“I love you . . . I love you.”
God, I was a fucking coward.
I stand and resume pacing. “She went back to this guy she lived with before she moved here. I need to find her, Ben. You need to fucking help me find her. This guy . . . he’s mean to her. To my Beth, he’s fucking mean to her, and I am losing it, okay? I have a first name. I know she’s in Louisville. Please. I don’t ask you for shit. I need this. Can you just . . .”
“Reed, fuck, man, calm down.”
“I can’t calm down! I love her! Can you help me or not?”
Hattie gasps from her seat.
I advance to the island and flatten my palm against the cold marble. My head hanging heavy between my shoulders. My legs threatening to give out.
“What’s his name?” Luke’s voice cuts through the line, a bit distant. I realize I’ve been put on speaker phone. Fingers tap hurriedly on a keyboard.
I sag against the corner of the island. “Rocco. I don’t have a last name.”
“Rocco? The fuck kind of a name is that? He sounds like a little bitch.”
Luke’s remark is fucking spot-on.
“I doubt there’s a lot of Rocco’s in Kentucky. Should help narrow the search. Where are you?” Ben asks.
“Beth’s aunt and uncle’s house. Where she was staying.”
“Right . . . yeah, I know where that is. Mia mentioned how close Beth lived to us. What’s the house number?”
“12,” I blurt out, then question. “Why?”
“We’ll pick you up. Be there in twenty.”
“What? What do you mean you’ll pick me up? Give me the address so I can get the hell out of here.”
“And do what? Drive up there and beat the shit out of this guy for hurting Beth? Did you consider what might happen if he isn’t so willing to let her go? You don’t know anything about this guy. He could have fucking weapons in his house, Reed. What if he pulls a gun on you?”
“Don’t be fucking stupid. We’re going with you. We’re getting ready to end our shift anyway,” Luke adds.
I pinch my eyes shut. Fuck, I hadn’t thought about how this could play out. Weapons? Could this asshole actually be dangerous?
Images of Beth cowering, scared and sad filter through my mind.
I’ll kill him.
“Fine, whatever. Hurry up.”
I disconnect the call, shoving my phone away.
“Reed?” Hattie’s kind voice lifts my head. Our eyes meet across the room. “Bring her back. She loves you.”
I wait for Ben and Luke by the front door, wiping the wetness from my eyes.
EIGHT HOURS, TWO STATE LINES, and the impending obstacle of traffic stand between me and Beth.
The guys show up after ditching their patrol car, but staying in uniform. Ben insists on driving his truck, keeping his speed close to one hundred miles per hour for the bulk of the trip. I realize quickly how grateful I am to have them with me. If I had made this journey alone, I would’ve either gotten pulled over for speeding, or road rage. Most likely both. We’re making great time, but I’m ready to crawl out of my skin. My stomach has twisted into an unforgiving knot. My leg won’t stop bouncing restlessly against the seat.
“How you doing back there?”
“Mm. Fine,” I answer Ben, or Luke, was it? My head shakes against my hand. Definitely not fine. I look up front. “I’ve never thrown a punch before. Ever, but I might actually kill this guy. There’s a good chance I’ll see him with Beth and lose my fucking mind. If that happens, am I looking at jail time?”
Wouldn’t that be the perfect end to this nightmare. Telling Beth I love her behind a glass partition.
Luke turns his head. “You’re not going to kill him. We’ll let you hit him a little, but unless we see him doing shit to Beth, hurting her in some way or threatening us, there’s not much we can do. We can’t arrest him for being mean to her.”
“He might not even be home. Most people work until five, six o’clock. If it’s just Beth there, do you really want to stick around and wait for this prick to come home just so you can punch him?”
I glare at the rear-view mirror, meeting Ben’s eyes.
Asshole. Like you wouldn’t camp out on someone’s lawn for a month if they looked at Mia wrong.
His gaze trains on the road. “Fair enough.”
“If he has weapons and shit, that’s different though. And we can make it pretty fucking clear that he needs to stay the hell away from Beth. You can drive that point home.” Luke leans closer to the GPS. “We’re close. Ten miles.”
Ten miles. God, I can practically feel the warmth of Beth’s skin.
“How do I,” I clear my throat. My hand skims down my neck, tugs at my collar. Fuck, I’m burning up.
“What?” Ben probes in my silence.
“Tell her . . . I need to tell her I love her.” My tongue thickens in my mouth.
Damn it. Is this how it’s going to be?