Page 43 of Embracing My Nightmare
Chapter 14
Devlin
My phone rang and Igrabbed it from the charging dock. James was calling and I quickly picked it up. He had been covering Elise for the last few days so any call would be about her. Having spent the better part of a month tracking Cameron, he begged for security duty, just so he could be in the sunlight and out of the apartment.
I had yet to introduce the two of them and I planned to rectify that this weekend. James was my best friend and I wanted them to know each other so Elise had someone else she knew protecting her when I couldn’t be around. Not that I would ever be far from my lamb again.
“Speak.”
“She stopped by the grocery, but something feels off. She seems panicked over something.” James explained, “I’m following her in to keep an eye on her.”
“What happened?” I asked, pacing the living room.
“I don’t know but I’m on it.” He disconnected and I tried to call her phone.
It went to voicemail after two rings and I asked her to call me, followed by a text saying the same thing. Something in my gut was telling me to worry and I waited for James to call me back. The phone rang and he was speaking low and fast into the phone.
“She spotted me and went pale. I followed her into the lot and Cameron approached her.”
“Where are you?” My deadly tone sounded into the apartment and I walked into the spare room, opened the gun safe to pull out the weapons as I listened to him through the speaker.
“Two vehicles away, waiting for her to be closer to me than him, before I step in. He’s only a foot from her and he would have the upper hand.” His tone was low. “Shit, she’s getting into the car. I’ve gotta move.” He dropped the phone as I heard him yelling Elise’s name.
Tires squealing through the phone had me screaming at him to answer me as I heard him cursing into the air.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on!” I bellowed into the phone and he picked it up, his panted breaths sounding into my room.
“He took her man. My car was disabled, and I couldn’t follow him.”
“Which direction did they go?”
He relayed the information before I instructed him to get here now and to call in the crew. Cameron just took my lamb from me and it was time for him to die. I pulled up the traffic cameras from the area and tracked the speeding car until it went past the rundown part of town, where fewer cameras existed for me to tap in to.
The door flew open and James, Freddie, Skid, and at least six others came walking in, enough weapons strapped to them to start a war. If I was an emotional man, I would be choked up at their loyalty. Instead, I walked to James and gripped his throat tight, his face turning red as I spoke to them all.
“Cameron has taken the most valuable thing in my life. It’s your job to find my lamb and return her to me. If you fail, I will kill every last one of you. Am I clear?” I barked before releasing James, who coughed, rubbed his throat then nodded.
I reached down and offered him my hand, helping him to his feet. He spoke through a cough, “I’m so fucking sorry. I tried to stop her, but she ran from me like I was a demon chasing her.”
“I don’t blame you. Cameron planned this somehow or maybe he was following her the whole time. Right now, I need to introduce myself to Elise’s parents and let them know Cameron took her. Chuck may have some idea where to start looking. James, track her phone and car to find her location. See if you can tap into any cameras that follow their route. The rest of you, hit the streets. Check the park, his hideout, and let it be known—a million dollars to whoever finds my lamb.” They hesitated at the sum I was willing to spend to have her back. I yelled, “NOW!”
Everyone scattered, Freddie sitting down with James as they worked through traffic cameras and store fronts, hoping to catch a glimpse of her car. My heart was barely beating, and every second he had her felt like a lifetime. I feared he would hurt her, and that she may never recover from enduring more trauma. Elise had dealt with more pain and suffering in her life than any single person deserved.
I changed into my black hunting gear, strapping weapons to me before I left to tell my precious lamb’s parents that I had let someone take her. The weight was pressing down on me and the darkness was beginning to creep in, filling the empty spots in my head to protect me from the anguish. I learned how to do it during the first few years of being forced to work for Marco.
If you embraced the darkness, you could make your own light.
Driving to Chuck and Blaire’s, I tried to rationalize what would possess Cameron to take her. I couldn’t figure out his driving factor. What was this big deal he had in the works? Where would he take her? What was his endgame?
I pulled into the driveway and removed my guns, leaving them on the seat as I got out and locked the SUV. The front door opened, and Chuck walked out, observing me as I flexed my hands and rounded the car. I had to deliver news that would devastate these nice people who had protected my lamb and I felt sick at what I was about to do.
