Page 60 of Finding Her Panthers

When he hands the list to Jax, the cell phone on the desk rings with a notification. Jax looks at each of us as he picks it up slowly as if waiting for it to explode.

I know what it is before he tells us.

“A video from an unknown number.” All of us gather behind Jax, holding our breath preparing for what we will see.

But nothing can prepare us for what fills the screen. Instead of a chair, our mate is hanging by her arms, her hands hanging loosely from a thick chain. Her hair is sticking to her bloody face, the red bright against her skin. Blackness surrounds her, the light beaming down on her. The thing that startles me is her eyes, filled with rage and intention.

They haven’t broken her yet. Thank God.

“We have your precious mate. She’s ours now. To do with whatever we want. This will be the last time you will see her. Anything you want to say to them? Tell them goodbye,” the robot voice says.

Her eyes narrow in anger. “It won’t be the last time.” Her words earned her a prod with the pole that they used on Penny. Her whole body contracts from the electricity. She gathers herself and licks her lips when they pull it back. She finds the camera again, her eyes glassy, her words slow. “I love you all. Alexa, Alexa. I hope you are spending time with all the animals, wherever you are. Somewhere safe and warm.” James stiffens beside me as the video abruptly cuts off.

We stand still, staring at the black screen in shock and ferocious anger. They don’t want to kill her. They want to mate with her, force her if they have to. I feel sick, my stomach turning.

“The code word,” James utters quietly. All of us turn to him.

“What?” I demand. Maybe he finally lost it completely.

“The code word,” he repeats like we are supposed to know. He grasps the back of his neck.

“What the fuck does that mean, James?” Jax hisses at him, his patience gone.

“That’s the code word we came up with.” He runs his hand over his jaw, oblivious of our confusion. “Harmony and I came up with a code word. If she was ever in need of time away by herself or she was in trouble, she would use it.”

“We can clearly see she’s in trouble,” I say, exasperated with him.

“She just used it to get my attention. It’s what else she said that’s the clue.” He paces away.

“Are you going to actually tell us?” Ryker asks.

“Remember I mentioned to her that we had animals? The day the doctor came to the house.” He directs his question to Jax.

“Vaguely. James, I will beat the shit out of you if you don’t get to the point.” Jax points at him.

“Alright. I promised her I would show her the animals. I never did. We need to narrow it down again to just farms with a barn. That’s where she is.” He smiles for the first time since she left.

***

We looked at four farms with no Harmony. If she isn’t at the last one, we will have to rethink the plan and expand. I am driving with the window down just in case we catch her scent. Ryker sits in the back beside James, quiet for once, realizing the seriousness of the moment. Jax sits next to me rigidly in his seat. We had Stephan and Josh following behind us, and they picked up an extra passenger. Kerian begged us to let him come. He demanded we give him the chance to make it all up to Harmony. We weren’t sure what we would find, but the more, the merrier in my thinking.

“So, are we all on the same page? Kill or be killed?” Ryker breaks the silence.

“Yes, but whoever is behind this is mine.” Jax looks back over his seat at him.

“Sounds good. I just wanted to be sure you all won’t grow a conscience in the middle of a fight.”

“Rest assured. They took our mate. Some don’t deserve to live,” Jax confirms.

“Excellent. It’s been a while since I was able to play.” Ryker rubs his hands together.

“Stop!” James and Jax yell at the same time.

I slam on the breaks. The guys behind us barely miss rear-ending me.

“She’s close,” James whispers.

I close my eyes, concentrating on the delicious scent of Harmony.

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