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

I dropped my forehead against the back of the headrest. Killing him would destroy the only link I had to my sister. With my arms wrapped around his throat, and the airbag keeping him from being able to struggle, I waited for help to arrive.

My eyelids lulled. Before they closed, I caught sight of his fingers curled around the rag as it pressed against my face. I jerked the zip-tie cuffs hard into his throat. The angle wasn’t enough to cut off his air in time and I’d been breathing too hard to avoid the impact of the drugs. Everything went black.

* * * *

“Clay has her in a red Subaru. They’re already in the mountains, almost to Estes. Her hands are bound and she’s in the backseat,” Nik said as Coop answered his phone. “I’m headed toward her now.”

“How’d you get all of that from tracking her cell?”

“I got it from Thea. She managed to answer. She must’ve put it on mute without him knowing. We got disconnected and I can’t get her back. Her phone’s pinging close. I’ll text you the location when I get there. She better be okay.”

“I’ll check for any Subarus reported stolen. We’re running facial recognition on CCT footage around Estes to see if we can pinpoint where he’s been staying. His coming back this direction suggests he’s got a place nearby.”

Seeing skid marks and broken branches, Nik slammed on his breaks. A familiar sense of panic and fear coursed through him, like he was reliving a nightmare. “Gotta go, I may have something.”

“We’ll get her back, Steele.”

Nik hung up without comment. Knowing this wasn’t Coop’s fault didn’t alleviate his frustration. He should’ve insisted he be the one to take her to Boulder.

He shook the guilt off in favor of getting shit done to save her. Jumping into action, he exited the Jeep as Titan shoved his own way out right behind. Thea’s phone was close by. She’d likely gone right over the edge of the road. The force of the scene froze him.

His family’s crash had been miles from here, but it didn’t make the situation any more unique. Everything from tire tracks on the road to the crushed red metal below, eerily similar. The wreck killing his family had consisted of photographs, this was in living color—smoke still rising, gasoline and burnt rubber strong in the air.

A loud, succinct bark broke through Nik’s trance, reminding him how, unlike his family’s wreck, there was something to be done about this one.

The dog scrambled recklessly down the loose scree of the mountain. Desperation had Nik skidding right behind. Sharp rocks dug through his pants, tearing into his skin. His own safety came secondary to getting to Thea.

Had she been thrown from the car, like Cora had? Was she buried under it like his mother? Where the hell was she?

Anger and fear rocked heavy in his gut, but he twisted them into determination. His desperate search revealed nothing. No body was better than a dead one, he rationalized. But it was no guarantee Thea was still alive. Blood stained the deployed airbag as well as the backseat. He could only hope it all belonged to Clay.

Digging through the Subaru, Nik lifted out her cell phone. Finding her would be damn near impossible now. Bracing his forearms to the crushed roof, he dropped his head to catch his breath. To think. They had to have left on foot. Thankfully, his tracking skills were still fairly sharp.

He called Coop to update him on his current position and plan.

“Almost to you. Nik, there’s something else. My source was able to dig a bit deeper into Clayton Kenyon. Kenyon is his mother’s maiden name. He changed it at seventeen when he and his mother moved to Chicago. His full name is Daniel Barclay Dalton III.”

“Where do I know that name?”

“His father was Danny Dalton. Clothing found with Margaret Miller’s body linked his father’s DNA to her murder and Amanda’s disappearance. Danny never confessed to either.”

“How did the kid of a pedophile, a fucking murderer, get in the Bureau? Aren’t the Feds supposed to do thorough background checks on all their agents?”

“According to Coleman, they knew exactly who he was. The name change was to disassociate from his father and the press. He claimed to have joined the Bureau to stop people like his dad.”

“Such a crock of shit. The way Clay was talking to Thea…he’s as sick a fuck as his father.” Nik grunted, hanging up.

With this new information, Nik realized how desperate the situation was. Kenyon was not only unstable, but this was personal to him. There’d be no bargaining, no deals to be made, and no time before he started hurting Thea.

Glancing around, he spotted Titan snuffling at the ground not far from the wreck. The dog trotted a few feet, sniffing again before tearing off down a trail.

“Right behind ya!” Nik sprinted after the beast, thankful Titan had insisted on coming with him instead of staying behind with Leo at his house. With his far superior nose, he’d find her faster than any tracker.

* * * *

A hard thud jarred me into awareness. I awoke with my cheek flattened against an unwavering surface. The last thing I remembered was the blur of trees and boulders as I jerked and lurched downward toward my death. This was not death and I wasn’t still hugging the driver’s seat or pressed against the metal of a car. Nor was I outdoors. But I was on the ground. On a floor. Wood.

Pain penetrated my skull. I knew better than to try to move too much or the throbbing would only get worse. I should’ve killed Clay when I’d had the chance. Why hadn’t I killed him?

Mandy.

He knew where my sister was. He might be the only person in the world who did. No telling how long I’d been out for. Clearly, I’d been relocated from the crash. When? How far? What direction? By whom?

I blinked,