Page 124 of Always Knew It Was You

He’s quiet for a second, the tension throbbing in his voice when he asks, “Why?”

“Because, um... I’ve been kidnapped. And I have to tell you that they want the Pink Pearl to be delivered to a location that they will give you tomorrow. They also want Nate Huntley to be delivered too.”

“Nate?” Micah’s voice is confused and panicked. “You mean your cousin? What the hell does he have to do with it?”

“I can’t tell you that either.” And then suddenly emotion washes through me, all the fear I’ve been trying to hold back trembling to the surface. “I’m scared, Micah.”

“Carly, I’ll find you.” His voice is frantic. “I’ll find you, baby, okay? Just hang in there.”

“I love you.” I want it out there just in case I never get the chance again. I need him to know. “I love you, Micah. “

“I love you too, baby. So much.”

And then I get a risky idea and add, “Even if I’m trailer trash?”

Pain explodes across my cheek, and I scream. The phone is ripped from my ears and I stare up into the gleaming eyes of my captor who just slapped me.

“I told you not to try anything stupid,” he says. “Now why did you do that?”

“I’m sorry.” I didn’t think he would realize what I was doing. It was such an innocuous-seeming comment that I thought I could get away with it. But he’s smarter than I gave him credit for. And angrier too.

Jordan sighs in disappointment as the Burned Man’s stare bores into me.

“You try something like that again and I’m going to kill you.”

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

MICAH

“Carly!” I scream as the line goes dead. Rage and panic course through my body so strong that I see red. One of them hit her. I heard a smack and I heard her cry out. One of those bastards fucking hit her.

Fuck, I have to find her before they hurt her even more.

And I have to find them and make them pay.

“Micah.”

I spin around to find my dad standing behind me, with my grandpa beyond him looking worried. It’s been hours of stress and phone calls, getting whatever information we can from houses in the neighborhood. We confirmed that Carly was taken and was driven out in a white van. We suspect she was also knocked unconscious, which is why there was no sign of a struggle.

My family members each look uneasy. I probably look like I’m losing my mind right now. But it’s only because I am.

Carly, my Carly, has been taken by a maniac who just fucking put his dirty hands on her. Who knows what else they’re doing to her right now while I stand here clueless like an idiot?

No, don’t let your mind go there or you’ll lose it.

Focus on what you just found out.

The kidnappers want the Pink Pearl and Nate Huntley of all things. The demands aren’t the problem. I can get them the Pearl and Carly’s bastard cousin. Heck, I can even give them an additional million dollars if they want it. Billions.

As long as they don’t hurt her. But they already did. And the fact that they won’t release her before tomorrow makes me so damn worried it’s hard to breathe.

Nate Huntley.

If this is about him, I’m going to kill him once and for all.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.Hold it together, Micah.I can’t lose my cool now, because Carly needs me to be calm and collected to get her out of that mess.

“Call the police,” I tell my dad. “Have them track the guy on the video and see how far he went. We need all the surveillance cameras, traffic cams, all of it. Take it up as high as you need to go, so they know how fucking serious this is.”

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