Chapter Twenty Seven

Aunt Brooke put a glass of water on the table in front of Skye. "You need to drink, honey."

Skye automatically took a sip. The last thing she wanted to do was get sick, tired, or weak. Dio needed everyone looking for him.

She rubbed her forehead. "I don't understand why I can't drive around in my car to look for him."

"I'd go with her. I'll make sure she doesn't get out of the car." Mariah looked up at Brett. "You could follow us."

"None of us are going anywhere." Aunt Brooke sat across from her. "We can't give your dad and the others more to worry about. The men they're after are dangerous, especially around women. That's why we had escorts. Your dad. Dio. The others will do everything to make sure Los Li doesn't harm any of us."

Yet, Dio was missing and possibly hurt. Her chest ached. He could be dead—she shook her head, refusing to even think about losing him.

"There are twelve hundred people residing in Seaglass Cove. Why can't they find him?" She sprang from the chair.

"Yeah, but there's thousands of tourists here. It's summer," said Brett.

Six Havlin members inside the clubhouse stayed behind when the others rode out looking for Dio. Those who stayed behind should've gone, too. The more men they had out there looking, the sooner they'd find Dio.

"Brett." She turned to her right. "Go out there and see what they're doing. Maybe they need more people helping."

"Jagger ordered me to stay here." His eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Skye."

Aunt Brooke wrapped her arm around Skye's back and led her back to the chair. She sat, dejected. Covering her face with her hands, she rubbed her burning eyes. No matter how many people were in Seaglass Cove now, the coastal town was small. It shouldn't take long to find someone.

Brett walked away from the table. Skye watched him look at his phone, type on it, and frown.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Riders coming back. ETA ten minutes," he said as he typed.

"Did they find him?"

"It wasn't mentioned." Brett walked off to tell the others.

Skye's legs bounced against the chair. If they were coming back, that meant they found him. Her dad had promised that he wouldn't come back without him.

"He's coming back," she whispered. "He has to come back.

Aunt Brooke squeezed Skye's hand. She needed Dio. Only Dio.

All her life, he had been there, spoiling her with gifts, supporting her in swimming, encouraging her in school, and making her feel like she was enough.

But she hadn't had him long enough to love him back. A lifetime wasn't enough for her.

Her heart would never survive if something happened to him.

She swallowed a sob and stood, shrugging off Mariah's hand and avoiding her aunt's touch. "I'm sorry. I just...I need..."

Walking away from them, she hugged her middle. Ten minutes seemed like forever.

She stopped in front of the wall of pictures, going through the photos one by one and picking out Dio. She'd done this hundreds of times throughout the year. She used to make a game of it, as if he played hide-and-seek on her.

Now, she peered at Dio in each one and remembered when he got his tattoos, the one time he shaved his head, and the time he helped her save all the kittens.

Would she ever get to love him the way he deserved to be loved?

She'd only started and had so much more to give him.

Tears fell down her cheeks unchecked, blurring the details of the photos, and she could no longer spot Dio amongst the other members. Please. Please. Please. Let him be okay.

She would give anything, even her soul to the devil, if Dio returned safe and sound.

"Riders coming in," shouted Brett.

The air thickened. She closed her eyes, sending up every promise, every threat, every wish.

At the sound of the door opening and the rumble of the motorcycles invading the clubhouse, Skye turned, searching for Dio.

Her dad walked inside and stopped, scanning the room. When he found her, his eyes softened, and he shook his head.

A sob broke free, and she fell to her knees.

The voices hummed around her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She couldn't stop the horror happening around her.

Aunt Brooke joined her on the floor, wrapping arms around her. But even that motherly support wasn't powerful enough to keep her world from shattering into millions of pieces.

She held her stomach, afraid she would fall apart. Negative thoughts found their way in, and it felt like her heart was pulled out of her body.

A scream tore through her but never came out.

Strong hands lifted her to her feet. She leaned into the support, unable to stand on her own.

"We got the men, Skye." Her dad held her up. "We took care of them."

"Dio?" She stared into his eyes, needing the answers he wasn't giving her.

He shook his head. "He wasn't with them, baby. There's a chance he's still out there somewhere, and we won't give up looking for him."

She locked her knees. "Los Li is no longer a threat?"

"We're safe," he murmured.

Adrenaline made her dizzy as thoughts formed in her head. "The security will be lifted off us?"

"Yeah." Her dad pulled at his beard. "But right now, we need— "

Her spine snapped to attention, giving her strength. She pushed away from her dad. "I need to go."

"Wait, Skye." Her dad turned, following her with his gaze. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

She grabbed her bag off the table and headed toward the door. "To find Dio."

"We're going back out once we share information on the areas we've covered to close in on a possible location." Her dad coughed. "God damnit, we've looked—"

"I'll find him." She hurried to the door, grabbing her keys out of her pocket.

"Wait up." Mariah caught up with her. "You're not going alone."

"Hell." Brett jogged behind them. "I'll follow the girls and watch over them."

"Don't lose them," shouted her dad.

She jumped in her car and waited until Mariah slid into the passenger seat. Her heart raced hard enough to bruise her battered chest.

"Where are we going?" Mariah put on her seatbelt.

"I don't know, but Seaglass Cove isn't that big. I love the Havlin members, but they weren't kids living in a small town the way we were." She started the car. "We ran wild on these streets. There are a lot of places to hide, including coves and rock croppings—places my dad and the others wouldn't search because the location wasn't on a public street. We need to think like Los Li. If we were the mafia, where would we get rid of someone? Where would we go?"

Mariah never laughed or scorned her idea. She met her gaze and nodded in support. "The cliff."

She pulled out of the lot, followed by Brett. The cliff was where teenagers went to party.

"There's also the field," added Skye. "Depending on the tide."

She wrung the steering wheel with her hands, wishing she could go faster. The last thing she'd want was to get stopped by the cops and miss her chance to find Dio.