt got the gist of it, mostly.

“Okay, little heart. Everything is going to be okay. You and your friends are going to go back to the house with Graham. The rest of us will go get Sutton.” He gave her one more hug before turning to the rest of the Nighthawks, who had joined them at this point, thanks to Jude contacting them.

Graham stepped forward. “The women are converging on your house, bringing food. We’ll see everyone is well taken care of.”

“Thanks,” he rasped, a deep-rooted emotion making his voice husky. He’d never been more grateful to have these men at his back. If not for them, he would feel torn about leaving Bethany alone to go after Sutton. He trusted them with his life, and they loved Bethany as much as he did. She would be safe with them.

“Wyatt, wait,” Bethany called out. He turned back to her, surprised to see her so uncertain and nervous.

“What is it?” he asked, concerned about what she still needed to tell him.

“Mom.”

That was the last word he expected from her trembling lips. “What about her?”

“She was there.”

He whipped his head around. “What?”

“She was there. I thought she was going to help us get out. But she didn’t. She was taking orders from Hugo, the foster dad. She was helping them, Wyatt.”

Son of a bitch.

He knew something was up with her and that man. He should have listened to his gut. When this was over and he had both his girls back in his arms, he vowed Ronnie would never see another day outside a jail cell.

“I-I-I think they were going to sell us. They talked about the profit they’d make off us.”

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