If there is an after this.
I know we’re all thinking along the same lines still, worrying and hoping and trying not to go insane the longer this takes.
So we keep going, and the tension just grows.
By the time we’re arriving at the logging camp, my nerves are shot and my jaw and head ache with the force of me grinding my teeth for the whole drive.
There hasn’t been any sign of Geoffrey’s car or any clear trail, just a mess of run-down buildings and too much ground to cover.
It’s quiet, clearly abandoned, and it makes everything feel wrong.
Obviously no one has been here in years. The logging operation shut down when the county decided they could get lumber cheaper from elsewhere, and no one has been back to turn it into anything else.
It’s the perfect fucking place for someone to hide out if they don’t want to get caught.
I slow down, rolling the truck at a creep through the gravel clearing between cabins, trying to figure out where to start. We could split up, cover more ground that way, but the thought of any one of us being alone in an unfamiliar place turns my stomach.
“I didn’t know this place was so big,” Cash says, making a face. “If they are here, where the fuck do we start?”
“We should stick together,” Lincoln says, echoing my thoughts. “I don’t want anyone getting caught off guard, or him having the upper hand.”
“Agreed,” I say. “We can cover more ground on foot. Maybe spot something we might miss in the truck. If we?—”
I’m cut off by a sudden sound in the distance. It’s a scream, sharp and scared, and it cuts straight through me.
It’s Harper.
I know it is.
I don’t know how I know, but every instinct I have reacts to the sound, and I just move.
I don’t even remember throwing the truck into park or opening the door. One second I hear the scream, and the next I’m hitting the gravel at a run. Cash and Lincoln flank me, heading in the direction we heard the scream before the echo fades.
We bypass the smaller cabins off to the sides, and I set my sights on one of the larger ones, dead ahead. That feels like the right way to go, and I run faster, zeroing in on it, no thoughts in my head but bursting through that dilapidated wood door and getting to Harper.
Seconds later, I do just that. The door crumples against the force of me shouldering it open, the remaining parts slamming into the wooden wall on the other side.
I have a split second to get my bearings, and my eyes land on the sight of Harper in the grip of another man. He has her hair in his fingers and a knife at her neck, a wild look in his eyes.
A growl builds in the back of my throat to see her like that, dirty and tied up and clearly terrified. Her eyes flare with relief to see us, hope and urgency clear to see, and I want to rip this man away from her and take her into my arms.
“Back the fuck up!” Geoffrey, because it has to be him, the scent is the same from the house, shouts. “If you don’t want me to gut her right here, back off.”
Harper’s face is pale, but there’s no blood yet. The knife is close enough that I can see where the sharp blade rests against her throat. It wouldn’t take much pressure for him to hurt her like this, and this far out from civilization, there’s no guarantee we could get her helped in time.
So the three of us stop instantly, and I grit my teeth as I raise my hands slightly, letting him see I don’t have a weapon in my hands. I can feel Lincoln and Cash doing the same at either side of me, breathing hard.
I can feel the tension coiled in my body, but one wrong move here could fuck everything up.
We stare Geoffrey down, but don’t make any sudden moves.
“Just let her go,” Cash says, keeping his voice calm. “We’re not moving, we’re not here to fight you. We just want her back.”
“That’s too bad,” Geoffrey spits. “Because she’s coming with me.”
He keeps backing toward the door, inch by inch. It’s slow going because he doesn’t dare turn his back on us. There’s three of us and one of him, and the only leverage he has is the knife at Harper’s throat. It’s good leverage, horribly good, but he knows better than to put us at his back.
The three of us share a look, speaking without ever saying a word. Having been friends, been a pack, for so long, we understand each other better than anyone else.