No. Frankie Leigh, oh God, no.
It was a prayer from my soul. A cry from my lips.
A strangled sound of relief left my throat when my eyes landed on Frankie. She was crying, sprawled face-down on the dirt where she’d been thrown.
My eyes drifted back, and horror took to my throat.
Missy was dead in her place.
A heap at the side of the road.
Missy had saved her. Pushed her out of the way.
Rex’s truck jerked to a stop in the middle of the road, and he stumbled out, the glare of headlights cutting into the descending night. A cry wrenched from his mouth. “Missy. Oh . . . no . . . oh God . . . what . . .Frankie!” Second he saw his daughter, he went rushing her way. Stunned, he looked over his shoulder to the taillights disappearing in the distance, his expression shattered when he turned back to the scene.
But that was the thing. This loyal man had no clue just how much worse it could have been.
41
Rynna
Pain throbbed at the back of my head. Blinding. Excruciating. I fought it, swallowed the nausea and forced myself to climb to my knees. My hands fumbled around, searching the floor for my phone.
Gone.
It was gone.
Mumbled voices echoed from the depths of the kitchen. They were coming from the old break room and office.
Fighting the terror lining my veins, I pushed myself to standing and squinted through the darkness. I pressed my back against the commercial ovens just inside the kitchen. I fought to stay as small and quiet as possible.
Slowly, I edged toward the voices.
Sinks lined the far back wall. A huge dry storage pantry was to the right of them and the old office was down a short hall to the left.
Keeping myself plastered against the metal, I shifted so I could peek into the murky depths.
A flashlight and the flickering flame of a candle cast the small room in leaping shadows. Two people were inside, their silhouettes striking against the wall as they moved.
Where was Frankie?
A cold sweat broke out across my nape, and I squeezed my eyes again, gathering courage, calculating whether I could make it to the phone that rested on the old desk that sat right inside the office.
I eased down the short hall, those voices coming clearer with each step I took. Panicked whispers, frantic as they searched.
“Where is it?”
“The question is, where the fuck did you hide it?”
“It has to be here . . . I . . . it’s been a lot of years. I’m not leaving without that money. That money and my daughter and that goddamned tape.”
“You think they aren’t already going to be looking for you since you took that kid? That was so stupid, Janel. I warned you that was the dumbest thing you could do. Going back to his house. What were you thinking?”
“I’m not leaving my baby behind. Not again. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.”
“Yeah, and what’d you expect? Me just to sit on the sidelines while you cozied up with that arrogant asshole again? Taking what’s mine? You’re insane if you thought I was going to let you stay there.”
“Just shut up and help me find it. None of that matters anymore.”
I kept edging closer, footsteps subdued, my heart threatening to pound right out of my chest.
“Yes! Here it is . . . it’s here!” Janel suddenly shrieked, coming into view when she jumped to her feet with a box in her hands. A box she had to have found beneath the floorboards.
I knew I didn’t have any more time. I rushed for the phone that was four steps away. I grabbed the receiver, fumbling to hit those three simple numbers.
I made it. I made it. One second before the receiver was yanked out of my hand. I started to spin around, caught off guard when I was shoved in the side.
Hard.
My feet flew out from under me.
I slammed against the wall. But this time, I was ready. Ready for this fight. A fight that’d been coming for years. For what felt like forever. I was fighting for Rex. For Frankie. I was fighting for me. “You coward, taking a little girl.”
I charged her. Rammed my shoulder into her chest as hard as I could.
Pain splintered through my head, but it was worth it. It was worth it because Janel stumbled back, arms flailing and hair whipping around her. The box she’d had in her hands went sailing through the air and crashed to the floor.
I dove for it. A hand fisted in my hair, yanking it back. “You stupid bitch, always in my way. Not this time. Not this time.”
I threw an elbow back and caught her in the ribs.
She heaved out a cry.
I spun around and rushed her just as she was rushing me.