Shadows of You (Lost & Found #4)(99)

We hopped out instantly, closing our doors as quietly as possible. We moved to the back of the SUV, and Holt pulled the hatch open. Lawson handed all of us but Holt vests. We checked our weapons, and Lawson retrieved his long-range rifle.

He glanced at Holt. “Bring them up to speed when they get here.”

Holt jerked his head in a nod. “Don’t do anything stupid and get yourselves shot.”

Nash’s lips twitched. “I’d never do that.”

Holt smacked him upside the head. “You get one more hole in your body, and Maddie’ll kill you herself.”

Nash winced. “You’ve got a point there.”

“Let’s move,” I gritted out. There was no time to waste. We could be too late as it was.

That thought had everything in me constricting. It was hard to walk, to breathe. I didn’t want anything to do with a world without Aspen.

“We stick to the trees, see what we’re dealing with. Then, we go in,” Lawson instructed.

Nash and I both gave quick nods and followed Lawson’s lead. It took us less than two minutes before the cabin came into view. But those one hundred and twenty seconds felt like a lifetime.

A navy SUV was parked out front, but everything was quiet—too quiet.

Lawson moved in closer, up to the very edge of the tree line. We circled until we reached the first set of windows. They looked in on a kitchen and through to a—my breath caught.

Aspen.

Tied to a fucking chair.

Her face was black and blue from Oren’s attack, and now she had a split lip. Shock ripped through me as I saw Steven tied to the chair next to her. I could only get a glimpse of Iris. A flash of her blond hair. Her arm. The gun in her hand.

Nash cursed. “Second hostage is shot.”

I hadn’t even noticed the blood blooming on Steven’s shoulder.

“We need to move,” I growled.

“Let me see if I can get a shot from the front,” Lawson said.

“She could see you,” I argued.

Lawson was already moving. “I’ll stay covered.”

We followed the edge of the trees, and Lawson crouched low, getting into position. He let out a slew of curses. “I don’t have it.”

A crack lit the air as though lightning had struck without any hint of a storm.

I didn’t think. I simply moved. Running for the cabin with everything I had.

I hauled open the door. Steven cried out in pain, more blood oozing from his good shoulder.

Iris’s head jerked in my direction. Her eyes went wide. “No! She doesn’t get to be happy. She has to pay!”

Iris raised the gun and pointed it at Aspen.

I didn’t think, I simply dove.

Iris screamed, the sound so loud and deranged that it nearly pierced my eardrums. “No! She has to die!”

She was strong for such a little thing, and I struggled to grab hold of the weapon.

A crack sounded, and the world went sideways.





52





ASPEN





Roan grumbled something under his breath from his spot on the couch next to me.

I shifted, my brow furrowing. “Is your shoulder hurting?” I asked, my voice barely audible above the laughter and chatter in the room.

“No,” he grumbled. “It’s fine.”

“Don’t glare at me. You were shot.”

A muscle in Roan’s jaw flexed. “Grazed.”

“You needed twenty stitches,” I snapped back.

Thankfully, that was all he’d required. My life had stopped the moment the gunshot sounded. It wasn’t until I saw Roan still moving and pulling the weapon from Elsie’s grasp that I’d started to breathe again.

“I’m fine,” he muttered. But he sounded anything but as he scowled at the rest of the people in the room.

Everyone was here: Nathan and Kerry. Holt and Wren. Nash and Maddie. Grae and Caden. Lawson and his boys. Cady was in heaven, and so was I.

“They’ve been here forever,” he mumbled.

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. “That’s why you’re glaring?”

“I’m not glaring.”

I raised an eyebrow at that. As much as Roan smiled and laughed more, big groups for long periods of time would never be his thing.

I leaned in. “Roan. I was kidnapped. You were shot. Cut them some slack. They want to make sure we’re okay.”

We were all piled into my tiny house, and Kerry had made so much food we’d never eat it all. Thankfully, Roan’s and my injuries were mild, but the hospital had wanted us to stay overnight just to be safe. Luckily, Cady just thought she was getting a fun sleepover with Nathan, Kerry, and Charlie.

But now we were home. Iris was in jail. Steven had made it through surgery. Oren had been charged with assault. And John had lost all visitor and communication privileges. Lawson’s source at the prison told him that John was already losing his mind at not having contact with the outside world.

It wasn’t justice, not truly, because it wouldn’t bring Autumn back. But Cady and I were safe now. And that was the only thing Autumn would truly care about. I had to hope our safety meant she was finally at peace.

It would take time to heal, but we would be okay—better than okay.