“Run, Emmie!” I cried. “Get help.”
The look of determination on her face when she looked at me promised a different plan, one she soon proved true as she stood and launched herself on the intruder’s back. She pulled at his head as he held me pinned to his chest.
I felt him throw his arm back and heard Emmie drop to the floor. He spun me, his arm braced over my neck. A moment later he was pressing a rag to my face, the chemical smell suffocating as I fought with all I had against it. I tried in vain to hold my breath, my last thought as my body went limp of Riley, hoping desperately she was safe.
Chapter 25
CASH
“He went off the grid,” I growled in frustration as Thorn and I left Grant Palmer’s offices. He’d been expected in for appointments that morning, but his secretary had shared that he hadn’t showed. There had been no sign of him at his home in Reno either.
Thorn and I were leaning against our bikes strategizing our next move when my phone rang. I’d missed a call from Layla when I’d been talking to Palmer’s secretary and hoped she was trying again. Instead, I saw Gunner’s name flashing on the screen.
“Gun,” I greeted.
“Fuck, brother.” The torture in his voice had me pushing off from the bike, my body rigid with tension. “I just got to your place. Someone got in here. Both Emmie and Layla…. They’re gone, man.”
“What?” I roared, the blood hammering in my ears. “How long?”
“Must have been minutes before I got here. Layla called me. Told me something was wrong. I hightailed it over here, but I wasn’t fast enough.”
The same tortured guilt I heard in Gunner’s voice lanced through me. That’s why she’d tried to call me. She’d needed me, and I hadn’t answered the goddamn phone.
“I need to get to Riley,” I growled, fear for my daughter so strong I could barely get the words past my lips. “Be there as soon as I have her.” I looked to Thorn, who was watching me intently. “Thorn will ride to you. Need you to find out everything you can about where that bastard is. If he’s the one who took Layla, I want his goddamn head on a pike!” I roared.
“I’ll help.” Gunner’s tone was full of murderous intent. Despite both of them being evasive about their relationship, I knew Gunner cared about Em something fierce.
“We’ll find them,” I swore, needing to say the words as much as he needed to hear them.
“Not another option,” he gritted out before hanging up.
I looked to my pop, realizing for the first time that I thought of him as such. “Need you at the house. Someone took Layla and Emmie. I’ve gotta get to Riley.”
He didn’t hesitate and instead moved into action, which was exactly what I needed. “Drive safe” was all he said before he fired up his motor as I did the same.
The ride to the elementary school, though only a few miles, felt like it took an eternity as I broke every speed limit in my rush to set eyes on Riley.
I strode into the front office, praying she was safe. “I need to take Riley home early,” I told the receptionist, knowing my tone was abrasive and unable to soften it.
Her gaze dropped over my frame, meeting my eyes with what I was sure was her attempt at a flirtatious wink. “Right. You’re her....” The fact I was still pressed on a regular basis as to what Layla and Riley were to me was about to kill the last iota of patience I was clinging to.
I leaned forward. “I’m her father. Now, get my daughter out here.”
“Sure. Let me just call her classroom,” she replied, finally catching on.
I fought the urge to pace the floor like a wild animal as I waited for Riley. When she walked in, wearing her Moana backpack that was half the size of her small frame and eyes looking at me expectantly, I had to choke back emotion. I dropped to my knees and wrapped her in a hug.
“Daddy? Why are you here?”
“Need to take you home early today, baby,” I rumbled, standing up with her in my arms. She was getting too big to be carried, but right now I didn’t care, I needed her close. Thankfully she didn’t protest, as though sensing I needed it.
“Are we going to see Mommy?” she asked, her large eyes serious as she looked at me curiously.
“I’m getting your mama soon,” I vowed as I strode out to my bike. “You’re gonna ride in front of me, it’s just a short drive,” I told her, gesturing to the bike. “I’ll hold on to you the whole time.”
I didn’t want her to be scared, but I needn’t have worried. Riley let me put her on that bike as though we’d done it a hundred times. Her trust in me, especially in that moment, nearly slayed me.
I pulled up to our house after driving as slowly as I could, despite every part of me wanting to tear up the roads in my haste to get more information about what had happened to Layla. “Are we having a party?” she asked warily, looking at the cars and bikes lining our driveway and street as I lifted her to the ground. Riley was shockingly perceptive, and I had no doubt I’d need to tell her at least some version of the truth soon. Knowing my brothers were inside ready to do whatever was needed to bring Layla home gave me some measure of comfort.
“No, baby. We’re having a meeting,” I replied, taking her hand as we walked up the drive and into the house.
When we walked in, Grace and Wren immediately moved toward us, twin looks of concern on their faces. Grace gave what I knew to be a forced smile as she looked down at Riley. “Hey, honey, what do you say we go upstairs, and I’ll do your nails?”
Riley looked around the room, no doubt picking up on the solemn atmosphere, and then her eyes found mine. “Where’s Mommy?” Her lip quivered as she looked at me with a mixture of hope and fear that cracked my chest wide open.
I knelt down to meet her worried expression. “Your mama’s not here right now, baby. But I’m doing everything I can to get her home really soon. I need you to go with your aunties, and I’ll be up to check on you soon, okay?”
She bit her lip but nodded as Grace reached over and took her hand. “Come on, honey,” she coaxed gently.
Riley looked at me one last time, seeking answers I didn’t fucking have, and reluctantly followed Grace and Wren out of the room.
I dropped my head, still crouched on the ground, and for a split second the weight of the nightmare I’d found myself in threatened to keep me there. Until I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. “Come on, son. Let’s find your girl,” Thorn commanded.
I stood up, eyeing the men surrounding me, ready to take my back, ready to stop at nothing, and I vowed that would be my only moment of weakness. Layla needed me. And I’d never let her down.
“What do we know?” I demanded, eyes on Gunner.
He ripped his hand through his closely shorn hair in agitation. “Nothing. Already checked in with the neighbors. No one saw a goddamn thing.”
“I wasn’t fucking here,” I muttered through numb lips. “I could have stopped it.”
Cole grasped my shoulder, squeezing briefly. “You don’t know what would have happened had you been here. It’s not your fault. We’re gonna get them back.”