Twist My Heart by Brooke Taylor (ebook audio reader .txt) 📕

Social media pages came up blank. The Action Eight News story didn’t have any new details about Thea, except to say how the story had sparked an all-time high number of adoptions at the facility, with more expected over the weekend. Even the red-tagged animals had been given reprieve by a couple of local veterinarians and trainers who were willing to provide medical procedures, training, and fostering until the animals could safely find new homes.

Nik scanned the comments under the original video, most of which called for willing adopters, commented on how hot Thea was, or hilariously poked fun at the lying employee and his pathetic mustache. But Nik stopped on one commenter asking if Thea Gale was the sister of Amanda Gale. Figures some random commenter would provide more of a lead than the actual news reporters.

A search on Amanda Gale came up with several hits for a kidnapping fifteen years prior. A ten-year-old Thea had been the sole witness of her older sister Amanda’s rape and abduction from her bedroom in their upscale home.

Fuuuuck.

Nik scrubbed his forehead. He rolled his neck, trying to release the sudden tension as he researched further. One year prior, another girl, Margaret Anne Miller, had been abducted from the same peaceful, idyllic neighborhood. While there were many similarities between the two cases, investigators never could prove they were linked.

Through a quick look at various news stories, Nik was able to piece some things together. Two years after Amanda was abducted, Maggie’s remains had been discovered along with clothing and DNA belonging to Amanda. Believing the worst, Thea’s family had laid Amanda’s memory to rest. Her empty coffin had been buried amidst the divorce of Thea’s parents.

Early on in the investigation, Thea’s father had been a suspect in both kidnappings. He was cleared when DNA tests on clothing recovered with Maggie’s body had led to the conviction of a man named Danny Dalton, who ultimately died in prison. Even with being cleared, Thea’s father had committed suicide soon after the divorce finalized. Thea’s mother had died a year later, leaving Thea parentless at thirteen.

Most of the news stories had photos of Amanda, a few of her father and mother, but Thea’s picture was only included with one of the articles. Nik’s chest caved as he eyed Thea at ten years old astride a buckskin dun horse. He’d been hoping he was on the wrong track and all these horror stories were about some other girl’s family. The lone photo proved this was in fact the same girl he’d pulled from the tornado wreckage.

Thea’s childhood should’ve been some of the best years of her life, and instead they had been scarred with one horrifying trauma after another. She’d been right—her memory loss had happened for a reason. A very good one. No one should have to live with any of this, let alone all of it. She was also right about there being no family to contact. His stomach clenched, as he knew the feeling all too well.

The buzzing of his phone became incessant. Coop needing an update on the fictitious car repairs, stat. The man had a wealth of patience was when he was behind a sniper’s rifle, but since retiring, and especially in the last few months, he’d become exasperating.

Nik: Worse than I thought, I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Nik hated lying to his best friend, but he wasn’t about to get Coop or his brother Leo involved until he knew more.

Coop: You fucking kidding me right now?

Crap.

Whatever crazy shenanigans his friend and former teammate had arranged for this vacation, there was little doubt he’d organized it all for Nik. Coop knew better than most what Nik would be dealing with, between Will’s death and coming off of deployment with civilian life hanging over him.

‘Twas like a lion at my door. Coop often repeated the ominous line from the poem, “The Man of Double Deed”, whenever he had trouble transitioning to civilian life. But right now Coop was the lion at Nik’s door.

Nik really didn’t want to let Coop or Leo down. They’d become his family after he’d lost his own. But what was he supposed to do? Tell Thea, ‘Hey, sorry. You’re on your own. I’ve got to go drink it up with my buddies for a couple of weeks on an island somewhere.’ The time for that had been back at the tornado site when the cop had come around. Grimacing, he typed back.

Nik: Sorry, dude. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Start without me.

He opened a new search engine and tried ‘Thea Gale’ again. This time he hit on a wedding registry site. His gut churned as he clicked on it. The page popped up with the chest-ramming punch of what might as well have been a C-4 explosion.

Clayton Kenyon and Thea Gale engaged.

Chapter Fourteen

Air left Nik’s lungs in a whoosh. His pulse thumped at the back of his throat. All he could see were those six words confirming what he’d feared—Thea belonged with someone else.

Shouldn’t matter.

Wasn’t like he was looking to get involved. In fact, just the opposite—he needed to disentangle himself from this situation and get back on the road. Text Coop and Leo and tell them he was on his way.

Before his selfish brain could construct an argument against finding Thea’s fiancé, Nik shook the thought from his mind and started searching for this Clayton guy’s contact info. The right thing to do was to get in touch with him and let him know where Thea was. She needed to be with someone who knew of any remaining family, friends, where she worked, lived. Anything at all about her.

Titan whimpered out a bark, breaking through the impact rocking Nik’s brain. The dog clawed at the closed bathroom door. Shit! Nik bolted out of his chair. Without pausing to knock, he shoved the door open to find Thea slumped against the bathtub’s wall, shaking. No