Page 17 of Never Give Up

Panic eats at me as I wait for an answer from dispatch.

“Paul is the lieutenant on duty, and he’s on the way from his house. Jake is responding now to support Birch PD. We’re staging the ambulance and calling in the state police for backup.” Daniel’s voice is absent of his usual calm, replaced with a tremor that I haven’t heard from him before. His panic, after dispatching for thirty years, tells me more than anything else that he’s said.

“I’m 10-8 now,” I say, putting on my shoes, the phone balancing between my shoulder and head.

Daniel’s voice comes back through. “What’s your ETA?”

“I’m three minutes out.”

“Brian?” The older man’s voice is tight on the other end of the phone, and I know this is going to be the worst call I’ve ever gone on.

“Yeah?” The silence between the two of us is compounded by the fact that I am putting my gun on my hip and getting ready to walk out the door.

“Go save our girl.” Daniel’s voice breaks in a way that I’ve never heard before.

“I’ll try.” I end the call as I race out of the house, ignoring the lights I’d turned on and the fact the boys are most likely awake at this point.

Two minutes. It took me almost two minutes to get fully dressed and covered and out of the house.

Knowing those two minutes could cost Maya her life, I feel like I’ve wasted time. I press on the gas pedal, forcing it to touch the floor, and watch the speedometer rise to over 100 mph as I drive through the silent streets of Birch Harbor.

I push the emotion out of my chest, forcing my focus away from Maya’s face the last time I saw her and on the task at hand. Getting to the scene and making sure that Maya is safe. Everything else will have to wait.

Lights flash behind my cruiser and I know Jake is right behind me. In the distance I hear sirens, and I know we’re not the only ones racing to save her. I tear down the streets, lights on, desperate to get to her.

I approach the road to Maya’s house and swing onto the street, not bothering to slow down at all in my hurry to get down the quarter-mile stretch as quickly as I can. Flashing lights are already there, and I can see the responding officers getting out of their vehicles as I grow closer.

It’s all your fault.

I’m about to find Maya dead. All because I can’t protect her. Because I didn’t let her in. Because I’m a fucking idiot.

My mind starts to race again, and I have to force myself to pay attention to the scene in front of me. I only have a matter of seconds until I arrive at her house, and I need to appear calm, even if I want to scream at the world.

As I fly into the driveway, I slam on the brakes and open the door with one hand, drawing my gun with the other. Jake pulls in behind me and I swear he’s out of his truck before it stops moving completely. We exchange glances and move forward, right behind Birch PD who are breaching the door. Once we’re in, we clear the downstairs in a matter of seconds.

Muffled sounds come from upstairs and I look at Jake.

She’s dying right now.

I think I’m gonna be sick, but I force myself to take the stairs two at a time behind the other deputy. Birch PD lets us take the lead, even though there’s no reason in hell I should be climbing those stairs.

In this moment, I’d put a bullet in the head of any man stupid enough to get between me and the woman on the other side of the door I’m staring at.

She’s dead, and it’s all your fault because you couldn’t let yourself love her.

6

MAYA

“Fuck.”I gasp. “You.” The word escapes on a wheeze as he tears the tape away from my mouth and removes the gag.

He’s smiling behind the mask, I can tell by the glint in his eye.

But there’s no way in hell I’m going to give him what he wants.

Instead, he wraps his hands around my throat again and squeezes tightly.

“Don’t you get it?” He speaks again, his voice like sandpaper, erasing the words he’s already whispered in my ear. “This is kismet. What we have between us wouldn’t exist if you didn’t select me at the exact moment in time you did. I would never have seen you, and you’d be gone forever. I knew that you were mine.” He brushes his lips against my face, and I fight the urge to throw up. His caress is a dirty reminder of how far he could possibly go.

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