Page 119 of Make Them Cry
“I’m fine,” she gasps. “We need to find her.”
“Where?” I choke out. My hands are already shaking as I pull out my phone and text the team.
ME: RIVER TAKEN. MOBILIZE NOW.
Knight calls me immediately. “We’re already en route. Poe’s on the line too.”
“Good. We’re going to find her.”
Juno grips my wrist. “They said something... about ‘finishing what Regent started.’”
Every nerve in my body goes cold.
I meet Arrow’s gaze. “This is it. Whoever Regent is... they’re making their move.”
Knight rushes through the front door. “We’ll find her,” Knight says, his voice like steel. “We’ve got Poe tracking all van routes within a five-mile radius of her place.”
I nod, but it feels like my body is moving without me. All I can see is River—taken. Terrified. Alone.
I won’t stop until I bring her back.
And whoever took her?
They’ll wish they hadn’t.
FORTY-ONE
RIVER
Pain. That’s the first thing I register.
A dull throb behind my eyes, like I was yanked out of deep sleep too fast. My mouth is dry, cottony. My wrists ache.
The air is cold. Metallic. Smells like mildew and rust.
Where am I?
My eyes flutter open, but it takes a moment to focus. The room is dimly lit. Concrete floors. Exposed pipes. Cinderblock walls. A single flickering overhead bulb that buzzes like it's seen better days.
I'm tied to a chair.
Panic slams into me, sudden and sharp.
“Hello?” My voice is hoarse. “Is anyone there?”
No answer.
I flex my hands, testing the zip ties around my wrists. Too tight. My ankles are bound too, but not to the chair legs. At least thatmeans if I can tip the thing over, I might be able to drag myself somewhere. Anywhere.
I blink again, and my memory starts to fill in the blanks.
Juno.
The apartment.
The masked men.
Oh God.
