Page 66 of Hunted Temptation
Theron shakes his head. “Hale and Boden are on their way to him. I need you girls to go into the surveillance room and keep an eye on whatever needs to be watched.”
“No,” I snap instantly without even thinking. “I need to go to him.”
I’m not sure what I expect Theron’s reaction to be, but it isn’t for him to smile softly at me. Lucille moves behind me. I can tell it’s her. There is just something about her. I can feel her. Then she places her hand on the small of my back as Theron speaks.
“You can’t go to him,” he says. “I don’t know what we’re walking into, but I want you four here. Safe. Merrick will be outside.”
And with that, the conversation is over because he walks away.
At least I think it is, but when he stops to look over his shoulder past me to Lucille, then flicks his gaze to meet someone else, I’m not sure whose, he speaks again, and I know it’s Colette he’s speaking to.
“I’m going to get the kids and take them to my place. You good with that?” he asks.
Colette hiccups, then she clears her throat. “Can I come with you?”
Theron’s gaze shifts back to Lucille’s. The room is silent, and she must give him some kind of signal, because he dips his chinwith a wink, then tells Colette to go ahead and follow behind him.
Maybe he wants to have extra hands for the kids. Maybe he just wants someone there in case whatever is happening with Vaughn gets intense and he needs to leave. That thought alone causes my stomach to cramp. I almost double over in pain, but I bite the inside of my cheek until blood fills my mouth.
They are gone just seconds later, and I’m alone with Lucille and Nadine. “Okay, let’s go to the surveillance room, lock ourselves inside,” Nadine murmurs.
We do that, but it’s the last place I want to be. I should be wherever Vaughn is. I need to know that he’s okay. As each second passes, I can’t help but grow more and more uneasy and feel like I was right all along.
Something is wrong.
Something is very wrong.
Chapter Twenty-Six
ELODIE
“I’m goingto go to the restroom,” I murmur.
Nadine and Lucille have been making plans for dinner tomorrow after the wedding. They want to have a whole private celebration. They’ve even ordered a last-minute cake, but I can’t concentrate on anything at all.
I’m going to be physically ill.
Slipping out of the surveillance room, I start to make my way toward the bathroom, but I stop in front of the door. I can’t stay here. I can’t just let whatever it is that’s going on happen without me.
I need to know that Vaughn is okay.
The main problem is I don’t know where he’s at. But I do know someone who does. I hope to hell he’ll tell me where Vaughn is or at least give me some information. I have a feeling it would take me a long time to figure it out on my own with no phone and no information to go off of other than he’s on a jobsite in Raleigh.
Merrick.
Instead of taking the elevator down, I reach for the handle of the door that leads to the staircase. I move quickly down the stairs, stopping when I reach the main level and the entrance to the street.
I reach for the handle but stop. I don’t twist it. I don’t push it open. I freeze. My heart races as panic begins to consume me. I don’t let it happen, though. I don’t let it take over. Inhaling and exhaling even and calm breaths, I open the door and step out onto the sidewalk.
The sun is beginning to set, though it’s still warm. Thankfully, not overly hot, though. I don’t have to go far to find Merrick. He’s leaning against the wall, his gaze focused straight ahead.
“You’re supposed to be upstairs,” he murmurs without even looking in my direction.
I hum but don’t say anything immediately, mainly because I don’t know what to say. I know what I want, but I don’t think Merrick is going to go for my haphazard plan. Which is less than haphazard and more like… nonexistent.
“I know I am…” I say, my words trailing off.
Merrick turns his head and finds my eyes. “I haven’t heard anything.”
