“Keith! Keith! It’s over.” Carter pulls me away.
I’m sweating. My men have already tied the older man, still out cold, to a chair.
“Gavin has called the local PD. They should be here any minute.” Carter then nods toward Clementine, hunched in the plastic chair.
I cover the distance of a few steps to her. “Clementine.”
When she doesn’t look up, I crouch. Holding her head gently, I pull her face up to me. “It’s over, Clem. You’re safe now.”
She slowly lifts her head.
When I give her a weak smile, she throws her arms around me. Sobs shake her body as she holds on to me.
“Everything’s okay,” I whisper, but she continues to tremble in my arms. “No one’s going to hurt you, Clem.” I try to pull her away but her hold around my neck tightens instead. “We’ll leave as soon as the local PD is here. The chief of police needs to take your statement so that we can catch the man behind all this.”
I feel her stiffening in my arms at the mention of this fucker Lebedev.
“You’re safe, Clem.” I pull her closer as she slowly relaxes.
She looks so lost and scared.
I pull her out of the chair, hoping to take her someplace safe.
A shriek leaves her when Carter’s jacket falls on the floor. But I’m already running out the door. “I’ve got you.”
I place her on the back seat of the van. Incessant shivers shake her body.
I hand her a bottle of orange juice. When she looks at it suspiciously, I add, “Drink. It’ll up your sugar level.”
I hold the bottle as she takes small sips. After finishing half the drink, she turns away, looking out the window.
The police chief asks all the routine questions—how, when, where.
My fingers curl into tight fists as Clementine recounts the incidences of this evening. How they managed to get her into that van, tying her to the chair, Mikhail Lebedev threatening her with a gun to her forehead.
Fifteen minutes later, he nods his head to me, giving me the okay to take Clementine away. Gavin meets my gaze in the rearview mirror, and I motion him to start the engine.
A few minutes in the drive, I hear her sniffles. “Clem,” I whisper, pulling her into my arms. Her tears wet my T-shirt.
“They came for Mere,” she stutters.
My body stiffens hearing her frightened words. Knowing that someone walked into my house to kidnap my daughter send chills to my bones.
“She was about to come home,” Clem continues in her broken, shivery voice. “She’s alright?”
I hold her tight to me. This girl is still worried about Merida. “She’s fine. She’s in a safe house. You’ll see her tomorrow.”
Her body sags against me and I’m once again stunned by her affection for Mere.
“I was scared,” Clementine whispers.
“Shh. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I make a soft promise to her. My lips naturally touching her hair.
“Did they hurt you?” I ask softly. I know the paramedics would have already asked her, but I still need to know, for my own sanity.
She flinches for a second, making my heartbeat pause. Were we too late?
“What the fuck did they do?”