“I need you to trust me.” Maddox pulled back a little. “I’m going to get our girl back.”
My chest pounded and ached. It became harder and harder to suck in a full breath. Maddox put his hand on the back of my neck and shoved me down until my head was stuck between my knees. Sobs wracked through my body. If I’d been with her, I could’ve prevented this. If I’d answered the calls from Kyle’s parents, even just one of them, Walter wouldn’t have felt the need to go to such extreme measures.
Oh, God, Tiffany had to have been terrified. She didn’t know Walter or Mary. I never, ever brought her around people without me unless she knew them and was comfortable with them. I wouldn’t have even considered leaving her with Ava yet.
“This isn’t your fault.” Maddox rubbed my back. “Breathe.”
How did he know I was feeling extreme guilt?
“Bethany,” Maddox said in a serious voice. “They’ve been spiraling. This isn’t on you.”
I nodded and sat up. He was right. The blame rested solely on Walter and Mary’s shoulders. The fear settled in my gut, but I had to focus and keep it together. I couldn’t help Maddox find Tiffany if I was completely in meltdown mode.
“You went the legal route. You did all you could.” He continued to rub my back, but it occurred to me that while we sat here with me losing my damn mind, Tiffany was with drunk Walter.
“He could’ve already driven off the road,” I whispered.
“What?” Maddox looked at me in concern.
“Mom said Walter appeared drunk.” I jumped up and ran to the side of the house. It must’ve been Maddox’s sirens I heard.
He scrambled to follow. “What are you doing?” he called. Within seconds, he’d caught up to me at the passenger side of the police cruiser.
I yanked on the handle, but the door was locked. “Let’s go!” I exclaimed. Images of Tiffany thrown from a car because she wasn’t in a seatbelt ran through my mind. I saw her being dragged away, kicking and screaming, as Walter waved a gun. “Come on, Maddox, now.”
“Okay, I got it.” He pulled the keys out of his pocket and stuck the key in the lock. “Get in. I was going to get Abby to come over and sit with you while I went to the station to figure out the next moves. I know what I’d like to do, as a member of the Kingston clan, but we have to go the legal route.”
I slid into the car and sucked in deep breaths while Maddox walked around. The fear coursing through me threatened to overwhelm me again, but I slammed my fists down on my knees a couple of times.
“Hey, whoa,” Maddox said. He put his hand on my left fist. “Talk to me.”
He backed quickly out of my driveway and headed down the road.
“I don’t know what to talk about,” I whispered.
“Tell me about Tiffany,” Maddox said. He turned on the sirens. They were louder than I expected.
“Uh, she’s smarter than I expected a child her age to be,” I called. “I keep checking online and looking for milestones and what a normal three-year-old should be able to do.”
Maddox turned onto Main Street and nodded. “She’s advanced?”
“I think so. I was going to bring it up to her pediatrician at her four-year physical.”
We didn’t encounter any other vehicles until we got onto Main, and luckily it darted into a parking lot, so we were able to hurry down and pull in behind it.
Maddox rushed around the car to meet me at the front and took my hand. “Come on.”
“Why are we here?” I asked as we ran into the station. “Shouldn’t we be searching for Walter?”
“We’ve got deputies doing just that,” Maddox said. “Don’t worry.”
As soon as we walked into the station, I stopped short after hearing a shrill cry. My mom slammed into me. Maddox had to brace me again as I staggered backward from the force of my mother’s embrace.
“Bethany, I’m so sorry! I should’ve protected her. How could I have let her get across the playground from me, knowing Walter was after her?”
Part of me wanted to yell at her that she should’ve been closer. She could’ve protected Tiffany. But I knew that was unfair. I didn’t stand right on top of Tiffany when she played. Not even after she almost fell off the monkey bars. “Mom, it wasn’t your fault. You know I don’t like helicopter parenting. I wouldn’t have been right on top of her myself if I’d been the one there.”
Maverick pulled Maddox aside and they conferred very quietly. I continued consoling my mother. At first, I considered that she should’ve been the one comforting me, but seeing her granddaughter kidnapped had to have been traumatizing for her.
After a few moments, Maddox walked away from his father and touched my arm. “Can I speak to you for a second?”
I nodded and Maverick put his hand on Mom’s arm. “Let me get you a cup of coffee.”
She nodded absently. “Sure, yeah.”
There was nobody else at the station. I assumed they were all out searching for Tiffany. “What is it? Do you have a lead?”
“I know you’re very uncomfortable with what you found out about me,” he said. “But it can help us.”
“What, can you track while shifted?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes.”
My jaw dropped. “No shit?”
“No shit. And better than that, Jury is a sort of specialized tracker. He has a gift. He’s already out looking, but he hasn’t shifted. But for us to do this, we have to be discreet. In our town especially, we can’t have anyone discovering our secret.”
I nodded.
