Page 54 of Sanctuary (The Wanderers 1)

Layla adjusted her path, deciding to move about thirty degrees to the left which would eventually dump her out on the dirt road that had led to the fields and the cabin. It took her another hour of walking before she saw a clearing up ahead.

Exhausted and thirsty, she dropped onto a log from a fallen tree and pulled out a bottle of water. It seemed prudent to wait here for a while. She needed to rest, and she was counting on the van passing this section of the road.

Unfortunately, the sun was dipping in the sky and she didn’t have much daylight left. She leaned her elbows on her knees, set her forehead against her palms, and drew in a deep breath. The guys were going to be out of their minds if they heard about her disappearance before she was found. And the truth was, by now, she was certain Jeremy and Tarin would have radioed the main compound. Assuming the two of them were safe and able to make contact.

“What do you mean you don’t know where she is?” Jay shouted into the radio. He was shaking with nerves, furious with himself and just about anyone he encountered. Why the fuck had he agreed to let Layla go away for two days with two men, neither of whom were members of his family unit?

He should have gone with them. He should have sent Nile, or Ledger, or Gatlin. One of them should have fucking gone along. They’d even talked about it among themselves and then decided Layla would have had a fit if they’d interfered.

Fuck that. They should have fucking interfered. Her life was more important than worrying about her feelings. When it came to her safety, from now on, Jay would be fucking interfering. Assuming there was a fucking next time.

He paced the control room where he’d been summoned to take the radio call from Tarin. He knew the rest of the guys would be here any moment. He’d been first to arrive.

Tarin spoke again. “We had to send her into the tunnel inside the cabin at the farmland west of the main compound when two men approached.”

“Okay, so why the fuck is she not with you now?”

Gatlin’s father, Gray, leaned against the counter next to Jay, brows furrowed with concern, listening to the conversation. “Easy, son,” he whispered in a futile effort to calm Jay down.

“She dropped her sunglasses on the way down the stairs. One of the men nudged them with his toe and sent them skittering across the floor. The men got suspicious, insisting we’d lied to them about being alone and went after her.”

“Fuck,” Jay exclaimed. “How do you know they didn’t capture her?”

“Because they came back empty-handed. They apparently went all the way out of the tunnel and didn’t find anyone, so they returned. After all, their car was at the cabin.” Tarin’s voice was high-pitched and filled with his own fear.

There was no reason for Jay to be shouting at the man. It hadn’t been his fault. It hadn’t been anyone’s fault.

Jay took several deep breaths as the door behind him opened and several people spilled into the room, including Ariel.

“What happened?” Ariel asked, her lip trembling.

Jay pulled her into his arms and held her tight as if she might be able to calm him by virtue of being Layla’s sister. “Layla is missing.”

Ariel gasped as she tipped her head back. “Missing where?” she asked at the same time the rest of Jay’s family started cussing and talking over each other, demanding answers.

“Listen,” Tarin interrupted. “We’re not leaving until we find her. We will scour the entire forest if we have to.”

“It’s fucking dark out,” Ledger stated as if this were a revelation.

“We’ll stay here in the cabin for the night and start searching again in the morning,” Tarin informed them. “Jeremy is out looking now. I’m sure he’ll circle back soon. I didn’t want to leave the cabin in case she found her way back here.”

“Jesus,” Nile muttered, running his hands through his hair.

“What happened to the two men? Who were they with?”

“They were militants. We convinced them we were too of course and that we had no idea where the sunglasses came from or how long they might have been there. They finally left. That’s when Jeremy took off and I radioed you.”

Ariel cleared her throat. “So she’s in the woods somewhere?”

“Yes.”

Jay felt helpless and frantic. No way was he going to stay here all night while his woman—their woman—was alone in the fucking woods in the dark. Maybe she’d fallen or gotten injured. Maybe she’d run out of water or gotten lost. “I’m coming there now,” he announced as he glanced at Gatlin.

Gatlin nodded. “I’ll go with you.”

Ledger agreed. “We all will. We’ll span out and look for her all night if we have to.”

Gray had a furrowed brow as if he hated the idea. “Gatlin…” he began, addressing his son.

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