58. Charleigh

FIFTY-EIGHT

CHARLEIGH

"Please, be careful." Raven squeezed me so tight I was sure it was going to leave bruises. Or maybe I felt brittle. Fragile yet impenetrable.

As if I had been broken.

Whittled all the way down to bare bone and exposed to the marrow.

Yet in it, I'd been reborn.

Because the fear that had terrorized me for five years had been altered.

Shaved and pared down to one single moment.

This moment.

This moment that meant everything for Nolan.

And that fear would no longer own me or control me. I'd face it the way I'd regretted for years that I hadn't done from the beginning, forever wishing I'd had the courage to cut Frederick Winston down from the start.

From that first day when he sent the false information accusing my father of embezzling.

"I will," I promised her.

Eden and Salem hovered behind, anxiety thick as they anxiously shifted. Empathy and worry were etched clearly in their expressions.

It didn't go unnoticed that their husbands were putting themselves on the line for us, and I would be grateful to all of them for the rest of my life.

The way they'd rallied around us.

A promise to bring Nolan home.

To put an end to this nightmare that had started so many years ago.

"Everyone ready?" River asked. His attention was sharp as it traveled over all their faces.

A new plan had been set.

I would be bait.

An offering.

But I'd be willing to make any sacrifice if it meant Nolan could continue to live this life.

A rumble of agreement rolled through the group.

River turned to me, eyes the color of a thunderstorm. "You sure you want to do this?"

My chest clutched in certainty. "Yes."

He stole my breath when he suddenly gripped me by the back of the neck and pressed his forehead to mine. "We have this, Charleigh. I'm going to keep both of you safe, and we're going to get him back. I promise you. Whatever it takes."

I nodded against him. "I know. Whatever it takes."

Then he stepped back and jerked his head to his crew. "Let's roll out."

Everyone walked to where they'd parked their bikes out front, and a riot of motorcycle engines roared to life. Each one of the men were dressed in black. Head to boot. A tumult of dark mayhem that moved through the approaching evening.

They sped out in a rumble of anarchy.

A different bouncer stood guard outside the house, his watch wary.

I was supposed to wait fifteen minutes before I left. They had to be the most excruciating fifteen minutes of my life, though Raven, Eden, and Salem encircled me, Raven and Eden holding my hands where we sat on the top step of the front porch, Salem on the step below, rubbing my knee.

Those minutes finally passed, and I sucked in a steadying breath. "It's time."

They all nodded, and I gathered my courage, stood, and strode for Raven's car.

I opened the door, and Raven was suddenly behind me, grabbing me by the wrist, mahogany eyes grave when she whispered, "Bring him back."

I hugged her tight, my love for her greater than it'd ever been, knowing what she'd done to help care for my son over all these years.

Swallowing around the rocks in my throat, I pulled away, then slipped into her car. I punched the directions into Maps.

My hands were slick with sweat as I drove through town, and the anxiety only heightened as I hit the mostly barren two-lane road that led toward Keeton.

My heart drummed violently. I could barely hold onto the steering wheel as I traveled the half hour it took to get to the next town, praying over and over that my son was safe and unharmed.

That he was whole.

That he wouldn't fear.

I gulped when I finally saw the sign that said Keeton City Limits. It was larger than Moonlit Ridge. More commercial and the terrain was flat. A lot of the buildings were worn down, the landscape drab and dingy, as if this place had had the life sucked out of it.

My lungs compressed, and I drew in haggard breaths as I took the four turns required to get to Mabel Street. Here, it was industrial, the roads lined with metal buildings and chain-link fences. Most of the businesses seemed to be vacant at this time of evening.

I made a left onto Mabel, and I crawled along the road. Terror reverberated through my body with each second that passed.

I needed to get there. To see that Nolan was safe and whole. It was the only thing that mattered .

A tremor rocked through me when I made the right into a deserted lot. A giant metal building was situated right up front, but I could see that the gate was open on the right that led to the back.

I squeezed the steering wheel as I wound around, peering up at the surrounding buildings and praying that River and his friends were able to get into place.

It was still light out, but it was that foggy hour that tossed color through the atmosphere. Pinks and blues and grays. In it, I could feel that the air was distorted. Saturated with a vileness that slicked my skin in dread.

Nolan. Nolan. Nolan.

It chanted through my mind and surged through my heart. This child. My son. He was alive. Part of me still hesitated to believe it. To accept it. As if it were too magical a concept to put my faith in it.

The other part thought I'd known it all along. Had known that I'd felt it—this familiarity that had ached. The longing that had struck me like a blade.

I couldn't stomach the idea of him succumbing to this fate. Couldn't fathom the idea of that sweet, sweet child being torn from the love of River and Raven and given over to Frederick.

Sickness roiled. I wasn't delusional. Frederick Winston was powerful. His influence was great, and his reputation was spotless. I didn't know how we were going to manage this.

But we had to.

We had to find a way to end it.

A short gasp left me when I saw a black Navigator sitting on the far side of the lot in front of a large metal building, though the back-building was maybe half the height of the main building in front.

I slowed the car, creeping across the space until I came to a stop about fifty yards away from the SUV. Rays of sunlight slanted in from over the roof of the building, obscuring my vision, but in it, I saw shadows move.

I fumbled out, and it felt like my heart got ripped out of my chest when I saw an unknown man held Nolan. The little boy's back was to his chest, his feet and hands bound, a blindfold over his eyes. Though he seemed…limp.

Incoherent.

Oh God.

"Nolan." I whimpered it, wanting to race across the lot and pry him from the man's cruel arms.

But I held. Trying to stick to the plan to draw Frederick out so there would be time to assess the situation. The plan would need to be formed in a blink, and there was no room for error.

My gaze scanned. I spotted two more men, one on each end of the building. They were armed and standing guard, each of them wearing suits.

But it was the man who slipped out of the backseat of the SUV that made my knees wobble. Old wounds and a vat of fear dumped out in the middle of me, and in an instant, I was drowning in memories of the torment he'd put me through.

The suffering.

But the greatest suffering had been what he'd stolen.

My parents.

Lilah.

Levi.

Nolan.

My soul thrashed, and the tremor of fear that threatened was displaced by obstinacy and conviction.

Frederick shoved a casual hand into his suit jacket pocket, always the good guy when he was twisted with inhumanity.

A sadist to the core.

I'd never forget the glee he'd felt when he made me scream.

I tried not to shiver as his vile gaze raked over me, his blue eyes that were the same color as Nolan's gleaming in the type of greed that made me nauseous. "After all these years, and still so beautiful. How I've missed my Sweet Pea."

Revulsion crawled over my flesh, but I attempted to keep it at bay as I demanded, "What did you do to him?"

Frederick cast an easy smile, as if I were ridiculous for worrying. " The little brat wouldn't stop crying, so I decided we should put him down for a nap. But don't fret…it's only temporary. At least, for now."

A warning edged into his voice on the last.

"You promised you wouldn't hurt him."

He shrugged a nonchalant shoulder. "I've promised a lot of things, but the only one that has ever truly mattered was that you belong to me. You've been mine since the first time I saw you when you were seventeen. I knew I had to have you. Knew I was going to carve myself on your flesh, so deep you would never forget me. I couldn't wait to draw your blood. I've missed it so."

Bile burned my throat, and the horrors of his depravity came rushing up from the recesses where I'd tried to keep them buried. I put a dam around them, refusing the assault.

I wanted to toss it in his face that I'd allowed another man to write himself all over me to replace him. To cover him. To eradicate him.

But I knew that would only enrage him, and it would put Nolan in more danger than he already was.

I had to play this smart.

Frederick lifted his chin and stretched out his hand. "Now, come to me. It's time for your punishment."

That must have been the breaking point for River because two men suddenly dropped off the roof.

In an instant, pandemonium broke out. Shouts and gunshots and a flurry of dust.

I watched through the vapor, wide-eyed, shock belting through my consciousness, though it felt as if time had been set to slow, as if I were taking in every movement independently.

Jud was on the left, and he fired two shots as the guard in front of him began to fire. The guard stumbled backward as he was hit, and he toppled to the ground. On the opposite side, Otto was there, though he'd come up from behind, and he rammed a knife into the man's side.

Over and over.

The guard dropped to his knees.

Oh God. Oh God.

Fury surged out of Frederick, and he ran for the man who held Nolan. He ripped him out of his hold, and in an instant, he had a knife to the child's throat.

I lurched forward, stumbling a step, the single word a jagged stone that turned in my throat. "No."

River had dropped from the roof, too, and he was tussling with the man who'd held Nolan. Shots were fired as they struggled to get on top of each other, and horror clutched and gripped, terrified of River being hurt.

The others had gathered behind me.

I could feel their presence like the gathering of a squall.

Theo, Kane, Cash, and Trent.

Their weapons were drawn, though they hesitated, unsure of how to approach since Frederick had the knife to Nolan's neck.

But I knew.

I knew there was only one thing I could do.

My spirit screamed in resolution.

And I went racing for Frederick, running across the space, my feet pounding on the concrete.

Frederick grinned a maniacal grin as if my surrender was exactly what he wanted. Thinking he had me. That he had me on my knees.

"Frederick," I begged. Begged in the way I used to do. In the way that he ate up, hungering for my agony.

But this agony?

It was completely different. And I threw myself at him like I was throwing myself into his arms. He didn't realize until the last moment that I had a knife. I drove it into his stomach. His wicked blue eyes went wide, and he released Nolan.

My instinct was to catch the little boy. To keep him from slamming limp against the ground.

I grabbed him awkwardly, just before he hit, and I fumbled to draw him fully into my arms. As soon as I did, I curled myself around him to shield him with my body.

Frederick stumbled forward, leaning into me as he grated with pain, his mouth at my ear when he muttered, "One more time. Your blood. It belongs to me. "

My eyes went wide as the piercing pain sheared through my flank. So deep I thought it went all the way through.

I fumbled back, struggling to keep Nolan in my arms. To hold him. To protect him.

Frederick started to take another step toward me, still wielding the knife that dripped with my blood.

Only River was suddenly behind him.

His storm-cloud eyes had darkened to pitch. Black lightning that struck in the middle of the night. He gripped Frederick by the forehead and pulled his head back. "You sick motherfucker. You're getting off lucky."

River dragged the blade across Frederick's throat.

Blood gushed.

Gushed and gushed as my tormentor gurgled for air that had ceased to exist.

I met Frederick's eyes as awareness befell him.

As he realized there wasn't enough money in the world to stop this.

His power no match.

No match for this love.

No match for this devotion.

No match for the truth that River and I would do anything to protect this child.

And with my own realization, I dropped to my knees, still clinging to Nolan as I slumped to the ground.