Page 46 of Keegan's Promise

I can’t let him get his hands on Lily. I won’t.

“Come back here, you little bitch!” someone shouts behind me. It isn’t my uncle’s voice.

Garrick?

Oh god. Garrick is here, too.

How? Why?

He’s supposed to be in Dallas. They’re supposed to be raiding the compound tonight, picking his little world apart piece by piece.

“Get back here!”

I choke on another sob, racing toward the tree line as fast as I can, as I hear his footsteps running after me. Lily wails in my arms as I clutch her tightly, terrified of jostling her too much. Terrified to let her go.

They aren’t getting her. They aren’t.

I rush into the woods in my slippers, rushing for safety. Too damn afraid to look behind me. There’s a path ahead, little more than a footpath. I avoid it, dodging into the underbrush.

Garrick is still behind me, still shouting my name and cursing me.

I spot a massive rock between two trees and hurry that way, dropping down behind it. I bounce Lily, frantically trying to calm her down so she doesn’t give away our hiding spot. My uncle’s blood is drying on the hand still clutching the knife.

“Please,” I whisper, not sure if I’m talking to Lily, to the universe, or to someone else. “Please.”

Please don’t let him find us.

Please don’t let me die in these woods today.

Please don’t let him take my baby.

Just…please.

Chapter Fourteen

Keegan

I’malmosttotheshop when Dillon’s name lights up the display in my truck, a shrill ring blaring through the speakers. I mutter a curse and stab the button on the steering wheel to answer the call.

“What now?” I mutter, uneasy in a way I’ve never been before. I want to be back at home with my wife and our daughter instead of on my way to work like this is a normal fucking day. It isn’t normal. It’s quite possibly the first day of the rest of Landry’s life. One where she doesn’t have to look over her shoulder or live in fear. One where she never again has to worry about those motherfuckers coming near her or our daughter.

Work is meaningless compared to that.

“Where are you?” Dillon asks.

His sharp tone has my hackles rising and the blood freezing in my veins. “Almost to Bleaker Street. Why?”

“Turn around now,” he growls. “I just got off the phone with my contact in Dallas. They think someone there gave up Landry’s location, and they’ve lost track of half the MC. The motherfuckers rode out in five different directions late last night and then split into even smaller groups. Garrick is MIA. The prick gave them the slip somewhere on the north side of town a few hours ago…” He trails off into a string of curses.

I slam on the brakes in the middle of the road, more afraid than I’ve ever been in my life. “Jesus Christ. She’s home alone with the baby right now, Dillon. Giant hadn’t made it there yet when I left.”

“Get there,” Dillon growls. “I’m already on my way.”

I flip a U-turn in the middle of the roadway, earning honks from the short line of traffic behind me. But they don’t matter right now. The only thing that matters is getting to Landry and Lily.

“Call Giant,” I order Dillon. “He may already be there.”

Fuck, please let him be there already. Please.

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