the time we were in the truck, I was in a full-out panic for her safety, the hot rush of fear and the rage at my lack of control had me gripping the door handle so hard it would probably have dents. The fucker had come in the back door of her house. Had she ever replaced that broken bulb? Shit, why hadn’t I gone and done it for her like I’d planned?
Reed didn’t waste time getting out of the parking lot. For once, I was thrilled he drove like fucking Mario Andretti.
I remembered my dad’s text from the night before. He knew about Emory. From his words, he’d had me followed to her house and knew exactly where she lived. Had he sent someone to hurt her? He’d never done something this extreme to fuck with me, but I hadn’t had someone like Emory before. “Holy shit, Reed. Drive faster.”
“The police should be there soon,” he said, his usual fighting focus now on the road. He slowed to take a corner and the engine roared.
“Is this the one?” he asked as he steered and skidded around another turn. Thankfully, the roads were mostly deserted at this time of night. He was breaking every law, and I didn’t give a shit. If the police wanted to pull us over, they could follow us all the way to Emory's for all I cared. I hadn’t mentioned Emory to anyone but Thor, but it seemed the men knew about her anyway. They were worse about gossip than a bunch of old ladies. I hadn’t heard that she was considered The One, though. Was she The One? Hell yes.
I gave a stiff nod as I held the phone to my ear. “Emory, 9-1-1 will send someone to your house since you called and hung up. Reed called them, too. They’ll be there soon. You don’t have to talk, baby, just keep your head down and stay nice and quiet. We’re getting closer. Don’t move.”
I could hear her breathing, quick and frantic. Fuck, I’d known Emory less than a week, and she was more to me than anyone before—she was everything. The idea of someone wanting to hurt her had my hands tightening into fists. I wanted to hunt down the bastard and beat the shit out of him. I wanted to grab Emory to me, hold her close, sink into her and never come up for air. I needed her scent, her feel, her taste like I needed to breathe. And we’d only kissed. This wasn’t lust. This wasn’t infatuation. This was so much deeper.
“Go through the fucking light,” I growled when Reed slammed on the brakes when the light in front of us turned yellow then red. My head whipped back against the headrest when he switched pedals and roared through the intersection. It was a solid ten-minute ride to her place, but we made it in a little over five. How we weren’t pulled over, I had no idea.
“We’re almost there, baby. I can hear you breathing, know you're with me. I’m going to shout your name when I get there, and you’re going to come out for me and everything’s going to be okay.”
“Yes.” Her voice was barely more than a breath in the phone, but I heard sirens in the background. The guy had to be long gone by now, but I wasn’t taking any fucking chances.
“Pull up here.” I pointed to a break in the cars lining the side of her street and Reed weaved into the space, tires skidding. I opened the door and dashed out. I could see police lights, but not in front of the row of houses. They’d probably pulled into the alley as that’s where Reed had told 9-1-1 how the guy got in.
“Emory!” I shouted and spun in a circle in the middle of the street. Cars were parallel parked bumper to bumper on both sides for the entire block. Everything was quiet. Where the hell was she? “Emory!”
As I lifted my cell to my ear to tell her to come out, she stood up from between two cars. She was like an apparition appearing from nowhere.
“Gray!”
Relief shot through me like I was back in battle and realizing I hadn’t been hit in a firefight. It was a sick combination of adrenaline and sheer relief. She was on the far side of the street, about five cars down. I ran to her, my boots slapping loudly on the pavement.
I slowed within a