Page 24 of A Forbidden Arrangement
Aluminum creaksin my fist from the force of my grip on my phone as I scan over my investigator’s report for the thousandth time.
After months of searching for her, he’d finally found a lead. There’s someone else looking for a girl missing from New York who matches Dahlia’s description. Whoever’s after her let it slip that he’d found her, and soon she’d be dead.
My stomach sinks, and my pulse grows more frantic with every passing second. The thought of them getting to her first guts me, cutting open a bone-deep dread.
From the second I found out where Dahlia was, everything in me has screamed that I need to get to hernow. That if I don’t, I’ll lose her forever.
The plane hits the tarmac, and I’m already unclipping myself before the pilot has us halfway down the strip. The flight attendant starts toward me, voice sharp with orders, but I’m already on my feet.
I stand in the aisle, jaw tight, hand braced against the seat in front of me like I might rip it out of the floor.
The door opens, revealing a car at the bottom of the stairs, black and low, built for speed. The driver stands by the door, posture straight, waiting for me.
I rip the keys from his hand and shoulder past him hard enough to knock him off-balance. He stumbles and catches himself, eyes wide.
He looks like he might say something, but I turn my head just enough for him to see my eyes. His mouth snaps shut as he takes a step back, palms raised, smart enough to get out of my way.
I drop into the driver’s seat and slam the door shut. The engine roars as I crush the gas pedal down. The car launches forward, pressing me hard into my seat, and the world blurs into streaks of light as the needle climbs fast. One-twenty. One-sixty. One-eighty.
The wheel shudders under my grip, vibrations running up my arms. My jaw locks tight enough my teeth grind. I push harder. Faster.
The GPS map shrinks mile by mile, but the closer I get, the more anxious I feel. I won’t be able to breathe properly until I see her myself.
I lean into the accelerator until the engine whines.
Sirens cut into the night, lights flashing red and blue across the glass. They’re lined up, creating a blockade up ahead.
I stab the call button. Damon answers on the first ring, and I ping him my location.
“Cops.” My voice is edged, barely holding it together. “Pay them. Whatever it takes. Get them off me, now.”
“I’ll handle it.” His voice is iron, a man used to giving orders and knowing they’ll be followed.
He doesn’t question me, no hesitation to do what I’ve asked.
I bare my teeth and head straight for them, trusting Damon to clear my path.
For a beat, they hold. Rage spikes, hot and sharp.
Then it shifts. One squad car jerks in reverse. Another swings wide, and the whole line crumbles.
Ahead, the city bends for me. Patrol cars move to seal off the on-ramps, their lights flashing to clear a path.
Damon’s reach stretches across every mile of asphalt I cross, his invisible hands moving them like pieces, all to keep me untouched.
At this speed, it takes no time to pull into the small town where she’s been hiding. The streets are quiet and empty, making it easy to maneuver. The intel said she works at the local diner, so I head there first.
Spotting a car parked on the sidewalk, its engine still running, I slam on the brakes just in time to see a man disappear into an alley.
I’ve barely shifted into park before I’m out and running. Something cold drops low in my stomach, a hollow pull that drags everything inside me down with it. Each step feels slower, harder, like the air itself is thickening as I reach the corner.
The alleyway entrance is dark, except for a security light at the end, illuminating two figures standing over someone hunched over on the ground.
My steps falter as Dahlia’s scream ricochets off the brick walls, raw and shattering. It rips straight through me, stealing the air from my lungs. My vision narrows, heat flooding my chest until every muscle locks tight, the sound feeding the fire that’s already burning.
Before I can make out their features, the man closest to me shoots the other in the head. His large body collapses with a thud behind the form on the ground.
Dahlia’s familiar face comes into view, and relief flashes through me, then crashes as she crumples. My knees connect with pavement, but the pain doesn’t register as I catch her limp body.
