“Where’s Kade?” He asked as he moved some flattened cardboard from a doorway to check beneath.
“He wanted to check surveillance footage, see if he could see her run out. He was going to call Cole and Ky too.”
“I spoke to him before. He didn’t call that uniform to get Olivia. I tried to call you back to warn you, but you must have already been here.”
“I know. He told us. Someone set it up to get Livy here. What if they set all of this up too, to get her away from us? What if it was her fucking kidnapper?” I was yelling, my emotions becoming more and more torrid as my panic of her being snatched again raged within.
“No matter what, we will find her Matt. Just keep your head, son. She needs you all to be calm for her.”
I couldn’t be calm though. The woman I loved was no where to be fucking seen, and we had been led there under false pretenses. The longer Dad and I searched, tearing that whole damned street apart in search of her, the more I realised she had very likely been kidnapped once again.
“Matt!” I looked up as Ky and Cole both came charging through the crowd toward me around twenty minutes later. They both looked out of their minds with worry, their faces pale and stressed.
“Have you found her? Tell me you found her!” Cole cried with a desperation I have never heard from him before.
“Dad and I have searched the whole fucking street twice. She’s not here! He fucking got her. I know it. He set this whole stunt up to grab her.” I growled. It was all my fault. I never should have brought her here, and I should definitely have stopped her going into that fucking building. If we lost her I would never forgive myself.
“No! You’re wrong. She’s here. She’s just hiding. She’s so small. She could squeeze into a tiny space if she’s frightened.” Kyle growled.
“We’ve checked everywhere Ky! She’s not on this street. She could have fled, but I don’t think she would. I think she’d have wanted to know Kade and I were closeby.”
“How could he have set this up though? How could he have known the place was filled with protesters? How could he have made the radio call pretending to be Kade?” Cole asked.
“Maybe he’s a fucking cop! I don’t know, but she’s not here Cole, and I got out just a few minutes behind her. She didn’t have time to get far, unless she was grabbed.”
At that moment Dad approached, looking just as broken as the rest of us.
“I spoke to some of the calmer protesters, but no one saw anything. They were all too panicked to take notice.”
“Fucking assholes! If they hadn’t run out like they did, she’d still be beside me!” I yelled. I reached up and pulled at my hair in frustration. How the fuck had I let his happen?
“Matt, just take a breath. We’ll find her. We won’t stop until we do.” My Dad assured me with a hand on my shoulder. “We need to find Kade and get a look at the surveillance footage. It’s our best shot at finding out which way she went.”
***
Dad had a uniform escort us up to Kade’s office. When we walked in I spotted Kade hunched over his computer screen and hurried over toward him, the others all following.
“Kade? Did you find anything?” I asked urgently. As soon as he looked up and his eyes met mine, I knew she was gone. The fear and distress in his face was impossible to miss.
“She was snatched right out front.” He confirmed.
“How the fuck could that happen? There are at least fifty people out there, half of them cops!” Kyle raged.
“She can’t have been gone long.” I was trying to keep my cool. Livy needed us to be level headed and get her back.
“No. She was grabbed about thirty minutes ago. I put a BOLO out on the green van we know the fucker uses. We need to stop him before he leaves the city with her. If he gets her into the forest again, we’ll be hunting a needle in a haystack.”
“Then we fucking stop him!” Kyle roared as he turned and ran off.
“Where are you going?” Cole asked as he followed.
“I’m heading for Creal Springs. That’s where he was seen last. If he makes it out of the city, I might be able to catch him there.”
“Let me get some uni’s to go with you.” Kade called to him, but there was no stopping Kyle. He was on a mission.
“What? Because they were so fucking useful here?” Kyle snapped as he turned and glared at Kade.
“Kyle.” Dad cautioned with a glare.
“Just find her Kade! I’ll call Rob and ask him to send guys to back me up.” Kyle added a little more calmly, then he left with Cole in tow.
I felt like shit. This was all my fault. I was the one who let her hand go. I was the one who had let her slip away from me to be snatched by the maniac who had held and hurt her for eight years! Whatever happened to her while he had her this time was entirely on me and I knew it. I had let her down and I would never forgive myself for it.
Now all I could do was make damned sure we found her and got her back before he had time to hurt her. I’d do everything in my power to bring her home,
