Page 139 of Love Me Steadfast
I step out of the car, then remember my phone. But as I grab it from the console, the screen flashes with missed calls and texts.
My attention fractures, and my throat suddenly feels too tight. The crashing of the river fills the dry air as I scroll through what I missed. Texts and calls from Charlotte, Zach, and Special Agent Luke Ballard.
But the text from Charlotte sends my heart into freefall.
I need you
Emotion crowds into my throat as I dial her number. Frantic to hear her voice, I rub my forehead, closing my eyes to block out everything else.
But she doesn’t answer.
Fuck!
I call again, but it goes straight to voicemail.
I hit Zach’s number.
“Will,” he barks. “Where the fuck are you?”
“What’s wrong? Why’s everyone blowing up my phone? Where’s Charlotte?”
“I know you’re in Montana.”
Air leaves my lungs like I’ve been kicked.
Luke must have put it together, and Zach easily located me thanks to the tracking feature I forgot to turn off.
Anger and frustration vibrate under my skin and my chest burns with everything I’m holding inside.
“He hurt my girl, Zach,” I manage before a sob rips my chest open. “He doesn’t get to breathe the same fucking air as she does. Not after what he did. Don’t tell me to back down.”
“Listen to me, brother,” Zach says, his voice steady and firm. “I know you’re hurting, and you’re right, Salazar needs to pay, but going after him isn’t the answer.”
“I should have been there to protect her!” I stare at his big, shiny bus.So close. “I need to break him.”
“I know you want to. You have every right to. But there’s an even more powerful reason to stand down and let us handle it.”
My eyes sting with hot tears, making it hard to see. “Goddamn it, Zach. He stole her from me. I love her with my whole fucking heart, and I lost her. Because of him.”
“But it’s not too late to find your way back to each other.”
I shake my head. Even if he’s right, it doesn’t erase the past. What he did. “I can’t just walk away.”
“You can, and you will. You know why?”
I blink back my tears and stare at the patchwork of fir boughs and muted blue sky. “Charlotte,” I whisper.
“She needs you, brother.” He draws a sharp breath. “And fuck, I need you too, okay? I didn’t spend all those years on the run to keep you safe only to lose you now.”
I picture him when he came back for me, the fragile hope flickering to life in his eyes. And then he brought me to Finn River, to the place where we finally belong.
“Think of Barb and Henry, and Sofie and her family,” Zach says, his voice thick with emotion. “And Curren and Tanya, and Skye.”
Another sob catches in my throat but I press my fist to my lips. “What about Salazar?”
“Things are happening fast,” he says. “The FBI and Garnet County Sheriff’s Department are assembling a team right now.”
I lean back against the hood of my car. “But…none of the victims filed charges.”
