The new text that buzzed wasn’t from either of the people who loved me.
It was from the same person my phone had labeled “Spam Risk.” Something tickled at the back of my mind about the number. It was familiar somehow, but I couldn’t quite put it together. Certainly not while worried about my dad, and how he’d gotten up here, and wondering how I was going to face this person without winding up dead.
UNKNOWN CALLER: There’s a chance he can be saved. If you take too long, it’ll be on you, not me.
My stomach rolled, terror and grief blending. I didn’t want to lose my dad, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I were the reason he died.
I searched the ground for a weapon. A sharp rock. A heavy branch. Anything.
I finally found a limb that had recently cracked and fallen to the forest floor. Heavy with the scent of sap and pine, its flesh was still bright and white, but the edge was sharp. Not nearly sharp enough to penetrate skin, but it might hurt, and it was at least something I could swing. Something that would keep me at an arm’s length from an attacker.
The path was even narrower than I remembered. Water ran in a tiny stream along it. I accidentally kicked a loose pebble, and it shot over the ledge, bouncing down the abyss to the canyon below. I swallowed hard and pressed myself against the boulders on the other side. If I remembered, the path emerged right at the base of the watchtower, and I’d be exposed to whoever was waiting there.
My stomach rolled once more. This really was stupid. Stupid to come alone.
Then I thought of Fallon. Three years ago, she’d been kidnapped and hidden in the caves on the ranch, but she’d found a way to fight back, and it gave Parker and his team time to find her. I could do the same thing. I could fight for my dad and myself while giving the people searching for us time to catch up.
I slid my phone into the wet pocket of my yoga pants, gripped the stick with both hands, and moved as fast as I dared around the last bend. The watchtower came into full view. The base, made out of axe-carved planks and rough-hewn stones, was surrounded by an eerie mist. A rickety wooden staircase jutted out of the clouds, leading up the back to the one-room cabin at the top. The stairs were usually chained off with a warning sign, but now, it dangled loose, bouncing in the wind.
As far as I could see, no one was waiting for me. I called quietly for my father but received no answer.
My heart raced, and my palms were damp from the strange mingling of sweat and rain. My blood pounded in my ears, making it hard to hear anything as I made my way toward the stairs.
I kept my back to the building much as I’d done with the boulders, picking my way up the rotted treads. The cabin had originally been painted a vibrant white, but the planks were now a mutilated combination of gray, black, and decay. The glass that had once provided an unobstructed, 360-degree view of the valley below had long since been broken and boarded up, making it impossible to see inside the single room. Impossible to see what waited for me in the dark.
The door swung open, creaking in the wind. The creepiness of the deserted tower crawled through me, sending chills and a warning I couldn’t heed. Not if I was going to get to Dad. I eased onto the wooden walk surrounding the cabin and pushed open the door with a shaky hand before sliding into the interior and slamming my back into the wall. I blinkedfuriously, forcing my eyes to adjust to the shadowed interior.
No one came at me. Nothing moved. No sound of rustling clothes or pounding feet.
Maybe they didn’t know I’d arrived? Should I risk my phone light? Risk calling for my father?
My mouth was so dry I could barely croak out, “Dad?”
My voice echoed in the silence. Raw and scratchy. Quivering with fear.
The air outside sparked with electricity as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky right outside the watch—white and hot. Thunder followed, so loud and strong the building trembled and moaned as if the entire decomposing frame might crumble down with us inside it.
Panic joined the terror thrumming through my veins.
I had to find Dad and get us both out of here.
Reluctantly, I let go of the branch with one hand so I could pull my phone out and turn on the flashlight. I fumbled with it before shining it into the darkened room. I swung the single beam around, taking in a pile of broken furniture that stood in the middle like a pyre waiting to be lit, before my eyes landed on a shadowy shape on the floor. A body. A crumpled heap of flesh and bone.
I ran, quietly shouting his name. The knot in my chest grew. My throat closed. He was there. Dirty and wet and with his eyes closed. But he was there. I dropped the stick and placed the phone closer to his face. He was so pale.
“Dad! Dad! It’s Maisey,” I said as I rolled him onto his back. The white flicker of the flashlight app turned him into a ghost. My heart thundered as I felt for a pulse, letting out a garbled noise of pain and denial when I couldn’t feel one at first. But then I saw his chest rise, ever so slightly, and I pressed my fingers harder. Tears threatened when I finally found a weak and thready beat. It was dangerously slow, but he was alive.
“Took you long enough.”
The words had me leaping to my feet and whirling toward the sound, straining to see whoever had spoken from the far side of the room. Laughter filled the air, but it was mechanical. Hollow. Some kind of device was modifying their voice, making it robotic. Harsh and evil. More so than if I’d been able to recognize it.
My entire body shook, and my breath came out in choppy gasps as I strained to see through the shadows. With the pile of furniture blocking my view, it was nearly impossible to catch a glimpse of them.
“Who are you? Why are you doing this to us?” I demanded as I slowly bent to pick up the stick I’d dropped and then eased around the pyre.
“Is that a stick? Really? That’s pretty pathetic.”
Anger bloomed and had me doing another stupid thing in a long list of them I’d done recently as I stepped closer to the voice instead of away.