Page 71 of Knockout

“Did you see his car?”

“Black. Or blue.” Conrad’s voice was starting to slur. He was losing consciousness. “Where…”

The EMTs pulled up. There were calls to make once Conrad was on his way to the hospital. People who needed to gather to hear the news, and others who would want to activate a prayer chain to cover the prognosis with requests to God.

Liam got out of the way. Roxie was no longer beside him. “Roxie!”

“I think she went back to the house with Collins.” Jasper rose to his feet.

Liam hadn’t even noticed them leaving. “I need to…” He didn’t know what to do first. He turned to the street where he’d come from, then back in time to see the EMTs lift his brother onto their stretcher.

“Are you following us, Sarge?”

He shook his head. “I’ll have his wife and my mom meet you at the hospital.”

He needed to help find Destiny.

Liam and Jasper jogged back to the townhouse, where the others were gathered in front. Roxie stood by Peter, clearly comfortable in his sphere. She needed a support system that included all kinds of people, but if only it could be him most of the time—when either of them wasn’t working. If they worked together full-time he could watch her back, which was probably what those two married Northwest Counter-Terrorism agents did.

But that was an idea for the future. Not right now, when she would barely look at him.

He strode up to the group. “What’s the word on witnesses?”

Blake turned to him. “We’ve got a make and model of the vehicle and a partial license plate.”

That was good. “What about a description?”

Blake nodded. “Two guys, both dark-haired. Younger.” So, not the cops who’d harassed Peter and Roxie, then. “They stuffed her in the trunk.” Blake’s voice broke on that last word.

Liam held his friend’s gaze. “If they wanted to kill her, they’d have done it. They took her alive.”

Blake nodded. “I called in the vehicle information to get a BOLO out.”

“I need to tell my mom what happened to Conrad. Then we can get to work.” Liam tugged out his phone again and dialed his mom’s number, hoping she would pick up, considering they’d aired out their issue and resolved it. “Come on.”

The call connected, and all he heard was a male moan.

“Who is this?” Liam turned away from the group. “Who are you?”

“Bob Davis.” He groaned.

The Vanguard department head was at his mom’s house. “Bob, why are you answering my mom’s phone?”

The older man moaned again. “She’s… They took her.”

“Who took her?”

“Two men.” Bob cleared his throat. “They hit me and took your mom.”

THIRTY-FOUR

Roxie took a step toward Liam but the cops with them swarmed around him, stepping between her and the man she cared about—loved, probably. Not that she would allow herself to contemplate it any more than that.

Not when she was the one who had moved away from him. Sought solace with a neutral party while she figured out everything she was feeling. Destiny was gone. His brother had been hurt. Now his mom was gone as well? What on earth was going on? His family was being targeted, but with all of that swirling around—all the fear and the confusion—she couldn’t help but stare at how steady he was.

Like a redwood.

Or one of those trees in a river that grew despite what constantly hammered them. It survived, growing tall and strong through sheer determination.

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