The Ahern Brothers Collection - Claudia Burgoa Page 0,86
save myself today. My heart stops when I process his words. “Wait, how did you know I was leaving?”
“Sweet Peyton texted me earlier to tell me that you were skipping town,” he laughs.
“How do you know her?” I look around searching for something to hit him with, but there’s nothing. My hands are tied behind my back.
“Let’s just say that she’ll do anything for me.” He grins.
My heart beats fast. “What do you mean?”
“Shut the fuck up, Abigail.” He growls, yanking my hair hard.
“I thought you liked it when I talk. That’s what sells best, isn’t it?” I say boldly.
“Shut up,” he hisses as his fist slams into my face. “I’ll break every bone in your body. When I’m done with you, your boyfriend won’t recognize you. No one will claim you.”
Shaun tears my tank top and shoves a large piece of the fabric inside my mouth. I gasp, the air scraping my lungs as I try to breathe.
“You’ll beg for your life, for mercy. But not until I say so. Dad has to be here. He wants to do it. In the meantime, I can do whatever I want.”
He smashes his fist against my temple.
Two
Wes
I run both hands through my hair and grab the wheel when the car next to me honks. My eyes well up as the fear that I won’t get to her in time intensifies. I drive faster swerving through the traffic on I-25. I take the nearest exit and park. The cards from the HIB guys are right in my wallet. The call to Bradley goes directly to voicemail.
“Bradley, Shaun just took Abby. Please call me.”
I call Hawkins and the same happens.
“Hawkins, this is Weston Ahern. Please call me as soon as you can. They’ve got Abigail.”
I send a text to both numbers.
9-1-1 Abigail was taken by Shaun. Call me.
Since that’s all I can do, for now, I continue my trip home. A few minutes later Sterling calls. I ignore his call. He sends me a text. The car asks if I want it to read it for me. I press the checkmark on the wheel.
“Weston, I just got the weirdest text from Abby; would you like to reply to this message?”
“Yes.”
“What would you like to say?
“What was it?” I reply.
The computerized voice announces there’s another text from Sterling. I ask her to play it right away.
“It’s a long recording. Abby’s talking to some guy about Peyton and Ava. I think that’s her sister’s name, right? I saved it. I’m on my way to your house. She might be in danger.” Would you like to reply to this message?”
As I’m about to respond, a call enters. The dashboard displays an unknown number. I click the wheel, answering almost immediately. It could be one of the HIB guys. A gruff voice comes in almost immediately.
“Ahern, this is Mason Bradley. We got your messages. Are you one hundred percent sure about this?”
“I was on the phone with her. She called me, scared because Shaun confronted her outside our building.” My voice trembles as I recount our conversation word for word. I grasp the wheel tightly, finding my balance.
This is about Abby, not me.
“She went willingly because a friend of hers, Peyton, might be in danger.” I finish feeling fucking mad at her because she always wants to save everyone.
“How long ago was this?”
Feels like fucking forever. I try to think of how much time has passed between now and then.
“It hasn’t been long, twenty or thirty minutes. I tried to reach her but …”
He covers the phone, and I can hear him mumbling but can’t make out any words. I rush down the road, waiting for an answer. Maybe I should’ve called the police. No, I did the right thing. These men looked capable. They’ve been investigating these guys since I emailed them and arrived in my office offering a solution.
“Where are you?” He asks.
“On the highway, driving toward home.” Looking up, I see that I’m about to reach my exit.
“I need you to pull over and text me her phone number,” Mason orders. “We’re going to trace the signal. Hopefully, we can find her soon.”
And then what are they going to do? I wish I had hired someone to protect her when she first told me about Shaun and Corbin. Or when HIB was in my office. They didn’t have enough people, yet they made it sound as if everything was under control. But it wasn’t, and now I could lose her.