Was this what Forrest meant when he’d said he'd burn the world down for me? Protectiveness, anger, death?
I'd do the same for them, and for Savannah.
Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
Woody pushed the glass doors and stepped out of the building. The rest of us followed him to the car idling at the curb. Forrest's. Did his driver ever sleep?
We piled in and Forrest gave him the address. I got settled in the back, Forrest on one side, Leif on the other. Woody sat in the front beside the driver.
"She'll be okay," Forrest said, taking my hand and squeezing. Leif did the same with the other one.
"What if she's not?" I whispered.
"She will be," Leif said. "She knew what she was doing when she called you, even if she doesn't realize it. You have us, therefore she has us. In a roundabout kind of way." He thought about that for a moment before nodding once, content he got his message across.
I wasn't sure if he was right though. Savannah might run in the opposite direction if she knew what they were really like.
In spite of that, I said, "I know, I just… What if we don't get there in time?" I looked back and forth between them, taking all the reassurance they were offering, but still on edge.
They hadn't heard the way she sounded. The absolute fear in her voice, like someone in a horror movie who was being approached by the big bad, intent on ripping her to pieces and feasting on her corpse.
My stomach turned. People didn't really do things like that. Did they? Kill other people and eat them? Better if I didn't think about that too much.
"Whatever happens, we'll deal with it," Forrest said firmly. "We're only a few minutes out."
I couldn't dismiss the possibility she wasn't there at all. She could be just about anywhere. New York was a big city. Trying to guess where somewhere else might be was like throwing darts at a map on the wall and hoping to hit the right spot. Or hitting the wall at all, since I wasn't very good at throwing darts without hitting something I shouldn't, like my own feet.
Don't ask.
I had a couple more educated guesses, but this was my best one. If I got this wrong… I swallowed hard.
If I got this wrong, she might be dead. If I got this right, she might be dead when I got there.
What would I do if I lost her?
Stop it, I told myself.One minute at a time, okay? Don't lose your shit. It won't help anyone, especially her.
"This is the place," I said as the driver started to slow and pull up in front of another apartment building.
"She should stay here," Woody said, giving me the side eye from the front seat.
Forrest raised an eyebrow at me in question, but I shook my head.
"I'm coming with you," I said.
"I like when you come with us," Leif said, obviously trying to lighten the moment.
I snorted and followed him out of the car.
The street was quiet, apart from passing traffic, a few people here and there, someone on the way to work at a bakery, others arriving home. Nothing looked out of place.
Itfeltout of place. Wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it. Something was very much not right.
Every nerve in my body on alert, I followed the guys inside the building.
I stopped just inside. If the hairs on the back of my neck were ever going to rise, they were doing it right now.
I shook my head. "Something's up."