Page 77 of When the Storm Breaks
Coming here had been a mistake.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Brody
I snatchedmy ringing phone off the coffee table and skipped the greeting. “Where the hell have you been?”
Outside thunder rumbled and lightning lit up the dark room. Our power had gone out earlier and the movie I’d been watching had gone off so now I was sitting in the darkness, staring at a blank screen, feet propped on the coffee table while I contemplated whether it would have been better had I never met Shiloh Leroux.
“Brody...” She sounded like she was crying.
“What’s wrong?” And why the hell should I give a shit?
“I’m broken down on the side of the road. I had an accident...”
Shit. My feet hit the floor and I stood up from the sofa. “Are you hurt?”
“No. I’m okay....” She started crying again which made it hard to believe she was telling the truth. But I had a feeling Shiloh was good at lying. It made me question how much of what she’d told me was true. I hadn’t seen her since she took off and left me in the park. That was eight hours ago. “Brody... I... something’s happened... it’s so bad…”
My head warred with my emotions, but I didn’t have to think twice. “I’ll come for you. Just tell me where you are.” When she didn’t respond, I prompted her. “Shy. Where are you? I’m coming to get you.” I was already headed for the front door. Ridge came down the stairs, his phone flashlight guiding the way.
“Is that Shiloh?” he asked, his voice low. Earlier he’d gone over there to visit her, but she hadn’t been there then, and he told me the truck was gone.
I nodded.
“I ... I’m not sure where I am,” Shiloh said. “I don’t even know why I’m calling you. I’m lost, Brody. I’m so fucking lost ...”
And I had the strange feeling she wasn’t only talking about not knowing her geographical location. I wanted to know why she was crying, and why she’d disappeared, but this wasn’t the time to ask. “I’m coming to get you, but you need to give me a landmark. Something. Anything to help me find you, okay?”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and let it out. “I was just driving. Not really paying any attention to where I was going. And I tried to call you earlier, but I couldn’t get a signal. The GPS on my phone stopped working. I’m on that winding road that cuts through the hills... the one with the limestone formations...”
That didn’t tell me jack shit. This was a rural area with hundreds of winding roads and limestone formations.
“Which direction were you headed? North, south, east, west?”
“I was headed home but I got lost and I ended up on that road that Ridge and I—”
The rest of her sentence was swallowed up by a clap of thunder. “Shiloh.” Nothing. The line was dead. I fucking lost her.
I hit the call button, but it went straight to voicemail. Shit. Fuck. I ran my hand through my hair. Where the hell was she?
“Where is she?” Ridge asked.
“If I knew, I’d already be in my truck on my way to get her.”
“Damn.”
“She lost her signal and has no fucking idea where she is. But she mentioned your name.”
I ignored the way his face lit up and repeated what little information Shiloh had given me. “Any idea where she could be?”
“Shit.” He chewed on his lip, his brow furrowed, and it looked to me like he didn’t have a fucking clue where she was.
I exhaled loudly, quickly losing patience. “North, south, east, west? Anything, Ridge?”
When no answer was forthcoming, I gave up waiting and scrolled through my phone, all set to swallow my pride and ask Jude for help. Just before I hit the call button, Ridge snapped his fingers like he’d suddenly had a brainstorm.
“Hang on. I think I know the road she’s talking about. If I’m right, it’s only about six or seven miles from here.”
