Unfinished: A Small Town, Friends to Lovers, Romantic Suspense (Amber Ridge Book 6), page 19
“He could be anywhere.”
“Yeah, but we’re better than him. He can’t hide from us for long.”
They were better. But Monty had time on his side. He’d no doubt been planning this since the judge passed down his sentence.
Ethan shot him a look. “Bonnie’s with her brother?”
Her name, the sheer fucking sound of it, made his lungs restrict. “Yes.”
“You know he probably already knows about her.”
“Yeah, but I’m hoping I’m at the top of his hit list and she’s safe with her family.”
Ethan nodded. “We’re gonna find him, Zane. And when we do—”
“We end him.”
CHAPTER 26
Bonnie’s fingers hovered over her phone.
She wanted to text him. No, what she really wanted to do was call him and hear his voice. But the last few times she’d done that, he hadn’t answered. And she wasn’t sure her heart could take another unanswered phone call.
She knew why. He was scared. Scared of having contact with her in case that connected them. Scared of everything that was coming.
And maybe she was being selfish in wanting to hear his voice. But it had been three whole days of not seeing him while the town, while he, was going through this terrible crisis. She wanted to know he was okay.
Quickly, she typed out four words.
Bonnie: I’m thinking of you.
Send. Done.
Her phone suddenly rang, but it wasn’t Zane’s name on the screen, it was Jesse’s.
Nerves tickled her spine. “Jesse? Is everything okay?”
“I just wanted to call and update you on the shelter.”
By the sound of Jesse’s voice, it wasn’t good. “Okay.”
“Shelley cracked and told me that she received payment to share both Sarah’s location and the code to the gate.”
Bonnie’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
“I’m afraid so. We found the money trail in her account.”
Jesus. So the woman wasn’t just a terrible boss, she was also a terrible person. “I’m guessing she’s been arrested?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Um, thanks for letting me know.”
“Are you doing okay?”
“I’m not sure. I’m surprised.” Understatement of the century. “Noah’s taking great care of me.”
“Good. Call if you need anything.”
“I will.” She hung up, nibbling her bottom lip. Shelley had given out information about Sarah and Chett. She’d taken money from a criminal. Put innocent women and children in danger.
She was awful. Worse than awful.
Bonnie shook her head. She needed a distraction.
She dropped her phone to the bed. If she took it out of the bedroom with her, all she’d do was stare at the screen and wait for a call from Zane.
She was halfway down the hall when she stopped and closed her eyes.
She couldn’t do it.
Quickly, she raced back and grabbed it again.
Pathetic. She was pathetic.
“Give me that.”
Bonnie frowned at Indie’s angry tone.
“No way. The last time you had this spoon, you hit me with it,” Noah said.
“Because you licked it!”
“You mean like this?”
There was a gasp. “Ew!”
Bonnie walked into the living room in time to see Indie punch their brother on the shoulder.
“Ow,” Noah groaned.
“Don’t be a baby.” Indie turned away from Noah and spotted her. “Bonnie. Hey.”
She stopped at the kitchen island, taking in the ingredients spread across the counter and the bowl in front of Indie. “Baking something?”
“Sure are.” Noah grinned. “Chocolate chip cookies, but swapping the chocolate chips for M&M’s.”
Bonnie chuckled. “I think I’m twelve again.”
Indie lifted a shoulder. “Nothing wrong with that.”
Noah pushed the bag of M&M’s across the counter. “Here. I get whacked every time I eat one, but I bet Indie will let you have some.”
Bonnie grinned as she took a few. “Are you still eating all the ingredients?”
“All of them,” Indie groaned. “And the dough. Luckily, I doubled the recipe.”
“I see we haven’t gotten better at keeping the flour inside the bowl.” Bonnie ran her finger over the floured counter.
“Remember how mad Mom and Dad used to get at the mess?” Indie asked softly.
“What I remember is you both blaming me,” Bonnie scoffed.
Noah’s grin widened. “You were the youngest—least chance of getting yelled at.”
“Hey, they preferred us baking than some of our other activities. Remember the rope swing?” Indie laughed.
Noah scrubbed a hand over his face. “Don’t remind me. It wasn’t my finest moment.”
“Flooding the backyard and sending me flying across on your newest invention wasn’t your finest moment?” Bonnie asked, feigning innocence.
Indie cringed. “I can still hear your screams when you hit the fence.”
“That’s how I lost my third tooth,” Bonnie said, almost proudly.
“Jesus Christ.” Noah almost looked embarrassed. Probably because his job now was all about safety.
Bonnie eyed the bowl. “Can I mix?”
“Sure.” Indie pushed the bowl toward her.
Immediately, Bonnie lifted the spoon and ate a huge mouthful of dough.
“Hey!” Indie crossed her arms. “With you two here, we’ll be lucky to get one cookie out of the mixture.”
Bonnie lifted a shoulder. “I always preferred the dough.”
Noah laughed with her and, after a moment, Indie joined in.
Over the next hour, they baked cookies and ate ridiculous amounts of raw dough and M&M’s. Technically, the town was in lockdown, but house-to-house visits were still happening so that everyone could check in on each other and stay sane.
It was nice. Throughout the years, Bonnie had convinced herself that she’d never gotten along with her siblings. But now, standing here, she wasn’t sure that was true. Before they’d hit their teenage years, they had gotten along. And the three of them had done everything together. Noah was the oldest, so he was usually the leader. Indie was the pragmatic one and the most safety conscious. While Bonnie, as the youngest, was up for anything and just happy to be included.
How had she forgotten?
Or maybe she hadn’t forgotten. Maybe it was just too hard to think about while there was so much separation between them.
Indie checked her phone. “Colt will be here to pick me up in a few minutes. I’m just going to pee for the fiftieth time today, because baby likes doing gymnastics on my bladder.”
When Indie left, Bonnie turned back to Noah. “Where’s Addie?”
“She’s with Jules. I’m going to pick her up later. She’s under strict instructions to keep the house locked and remain inside until I get there.”
The light feeling of a few moments ago faded, and she was thrown back into reality.
She pulled an M&M off the cookie in her hand. “Any more progress finding and detaining those felons?”
“Actually, yeah. Someone held up the grocery store today. Holden was there. He took the guy down. Apparently, it was quite the heroic act.”
“The grocery store.” Bonnie swallowed. “Some of them aren’t even trying to hide.”
“Well, when they’ve been threatened to stay in town, they already know they’re going to get caught.”
It was unbelievable that Monty had done that. But it also wasn’t. Zane had told her the lengths Monty would go to hurt him. He wasn’t wrong.
She glanced down at her cell. Still no response from Zane.
She lowered the cookie to her plate, appetite suddenly nonexistent. “So that leaves…five, right? There were nine—three have been arrested and one dead.”
“Yeah. Five to go.”
Her phone suddenly vibrated, and a rush of air slipped from her lungs when she saw who it was.
Zane: I’ve done nothing but think of you, Bonnie. Are you safe?
Zane’s words made butterflies flutter in her belly.
Bonnie: I am. Are you?
Zane: Yeah. No sign of Monty, which is both a relief and annoying as hell. How’s your arm?
Bonnie: I barely feel the wound.
“That Zane?”
She glanced at her brother. “Yeah. I hate being away from him.”
“It’s not forever.”
“That’s what he said.” And yet, it didn’t make it any easier.
Noah cleared his throat. “I’m glad you have him.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.” He leaned his hip against the counter. “After all that stuff came out about him, I wasn’t sure. But now…”
“Now what?”
“He’s a good guy and he really cares about you. I trust him.”
A small smile curved her lips. She wasn’t sure why, but she liked that her brother approved.
Her phone vibrated, and she looked down again, expecting to see another text from Zane.
It wasn’t.
Unknown number: Feeling safe?
Her heart stuttered, and she shot up so fast her stool hit the floor. “Noah.”
“What is it?”
Another text came through.
Unknown number: You shouldn’t be. No one Zane cares about is safe. He lost that privilege when he stabbed me in the back.
“He’s messaging me,” Bonnie whispered.
“Who?” Noah grabbed her cell, his gaze running over the words before he cursed. “I’m calling Jesse.”
“What’s going on?” Indie asked, as she stepped back into the room.
“He got my number.” Bonnie turned to glance out at the street. “I’m closing the curtains.”
It was probably overkill, but there was this pit in her stomach, and doing something felt better than nothing.
She moved to the window.
“What’s that?” Indie asked.
Bonnie looked up. She’d just spotted the person crouching behind a car on the street when Indie screamed. Her sister dove on top of her as a bullet cut through the glass.
Bonnie gasped as they hit the floor, and a second later, Noah was dragging them both away from the window to the corner of the room. That’s when Bonnie saw the blood.
Not her blood, though.
Her gaze shot up. “Indie…”
Zane slipped through the trees, the Airbnb house in view.
He couldn’t see Ethan, but he knew his friend was on the other side somewhere. They’d already been to three other properties, all with booking dates that coincided with the prisoner break. Monty hadn’t been at any of them.
Was he here? All the curtains were closed, and there were no vehicles out front. Didn’t mean the house was empty though.
With the Glock held close to his body, he kept low and jogged forward, scanning his surroundings as he moved. When he reached the window, he lifted a rock and gently tossed it at the glass before dropping to the side of the house.
If there was someone inside, they’d hear it.
One minute passed. Then another. Nothing.
Quickly, he pulled out his pick and slipped it into the window. The lock clicked and he pushed the window open before climbing through and dropping inside with a quiet thud.
A twin bed centered the room, with bedside tables on either side, and an old freestanding armoire was positioned against the opposite wall. That was it. No bags. No people.
Weapon raised, he moved around the room, opening drawers and checking the closet. There was no sign of anyone staying here. None. In fact, there was a small film of dust on the drawers.
He entered the hall, Ethan stepping in from the other side. Their gazes met but only for a second.
From what he could hear, the house was silent. No footsteps or voices. So the most likely scenario was that the place was empty.
But why would someone book it, just to leave it vacant?
Ethan moved into the kitchen while Zane went to another room off the hall. He opened the door to find an empty bathroom and no sign that anyone had used it recently. There were no drops of water in the sink. No toothbrushes or tubes of toothpaste on the counter.
What the hell was going on?
He headed down the hall to the last unopened door and was just pulling it open when Ethan threw Zane to the floor as an explosion blasted out of the room.
Zane cursed and tucked his head, the floor beneath him shaking under the impact.
Another second passed and he rose and cursed again, flames already burning from the room into the hall.
Fuck.
“Come on.” Ethan ran down the hall.
Zane followed back out the bedroom window. When his feet hit the ground, he sprinted into the trees. He wasn’t taking a chance that something else had been rigged to blow.
Ethan was already on the phone to the fire department.
Zane waited until they reached his car before turning to his friend. “How did you know?”
Ethan handed him a piece of paper.
Boom! Did you make it? Did she?
Zane’s heart fucking stopped. She…
Bonnie.
He pulled his cell from his pocket, hands trembling as he called her.
She didn’t answer. She didn’t fucking answer “I need to get to Noah’s house.”
He went to climb behind the wheel, but Ethan grabbed his arm. “I’m driving.”
Zane didn’t have time to argue. He sprinted around the car and dropped into the passenger seat. Ethan put his foot to the floor and sped out of the forest.
Zane tried Noah’s number next. Again, nothing.
Shit.
He needed someone, anyone, to tell him she was safe. Someone to reassure him that she was alive.
He tried her number one more time, expecting it to go to voicemail again.
“Zane?”
“Bonnie.” Relief hit him so hard, air whooshed from his chest. “Are you okay?”
“No.” Her voice was quiet and pained.
“What happened? Where are you?”
“I’m at the Amber Ridge Hospital. I’m okay but…I need you.”
“We need to get to the hospital,” Zane growled to Ethan.
Ethan turned the car. “We’re around the corner.”
“I’m coming, honey.”
“I’m in the waiting room. I have to go.”
“Bonnie—”
She’d already hung up.
Dammit!
The second Ethan pulled into the parking lot, Zane was out and running. When he stepped into the waiting area, he saw her, sitting on a chair, eyes red, cheeks tear-stained. Noah sat beside her, and Addie beside him.
“Bonnie.”
Her eyes lifted, and she stood before immediately falling into his arms.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
She pulled back. “He tried to shoot me, but Indie threw herself onto me, and the bullet…it hit her, Zane.”
Indie had been shot. Shot with a bullet intended for Bonnie.
“I don’t know if she’s okay,” Bonnie whispered. “I don’t know if her baby’s okay!”
He cursed and pulled her back into his chest.
She tensed in his arms. “You smell like fire.”
“Don’t worry about that.”
Noah’s phone rang. He stood and answered it. “Colt?” There was a short pause. “Thank God!” He hung up and turned to them. “Indie’s out of surgery. Both her and the baby are okay.”
Bonnie collapsed into his side, new tears building in her eyes. He tightened an arm around her, taking most of her weight.
“What’s going on?” Ethan asked when he reached their little group.
“Indie was shot protecting Bonnie.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
Bonnie frowned at Ethan, then him. “You both look like you were in a fire. Where have you been? And don’t brush me off and say nowhere.”
“We—”
The hospital doors opened, and Jesse and Holden stepped in.
“I came as fast as I could,” Jesse said. “How is she?”
“Her and the baby are okay,” Noah replied.
“Thank God. What happened?”
“There was a shooter on the street hiding behind a car.” There was an edge of anger in Noah’s voice. But also something else. Guilt, maybe? Because he’d been the one who was supposed to protect his sisters. “I didn’t see him. He was to the side of the street and I…I wasn’t looking. Fuck, I should have been looking.”
Jesse gripped his shoulder. “It’s not your fault.”
“I got two texts,” Bonnie said quietly.
Zane tensed. “Texts?”
She nodded and scrolled through her phone. Then she turned the cell so they could see.
Unknown number: Feeling safe?
Unknown number: You shouldn’t be. No one Zane cares about is safe. He lost that privilege when he stabbed me in the back.
He’d gotten her number. Not just her number. Her location.
“Where’s Becket?” Noah asked.
Jesse glanced at him. “He’s at a house fire.”
Bonnie turned to him and Ethan. “What the hell’s going on?”
“Monty set up an explosion,” Zane said through gritted teeth. “He knew we’d search vacation rentals. He rigged the place and left a note.”
“What did the note say?” Jesse asked.
Ethan handed it to the sheriff.
“He’s a step ahead of us,” Jesse growled, frustration threaded through his words.
“He knows me too well.” They were family. But hell, for years they’d been more than that. They’d been best friends.
“So what does he think you’ll do next?” Holden asked.
“I don’t care.” He really didn’t. He only cared about one thing. “It doesn’t matter, because I’m better than him. I’m going to find him. And I’m going to tear him apart.”
“Zane—”
“Nothing and no one can change my mind,” Zane pushed. He meant it. Absolutely nothing would get in his way. Especially after attempting to hurt Bonnie and getting her sister. All it had done was ignite a new fire inside him to murder the man.
