Page 23 of Lily's Shadow

I grab another glass of water, sitting down at the table. The pounding in my head is still there but lessening a little.

I start to call the police next but change my mind. It’s probably best to wait for Lily’s dad to get here first. He’s a well known politician that may need to keep these things quiet.

Lily

It’s a little bit after 11 pm, when we part ways with Dad. As I’m driving home, Loki is settled in the passenger seat. We are almost there when Loki picks his head up, suddenly alert.

I look to see what got his attention when I notice a dark colored vehicle parked in the alley behind my house, by the back gate. I wouldn’t have noticed it all, if not for Loki.

I slow down, looking to see what’s going on, when the brake lights flicker. Someone is obviously sitting in the car. A moment later a person comes through my gate.

I can’t make out who it is but it’s definitely a man and he has Cordy’s car seat. I know it isn’t Austin. He would have told me if he had plans.

I quickly turn into the alley. The guy gets in and the driver peels out, tires spinning on the gravel. Something tells me I need to follow that car. Loki is still in full alert mode, and my senses are going crazy.

One of the things Austin has been teaching me in our martial arts classes, has been to listen to my instincts. Right now everything in me is saying to follow that car. So I do.

Whoever these people are, they aren’t very smart. I’ve been behind them on the highway for a long time now and they haven’t seemed to notice me. They finally pull off just outside the city.

When I see them pull into a parking lot at a cheap hotel I keep driving. I go into a shopping center where I can see the front of the hotel. I can clearly see one man go into the office, then he comes back out and pulls around the building.

Waiting a few more minutes, I drive around the building. That is when I see them going into a room. It is two men, one of them is that Brandon guy but I don’t recognize the other one and they definitely have Cordy with them.

Grabbing my phone for the first time since leaving White Summer, I realize it’s still turned off. Shit! I forgot to turn my phone back on after dinner with Dad. Quickly I turn it on and watch as it goes crazy.

Sixtynine missed calls, 123 text messages and my voicemail box is full. I don’t have time for all that. I dial Austin’s number, he answers on the first ring.

“Where are you?” He frantically shouts, not even waiting for me to say anything. I think I hear my Dad’s voice in the background.

“Austin, I need you to take a deep breath and talk to me.”

“Someone has taken Cordelia! We thought they took you too. Please tell me where you are, are you safe? Lily, I just found you and my daughter, I can’t lose you.” I can hear the tremor in his voice.

Chapter 11

Lilyanna

Taylor and my Dad help me calm Austin, and we create a plan of action. Austin wants to send in the cavalry but we convince him to hold off. The kidnappers appear to be settling in, so I am going to rent a room.

My job is to watch and wait. You can bet your ass, I won’t be sitting around. They don’t know me very well if they think I am just going to sit back and do nothing.

Austin needs to stay in White Summer. He is scheduled to go in front of the judge in just a few hours. There is no way Erica is going to keep custody of Cordelia.

The hotel is in a heavily populated area. If anyone charges in, someone will get hurt. We can’t risk it. Since my Dad jumped the gun thinking I had been taken and called in his security forces, we can’t ask the MC to be directly involved.

At first the hotel didn’t want to let Loki stay but I had proof that he is a service dog and a spare vest in my car, so they couldn’t turn us away. We have settled in the room right next to the kidnappers.

Loki keeps scratching at the wall and whimpering. He wants to get to Cordy. He has been protective of her since the first time he sniffed her. Between the sounds of her crying and him trying to get to her, my heart is breaking.

The walls are so thin, I can hear everything happening in the next room. I want to charge through the door, but I know I have to wait.

On one of my trips outside to walk Loki, I stumble across a storage room. It appears to be filled with cleaning supplies. A plan forms, when I find a maid’s uniform in my size. Hiding it under my shirt. I make my way back to my room.

After changing, I gather up the clean towels in my room. Stacking them neatly in my arms, I step out and knock on the door next to mine. “Housekeeping!” I call out.

The door opens only a few inches. There is a man standing there blocking my view of the room. “What do you want?” He barks out.

“I brought you clean towels, Sir.” I respond, holding them out in front of me. After opening the door a little more, he grabs the towels from me and shuts it in my face.

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