Page 160 of Triple Pucked
He doesn’t smile.
He has been like this since we found him.
I am fucking worried.
I hope that what we intend to do tonight will bring back his beautiful smile.
I nearly had a heart attack, when I was in the back of Cody’s car with Shay searching for Eden, and Shay received a call from a number that he didn’t recognize.
“Answer.” Adrenaline raced through me. “It could be someone who is searching for Eden.”
“Or Blythe.” Shay answered the call, raising the phone to his ear with shaking hands.
“Shay.” Eden’s voice was raspy.
“Dee!” Shay jolted.
His startled, tormented gaze met mine.
Cody glanced in the rear-view mirror at us with desperate hope. “Where is he? Get him to tell you where he is. I’m driving there now. Fuck, I’m…”
“Where are you, bro? Do you know?” Shay asked, trying to sound calmer than he was, despite the tremors wracking him. “Who is crying?”
“Charles,” Eden replied. “Don’t kill him when you arrive. I just saved him.”
Fear shot through me.
Saved him?What from?
“Are you hurt?” I demanded, more loudly. “Where are you?
“Heaven Cottage.” Eden coughed.
Panic surged through me. Why was he ignoring answering whether he was hurt? Why was he coughing?
What the hell was going on?
“I know Heaven Cottage.” Cody took the next turn down the mountain road at breakneck speed. “It’s isolated, down by the beach. There is a stretch of sea, which is good for surfing around there. Most people don’t know about it. Keep him on one line, then call D’Angelo with the other and tell him. D’Angelo will coordinate.”
I was so fucking grateful for my brother. He could think more clearly than I could. From the moment that I returned and discovered that the man I loved was kidnapped, I had been existing in a fog of fear, panic, and rage.
I could barely think and function.
All I wanted to do was fucking scream.
I nodded, pulling out my phone.
But then, my brow furrowed. “What’s that sound?”
“Dee,” Shay was cradling the phone to his ear like it was his twin and he was terrified that he’d be parted from him if theconnection was broken, “hold on, we’re coming to get you. Just hold on. Keep talking to me. Robyn wants to know what the sound is.”
“Fire,” Eden replied. “Our freedom.”
When we arrived, I learned what he meant.
While Shay threw himself into Eden’s arms and sobbed, holding onto him like he never intended to let go of his brother ever again, Heine looked up at Cody and me and told us in a disturbingly flat voice that he had burned down the house with Blythe in it to rescue Eden and escape his abusive Mistress.
I didn’t believe a word that he said.
