“What?” Macy screeched. “Did you see him? The kids!”
“I didn’t see him. But Caleb must’ve seen him pull up because he took off across the park and dipped into the woods. I’ve already called the guys, they’re en route. We’ll find him.”
“I have another call. It’s the rec center.”
Fucking shit.
“Take the call. I’ll hold.”
With his phone to his ear, Alec started to jog in the direction he’d seen the boys running. He needed to get into those woods and search for Caleb but he knew he’d lose service.
Hurry, baby.
“She’s gone,” Macy panted.
Dread washed over Alec. He didn’t need Macy to tell him who “she” was. He heard it in Macy’s voice, the desperation clear. But more, he felt her pain down to his bones.
“How long?”
“The director said the kids were outside on the playground. When it was time to line up, Rory wasn’t there. They’ve been looking around for ten minutes. She’s gone. He took her.”
Fucking hell. How did no one see a man lurking around the playground?
“You stay there. Someone’s coming—”
“Doug has her,” Macy shouted. “I’m not staying here.”
“Macy. I need you to trust me. This is what we do. We find people. We’re good at it. If he comes after you—”
“Then at least if he takes me, Rory won’t be alone.”
Fucking hell, she meant that. Macy would do anything for her kids and that included putting herself in danger.
“Holden’s here,” Macy told him.
Thank Christ.
“Alright, baby. Please, I’m fucking begging you to listen to Holden. I’m gonna find Caleb. Then I’m going after Rory.”
“Alec—”
“Swear to you, Macy. I’ll bring them home to you. But I gotta get off the phone so I can start looking. I need to concentrate on the kids. I cannot do that if I’m worried about you. Listen to Holden.”
Alec didn’t wait for an answer. He disconnected the call and sprinted into the woods, grateful that spring hadn’t made its appearance yet, making his trek that much easier.
“Caleb!” Alec yelled. “Bud, where are you?”
Nothing.
Alec slowed his pace and looked around for any clues on where the boy may’ve run to.
Five minutes later and more than a half-mile away from the park, Alec was getting ready to take off in a new direction when a ladder fixed to the large trunk of a tree caught his attention.
“Caleb? You up there? It’s Alec. You’re safe.”
Still nothing.
Then Alec heard the slight creak of metal and looked up. Caleb’s pale face barely showed through the branches. And suddenly the boy was scrambling down the tree stand as quickly as he could, missing the last dozen or so rungs. Alec easily caught him before he fell the last six feet.
“I got you,” Alec grunted as he pulled Caleb tight.
“I saw him.”
“You’re—”
“He pulled up. I saw him so I ran. He looked so mad.”
“You did the right thing. Now let’s get you home.”
“Are you mad?”
“No, son, I am not mad. But we have to hurry and get you back to your mom.”
“Is she mad?”
Mad? No. Scared out of her skull? Yes. Macy was going crazy and he knew that for certain because he was.
“She’s not mad. Come on, we have to hurry.”
“Are you um… gonna find him? Tell him that me and Rory don’t wanna see him?”
Fuck yeah, he was going to find Doug Spencer. Only he wouldn’t be telling him anything—his fists might, but he had no words for the son of a bitch.
“I’m gonna find him,” Alec growled.
“I got Caleb,” Alec told Nixon as soon as he had service. “We’re headed—”
“Jonny’s not answering.”
“Come again?”
“Jonny’s MIA. Not picking up his cell, not at work, not at home, not answering his home phone. We can’t find him.”
“You’re telling me this why? I got more important—”
“I’m telling you this because Doug’s a fucking lunatic and before he took off down south, him and Jonny had words. Doug’s in town. Jonny’s MIA. It doesn’t take a genius to put two and two together and come up with Doug having something to do with Jonny disappearing.”
“Shit.”
“We’re hitting up every place we can think of and we notified the sheriff. He’s got his men out looking too. Drop off Caleb and check-in.”
Alec disconnected and had to close his eyes against the intensity of Caleb’s stare.
“Where’s Mom and Rory?”
“Your mom’s at home waiting—”
“Where’s Rory?”
“Bud. Let’s—”
“Where’s Rory?” Caleb asked again, his voice ragged.
“Caleb—”
“He has her doesn’t he?” Alec flinched at the pain he heard.
Fucking Cocksucker Doug Spencer was going to feel every ounce of pain he’d caused Macy, Caleb, and Aurora. The fucker was gonna feel it with his last breath.
Alec hooked his hand behind Caleb’s neck and pulled the boy close. So close, their foreheads touched and their uneven, choppy breaths mingled.
“Yeah, son, he has her. But I promise you I’m going to find her and bring her home. But first I need to get you to your mom.”
“Swear it, Alec? You promise?”
“I promise.”
“I believe you.”
Sweet Christ, Alec wouldn’t have believed that in the middle of the worst day of his life, three words could make him feel so damn good.
In that moment, the only thing that could top Caleb’s trust would be to hear Aurora’s sweet voice. But he’d have that, too, soon enough.
35
Incomprehensible terror took over my every thought.
Doug had Aurora.
For three months, we’d lived free.
Three months my kids were carefree and happy.
Now that perfect bubble Alec and I had painstakingly cocooned them in had burst.
The beauty that Alec had insulated around us was gone and so was Aurora.
Goddamn, fucking, Doug.
The front door came open with a crash and I turned with a jump. I heard my mother gasp and my father grunt. They’d been at the house with me for the last thirty minutes but had barely spoken. Both of them looked horrible—I suspected I looked worse.
Everything fell away except Caleb running to me with his arms out in front of him. My little boy who wasn’t so little. Yet right then he looked the child he was.
“Caleb,” I murmured and wrapped my arms around him.
His body shook as he hugged me back but he didn’t speak.
Alec watched us. His eyes blazed with a fire I’d seen before and I knew Doug’s future was uncertain. “Babe. I gotta get out there and look for Aurora.” He lifted my chin and brushed his lips against mine. “I’ll be home soon.”
I nodded and tried to come up with the words to express my eternal gratitude. But there were no words to properly convey how thankful I was to have him in our lives.
My perfect, strong, handsome Alec.
“I love you,” I blurted out.
His face became infinitely gentle and his eyes calmed and turned soft.
“I love you, too, Macy. More than you’ll ever know.” He pressed another kiss to my lips and stepped away. “Gotta go get our Rory, baby. We’ll be home soon, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Then he did something so beautiful my heart constricted. “Promise, son. Rory will be home soon.”
“I know,” Caleb muttered.
“Love you, kid.”
“Love you, Alec.”
With a jerk of his chin, he turned to leave.
“Dada!”
Alec stopped, cleared his face, and turned to my mom
who was holding Jocelyn.
“June.” He kissed my mom’s cheek then his daughter's head. “Love you, sweet girl. Stay here with Mommy and be good.”
“I’m coming with you,” my dad announced.
“Need you to stay here, Ron.”
“I’m—”
“Straight up, I get you want to be out there looking for your granddaughter but I need you to stay here. Macy, Caleb, and Joss cannot be left unprotected. Every member of my team is out looking and I don’t wanna pull one of them to come out here.”
Alec paused and I held my breath. My dad looked pissed but Alec looked equally determined.
“I know it goes against the grain for a man like you not to be out in the trenches searching. But I’m asking—no, begging—please stay here and watch over them. I’m torn, Ron. Half my life is in this house, the other half out there, scared. I cannot leave—”
“Go! I’ll stay. Just…”
“I’ll bring her home.”
Then Alec shot out the door, leaving me in tatters.
Half his life was in this house. The other half was not.
She was somewhere scared.
I couldn’t keep my feet. Caleb’s arms tightened around me and my dad came to our side and wrapped his big, strong arms around me and my son.
My dad gave good hugs. But Alec’s were better.
After I caught my breath, I prayed Alec found Rory.
I needed my daughter home.
Alec
“We got a lock on Doug,” Nixon said from the driver’s seat as Alec swung into his friend’s truck.
“Where?”
“His parents’ house.”
Nix was driving down Alec’s long driveway at a high rate of speed but it still wasn’t fast enough.
“Rory?”
“Chasin says he’s got eyes on her. Jonny’s in there too, and he’s bleeding.”
“Is Rory…?”
Christ, he couldn’t finish his question. Alec wasn’t sure if he wanted to know—if he should know. He needed to keep his head straight and if Chasin had reported in that Rory was injured, the tenuous hold on his control would snap.
“Uninjured as far as he can see.”
Alec expelled the lungful of oxygen he’d been holding but the inferno in his gut remained.
Nixon sped toward the Spencer residence, and as the seconds ticked, Alec’s dark thoughts started to consume him.
Hunt. Maim. Destroy.
He was dizzy with the urge to hurt Doug the way the piece of shit had hurt his family.
Aurora was his and he’d let her down.
“Lock it down,” Nixon barked. “Don’t make me sorry I picked your ass up.”
“The fuck?”
“Your jaw is clenched so tight, I’d be shocked if you haven’t cracked a molar. Your knuckles are white. And you’re practically growling. When we get in that house, your only concern is Aurora. That’s it. You let your team take your back and trust us to handle the rest. That little girl is gonna need you. What she doesn’t need is you busting down the door going apeshit on Doug. She’ll never forget that. She’s six, scared, and likely doesn’t understand why her uncle is bleeding, and why her father is unhinged. You need to be that girl’s hero. And you cannot do that with blood on your hands, snarling. Calm your shit down.”
“Don’t know if I can.”
“You love her—so I know you will.”
Alec prayed Nixon was right, because in that moment, he was seriously doubting he’d be able to leash his fury.
“What’s the plan?”
“We’re walking in. You and me in the front. Chasin and Holden in the back. Weston and Jameson will control the perimeter. If Doug tries to leave, one of them will intercept and his car’s already been disabled.”
“We’re just walking in?”
“Yep. There’s one of him and four of us. And with Rory in the middle, I don’t wanna go crashin’ in through the windows and upset her more. This way we go in nice and easy. Talk Doug down and you take Rory home.”
“Right now I do not have my shit together enough to contemplate your play. So I hope you know what the fuck you’re doing.”
Nixon rolled to a stop at the curb a few houses down from the Spencers. Alec had never been inside but he had driven by after Macy had been attacked, looking for any signs of Doug or Josh.
“And what about the parents. Where are they?”
“According to Chasin, sitting in the living room where Rory and Jonny are.”
Fuck. If Jonny was in the same room as Rory that meant she was watching her uncle bleed. Goddamn prick.
Two shots rang out as the men exited Nixon’s truck. Neither said a word as they took off in an all-out sprint toward the house. Screw going in soft—fuck the plan—Alec needed eyes on his girl.
Nixon got to the door first and shouldered his way in. Alec was right behind Nixon with his heart in his throat. If Aurora was hurt, he knew he’d snap, and there wasn’t a man present that could stop him from ripping Doug the motherfucking prick apart.
The smell of gunpowder hung in the air. He heard a soft whimper. And a decidedly male groan.
Fuck.
Alec rounded the corner and found himself in hell.
“Drop your weapon,” Nixon demanded.
Alec didn’t spare Doug a glance, he only had eyes for Aurora.
Tension thickened and pressed against his chest to near suffocation. Rory wasn’t scared—she was fucking terrified. Ghostly white, wide horrified eyes, lips parted but no sound coming out. She’d hadn’t noticed Alec had entered the room. She only had eyes for her very dead grandfather lying feet from her. Blood oozed from the gunshot wound.
“Rory, baby, look at me,” Alec command.
“Oh hell no. Fuck no. You do not speak to my daughter,” Doug shouted.
“Drop your gun, Spencer. Last warning,” Nix ordered.
Alec still hadn’t taken his eyes off Rory. One glance at Doug and instinct would take hold. His dark emotions would override all control and Alec wouldn’t maim—he’d kill.
“Look at me, baby,” Alec tried to coax Rory.
“If you think you’re leaving here with my daughter, you're wrong.”
“Doug, this is not how you want this to end. Your brother needs a doctor. Aurora’s in shock. Put down the gun so we can see to your family.”
Nixon didn’t mention Mr. Spencer, because there was no helping the man.
Dead on his living room floor shot by his own child.
Fucking hell.
Jonny Spencer
A bullet to the shoulder hurt like a bitch. Watching your psychotic brother kill your father in front of your mother and niece—Jesus, that burns your soul.
Jonny had no idea what had made Doug into the asshole he’d become. They’d had the same upbringing. The same two loving parents. Hell, when Doug had first come to live with them, Jonny’s parents had showered him with love and attention.
But something was broken in Doug. He always wanted more, needed more, needed to control, needed the adrenaline rush from gambling, fucking, and fighting—he was addicted to it.
However, Jonny would never understand how they’d gotten to this moment.
A son killing his father.
A father harming his child.
A brother shooting his family.
Jonny knew he’d lost consciousness for a few moments when he’d stumbled and hit his head on his mother’s coffee table after Doug shot him. So he’d missed some of the conversation leading to Doug killing his father.
The situation was beyond fucked. His mother looked stunned. And she would be seeing the man she loved more than half of her life dead. His niece had checked out. Her stare was blank, skin pale.
Jesus Christ.
Jonny didn’t have a choice.
This had to end, and it was he who needed to do it.
There was no stealthy finesse when Jonny reached for his back-up revolver holstered just above his ankle. He didn’
t conceal the sound of Velcro ripping apart as he pulled the weapon free. He didn’t hide his movements when rolled to his side and leveled the .357 at his brother’s head.
Jonny didn’t need to conceal or hide anything—Doug wasn’t paying attention to him. He was too busy threatening to kill his own flesh and blood so her mother wouldn’t have her.
That wasn’t going to happen.
“Get Aurora,” Jonny shouted, and in one smooth pull of the trigger, the shot rang out, the bullet hit Doug in the temple.
Doug’s body crumpled next to his dead father’s and Jonny closed his eyes.
36
Get Aurora.
Alec couldn’t get those words out of his head. He also had not seen the bullet pierce the side of Doug’s skull. At Jonny’s direction, Alec dove for Aurora and shielded her from witnessing her father’s death.
Now Nixon was driving them back to Alec’s house. Aurora was curled up in Alec’s lap in the backseat and he didn’t give two shits it was illegal. He wasn’t letting the little girl go.
The EMTs on the scene had checked her out and physically she was unharmed. But it would take a long time for the horror she’d witnessed to fade.
It took Alec ten minutes to calm Macy down when he’d called her to tell her he had Aurora. And another ten to convince her to stay home. She didn’t need to see the carnage—Rory had seen enough for the family times ten.
And unfortunately, she’d seen and heard everything, excluding the bloody end to her father’s life.
“Almost home, baby,” Alec murmured and kissed the top of her head.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered.
The knot in his chest started to loosen but he still couldn’t breathe.
“Yeah, sweetheart, I’ll always come.”
“I love you, Alec.”
There it was, Aurora’s sweet, melodious voice. The one he’d desperately wanted to hear. Made better by the sweetest words he’d ever heard from her mouth.
“I love you, too, Rory.”
Aurora fell quiet and Alec silently willed Nixon to drive faster.
Too close, too damn fucking close.
Macy
I was out the door before Nixon came to a full stop. I yanked the back door open and Alec transferred Aurora into my arms.
Alec's Dream (Gemini Group Book 4) Page 27