“Are you sure you want to go before she regains consciousness?” Chasin asked when they stepped out of Charleigh’s hospital room.
Fuck no, he didn’t want to leave her side. But he knew Charleigh would put Faith before herself. That was the only reason he was leaving her in a hospital bed with a fractured skull and a concussion.
“Faith’s been gone for three hours, it doesn’t matter what I want. I need to find her,” Holden replied, nearly choking on the words.
“Where are you gonna go? We have no leads,” Chasin reminded him.
They had jackshit because when Macy had found Charleigh, she was sprawled out on the floor, a pool of blood waterfalling down the stairs where Charleigh had cracked open her head. After a call to 911, she called Alec, who called the rest of the team and everyone descended on the scene at the same time.
Faith was gone.
They’d looked in every closet, under every bed, in the cabinets, in the attic space, anywhere and everywhere Faith could’ve hidden, they looked.
Just gone.
And no one saw a thing. There were no security or traffic cameras in the area. They had nothing to go on. Except Holden did. His gut screamed the Towlers had taken her. The question was, how had they overpowered Charleigh. Beatrice was old, Charleigh would beat the hell out of the woman if she’d threatened to enter. Patricia might be able to take Charleigh, but with Faith on the line, he doubted it. Besides, Charleigh had no defensive wounds.
No, she had a fucking possible fractured skull and a missing child.
“I’m going with you,” Chasin said.
“I need you to stay here with Charleigh.”
“The rest of the team and the women will be here.”
Holden grappled with how to explain to his friend why he needed him to stay with Charleigh. He didn’t understand it fully himself but he needed Chasin to keep her safe.
“She’s closest to you.” Holden pointed out.
“She’s close to all of us.”
“No, she was always closest to you. Before she married Paul, she sought you out. And then there’s Genevieve…”
“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
It was no secret—Genevieve pretty much hated Charleigh. Bobby was a tossup. That left Micky and Kennedy to keep Charleigh calm, though Macy and Silver would pitch in. But Holden needed Chasin to monitor the situation.
“You know Evie, you know Charleigh’s not her favorite person, but I am. She’ll worry about me and likely that’s gonna make her on-edge. I need you to keep Charleigh safe until I can bring Faith home.”
“Evie would never hurt Charleigh,” Chasin snapped. “But you’re right, Evie’s gonna be worried for you.”
“Let’s hit the road.” Chasin and Holden turned to find Jameson stalking toward them. “I’ve got my truck loaded up.”
“I’m—”
“Heard what you said to Chasin and I agree, she’s closest to him so he should stay. But that doesn’t mean you’re going alone.”
Holden didn’t have the time or patience to argue about who was going or staying. Moreover, Faith didn’t have the time. He needed to get on the road—he should’ve done it the moment he’d realized Faith had been taken—but he’d needed to lay eyes on Charleigh before he left.
“You’re gonna find her.”
Chasin’s proclamation hit him square in the chest and threatened to crack the reinforced walls he’d built. He couldn’t allow a single twinge of emotion to color his anger. He had to stay completely detached or he’d find himself crumbling under the debilitating fear. His friend meant well, but none of them had any idea how close he was to breaking down.
Holden had seen the blood, had watched Charleigh get loaded into an ambulance, he’d searched her house, he’d heard the doctor’s assessment. The woman he loved more than anyone else on earth was lying in a hospital bed and her daughter had been kidnapped. With each breath he took he’d disconnected, he’d separated from the overwhelming agony. He had to, he owed it to Charleigh.
To Faith.
Sweet Christ, Faith. He couldn’t go there. Couldn’t think about how scared she had to be. Absolutely could not think about what she’d seen. Did someone carry her down the steps? Had she closed her eyes so as not to see her mother bleeding out from a head wound? Had she been forced to walk down the stairs and step over her mother’s prone body? Had she stopped to try to wake up Charleigh? Had she kicked and fought?
Stop.
Holden shoved his thoughts away and stared at Jameson. Before Kennedy, the rage on his friend’s face was typical. The perpetual scowl was so normal, no one paid it any mind. But after Kennedy, that deep frown had vanished. Jameson had found happiness. He’d found love, acceptance, a good woman he was smart enough to make his wife, and they were making a family. It had been so long since Holden had seen Jameson’s anger surface, it startled him. A stark reminder of how fucked the situation was.
“We’re headed to Virginia Beach. I’ll call Rhode on the way. Keep me up to date with Charleigh.”
That was all he could ask. He couldn’t bring himself to tell his friend to tell Charleigh he loved her, that he was sorry he couldn’t sit by her bedside. Though he desperately wanted to stay.
Faith. Everything had to be about Faith.
“Brother, you’re gonna give yourself a heart attack if you don’t calm down,” Jameson griped.
Not taking his eyes off the long stretch of roadway in front of him, Holden gritted his teeth. They were thirty minutes outside of Virginia and Holden was losing patience. He wanted to yell at Jameson to drive faster. He wanted to rail at
