Page 64 of Trust in the Fallen

Elias sits with his back against the wall. At least they put us in the same holding cell. I thought they would have separated us, but apparently the police commissioner wasn’t quite smart enough for that, even if he has stopped us from having our one phone call.

I don’t know how he’s blocking that request seeing as it’s our right to have it, but he’s found a way to make every officer in this godforsaken place ignore our very existence.

“Sit down, Wy.”

“No.” I pace up and down the cell, the same three steps I can take back and forth got boring eleven and a half hours ago, and yet I can’t bring myself to stop. “What if they’ve taken Leighton back to Jason?” I voice the fear I’ve had since the second we stepped into the office. “What if he hurts her?”

Elias presses his eyes closed and lets out a ragged breath. “She’s strong. She knows we’ll come for her.” But I’m not sure which one of us he’s trying to convince. There are a lot of thoughts racing through my mind right now, worries I’m not sure if I can voice. What if she thinks we left her?

“Wyatt, you need to sit down. You’re not doing yourself any favors pacing around here.”

“I don’t know how you can seem so fucking calm,” I snarl. “They set us up. They set us up so they could get Leighton away from us so they can take her to her fucking abusive ex-fiancé. Or are you forgetting that she showed up on our doorstep bloody and covered in bruises a month ago? Did you forget how her dislocated shoulder had to be set in the middle of our living room, and we had to ask her if we could take fucking photos of her injuries to prove what a cunt Jason is?” Every word that comes out of my mouth is louder than the last, but I can’t fucking help it. I’m losing it. I’ve always been the easy going one. But right now I’m ready to kill every motherfucker in this building if it means I can get my woman back.

Elias stands so fast I barely catch his movements before he slams my back into the wall. His fist holds my collar tightly as he growls. “No I haven’t fucking forgotten. I was there. I fucking held her through just as many nightmares as you did. But you know what else I know? I know that the more we freak out, the more shit they have to use on us. I know the calmer we are, the more likely they are to give us the fucking phone call we keep asking for. And that means we‘re more likely to find Leighton quicker.” He shoves me, and I collapse against the wall, all the fight burning away from my limbs. “Settle the hell down. We need to be able to move quickly when we get out of here. And we won’t be able to do that if we spend the whole time we’re in here panicking.”

All the fight drains from me, and I don’t bother pushing myself up.

I’ve never felt as helpless as I do now as I think of all the ways he could be hurting my angel right now.

CHAPTERFIFTY-SIX

LEIGHTON

Ialways knew my mother was a cold, vindictive woman, but as I stand in the middle of my childhood bedroom holding a piece of premium cardstock, reading over the words printed in delicate script over and over again, I realize she never loved me either.

Mr. and Mrs. Lionel Chalmers

together with

Mr. and Mrs. James Collins

request the honor of your presence

at the marriage of their children

Leighton Grace Chalmers

and

Jason James Collins

The rest of the invitation is irrelevant once I reach the date. Saturday. This Saturday. Five days from now, I’ll become Mrs. Jason Collins and begin my life as nothing more than an accessory to him the same way my mother has always been for my father.

I have no idea how they’ve pulled this together so quickly, or if they were always planning to get me back when they did. I’ve been here three days, but it’s been two since anyone has said a word to me. I’ve just been locked in this room with nothing but my own thoughts.

Unsurprisingly, I’m not allowed near a computer or phone because they know I’ll call Elias or Wyatt. Just the thought of them makes my chest ache for them.

What do they think happened to me?

Do they think I left them?

I wince at the thought and throw the invitation on the desk with the thank you notes I’m meant to be writing. These people haven’t even given us a gift yet. I’m not sure how my mother expects me to thank them for one.

The key in the door drags my attention away, and I immediately move to the other side of the bed, making sure to have something between me and whoever is coming through the door.

The last person I expect to step through it is my father with Jason’s just a few steps behind.

There are few people I want to be locked in a room with less than these two evil men, but there’s no escape. Believe me, I’ve tried, but they went as far as nailing the windows shut to keep me here.

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