I shake my head into his chest as the emotions becomes too much and I break. “They took Ari.”
Noah steps back, searching my face to make sure he heard me correctly. “What the fuck are you talking about? Who took Ari? Where is she?”
I shake my head and it almost seems impossible to get the words out. “I don’t know,” I tell him. “Kelly showed up with some guy and they barged in. I tried to fight them off but he was too big. They took her. She’s gone.”
“Fuck,” Noah roars, stepping back from me as the anger and frustration overwhelm him. “How long ago?”
“She drove off maybe fifteen minutes ago now. I don’t know. It all seems a blur to me. Could be more, maybe less.”
“It’s ok,” Noah says, trying to remain positive as he pulls his phone from his pocket. “We’ll get her back even if I have to raid every fucking house in the country.”
Noah presses the phone to his ear and two seconds later, he’s talking through the line. “Tullz. Bring mom and dad to Henley’s place. Everyone in their own car. Ari’s been taken by her mom so we need everyone out searching. Call Aiden and Spencer too.”
He doesn’t wait for a response, just ends the call and pulls me into his arms. Noah presses his lips to my forehead. “I promise you, we will get her back.”
I nod against him as the tears continue to fall. His words are reassuring, but they also sound like a promise to himself and despite how fucking incredible Noah is and that he’s generally capable of the impossible, I know there’s a possibility that we’ll never see her again.
Kelly is going to do everything she can to keep Aria hidden away. She knows that dad and I will do everything we can to find her and she’ll stop at nothing. The woman I saw on the doorstep seven months ago and the one I saw tonight was not that same woman who raised me. This new version of Kelly is a monster and I’m terrified of how Aria is going to be treated.
One thing’s for sure. I will never stop searching for her. Kelly will slip up one day and that’s when we will scoop in and get her back.
“Miss?” a voice says from behind Noah. I peer over his shoulder to find a paramedic looking me over. “I really need you to come with me. You have substantial injuries which need to be cared for.”
I shake my head almost violently. “No,” I tell him. “I need to go looking for my sister.”
“No,” Noah says, taking me by the shoulders and pushing me back. “He’s right. Look at you. You can’t help us look for her like this. You need to get checked over and make sure you don’t have a concussion. I can’t be out there looking for Ari if I’m stopping to check on you every ten minutes. Please, just this once stay here and let me handle this.”
“But…”
“No. You’re a liability like this. I mean, why the fuck can’t you stand on your left leg properly?”
I look down, hating showing a weakness. “When Kelly took off, the car fishtailed and slammed into my hip. It’ll be fine. It’s probably just a little swollen.”
Noah clenches his teeth and releases my shoulder before diving for my shirt. He tears it up only to find my hip is black and blue. No wonder I can hardly walk on it. “Fuck, Spitfire.”
Noah gets in closer to look at it and pulls down the side of my jeans as the paramedic gets down on his knees before me, studying the bruising with a cringe. “Please, Miss. Let me take care of this and your head. Your boyfriend is right, your sister is going to need you at your best.”
I look up at Noah, pleading him to let me come but he shakes his head. “Stay here, Spitfire. I won’t stop looking until I’ve found her and if we haven’t got her by morning, you can come too, but we’ll get her. You’ve got every cop in town searching for her and all of us. We’ll get her.”
I have no other choice but to give in and let him take the reins. Noah’s right, I need to get checked over. If I pass out from a concussion and can barely move, I’m only slowing him down. Aria needs the best and right now, that’s not me.
“Fine,” I say, stepping closer to the paramedic. “Just, please find her.” Noah goes to head for his car when I call out to him. “Kelly only just got out of rehab so it’s possible she went looking for a hit. You could maybe try that.”
“Thanks, Spitfire,” he tells me with a shallow nod. “Keep your head up, ok. I love you.”