I shiver, suddenly cold.

  I slide down to sit on the floor and tremble, trying to control my breathing.

  Remain calm.

  The woman returns with a bottle of water in her hands. She glares at me before she untwists the cap and holds the bottle out to me. “Don’t be stupid,” she warns.

  I shake my head, and my instinct is to say thank you for the water, but I don’t.

  Fuck these two.

  I’m not going to thank them for anything.

  I take a sip of the water, and before I even taste it, the cool sensation on my mouth feels so good, I suck down several large sips before I register that the water tastes funny. I stop drinking, thinking maybe it tastes weird because I puked, and take another mouthful, swishing it around to get rid of the odd flavor.

  “You want me to call him back?” the woman asks.

  The man nods but doesn’t say anything.

  I silently pray that Leo answers the phone.

  Maybe he’ll think it’s Tim calling. Maybe he won’t care but will get pissed off enough to answer.

  All I can do is wait and pray.

  I watch as she dials the number again, but when her face falls, I can tell it’s gone to voice mail again.

  “Send a text?” she asks. “Can’t hurt.”

  “Hold off,” B says.

  I gulp down almost the entire bottle, trying not to lose my shit.

  My fingertips feel numb, and there’s a light sensation in my body like I’m both heavy and weightless at the same time.

  I’ve been drugged. I know I have. My body doesn’t feel right at all.

  I panic, dropping the water bottle on the ground. It falls with a dull thud against the concrete, and the last of the contents spill out on the floor. I try to stick my fingers into my mouth to make myself sick, but B holds his fist in the air, and I stop.

  I’m too weak to think through my options.

  I’m too tired to even feel fear. Maybe that’s a good thing.

  Images swim in front of my eyes, the colors muted and dark but so real.

  I see Josh at Checkers, the fabric of his shirt against my cheek as we danced. I see the dog in the corner, straining silently against his chains.

  And then Leo. Leo’s here.

  In front of my eyes, at least, the scruff of his beard under my hands as I hold his face close to mine.

  “Leo,” I gasp. “I love you.” And everything goes dark.

  12

  Leo

  When I pull up to my house and see Arrow’s truck, the first thing I do is take a huge breath. I’m ready to fight for Lia, whatever it takes, but I’m not about to pull another man out of her bed.

  But it doesn’t look like I’m going to have to. As soon as I punch the clicker to open my garage door, Josh is climbing out of his truck.

  “Hey,” he says. He looks as pissed as I feel. “Where’s Lia?”

  “Lia?” I’m not following. “Out with you. Date not end so great? She ditch your ass?” I want to chuckle but hold it back.

  Serves the fucker right.

  Arrow shakes his head. “Something’s wrong. We went to Checkers, just like we planned. Lia went into the bathroom and didn’t come out. After like twenty minutes, I had a bartender check on her, but she was gone.” He steps a little too close to me and demands answers. “What the fuck are you two up to? Do you think this is a game?”

  “Up to?” I’m genuinely stunned. But my shock comes out hard and fast as anger. I grab Arrow by the front of the shirt and shove him hard against the side of his truck. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand, shaking him. “We’re not up to anything. You took my goddamn roommate to a bar on a date!”

  Arrow tenses his biceps, but he doesn’t make a move to shove me away. “Didn’t Lia tell you the plan? This wasn’t a date, you asshole.”

  My stomach sinks.

  She’d wanted to talk to me all day.

  I ignored her.

  “I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about,” I admit, the fear clawing its way up my back. I release Arrow and scrub my face with my hands. “Back the fuck up. What happened?”

  Arrow now looks genuinely worried. “We’ve got to go inside. We need to see if Lia’s home.”

  I rush past him and into the open garage. I shove open the interior door, calling her name. “Lia! Lia!” I storm into the living room. The lights are off, the way I left them.

  Josh follows behind me. “Lia!” he shouts.

  I give him a shit look. I can hear Lia’s dogs barking upstairs, going crazy. They are still in her bedroom.

  “I’m going to check her room.” I point at him. “You stay down here.”

  I flick on every light as I head through the house toward the stairs.

  I don’t trust Arrow, and I sure as fuck don’t want him upstairs. I don’t know what he wants or what he’s doing, but if Lia’s up in her room, the last thing I want is for them to have some kind of sweet reunion in front of me.

  I storm up the stairs and knock on Lia’s door. The dogs are panting and clawing at it, but I don’t hear any sign that Lia’s inside.

  I push the door open, and the lights are off, but the noise-canceling sound machine and night-light she leaves on for the dogs when she leaves them home alone are still running.

  The dogs spill out past me and race down the stairs. I follow behind them and grab Arrow again when I find him in the living room, pacing.

  “What the fuck is going on?” I demand. “Where is she?”

  “We need to find her,” he says, his voice quiet. “We need to call the police.”

  “The cops? What the fuck? Why?” I shove him away from me. “Tell me what the fuck happened tonight!”

  Arrow picks up his phone and checks it. “I’ll tell you everything,” he says. “But has she called or texted you? Have you heard from her at all in the last hour?”

  I reach into the front pocket of my vest and pull out my phone. I haven’t even checked it since I silenced it at Morris’s house.

  “Holy fuck,” I say as I scan the screen. There are three calls from the same unknown number and one text from Lia. “She texted,” I say, relief flooding my gut.

  “What’d she say?” Arrow asks. He comes close to look over my shoulder, but I move away from him so I can read the text.

  As the words register, I feel sick. An icy feeling spreads through my veins, and I want to punch someone, anyone. But the first person I see is Arrow.

  I drop my phone and throw a punch at his chin, but he ducks enough that I only graze his jaw.

  “Stop, you stupid motherfucker. Stop!” Josh holds his chin with his hand but keeps the other hand in front of him, pushing me away from him. “What did she say in the text? What does it say?”

  “It’s not from her,” I grit out and hand him my phone as I sink onto the couch.

  Lia: If you want your girl back, give us Tim.

  Arrow reads the text aloud and lets a string of curses fly. “Text them back,” he says.

  “What? Fuck no.” I grab my phone away from him. “Tell me what the fuck you got Lia into!”

  I’ve had enough. I leap toward Arrow, ready to smash his shitty face in, but he blocks me and shoves me back against the couch.

  “You want to waste time beating my ass while somebody’s got Lia, or do you want to sit the fuck down and listen!” he roars.

  “I really want to beat your face in,” I seethe. “And I will. You mark my fucking words. If any harm comes to Lia, I’ll beat you within an inch of your worthless life.”

  “I’d like to see you try, you little shit.” As soon as he says the words, Arrow holds up a hand. “Fuck. Forget it, okay? Let it go. Let’s focus on Lia.”

  He paces a few steps away from me, probably trying to get his wits together like I am. Pixie has come up to my ankles and is whining, rubbing her face against me. I pick her up because I know I can’t kill Arrow with a tiny trembling dog in my hands. And right now, I need him alive and conscious to tell me everything he knows.

  “Start at the beginning,” I demand.

  Josh glares at me. “What did Lia tell you? About her plan, about our talk this morning.”

  I scowl at him. “Why don’t you do what I fucking asked and start at the beginning?” I don’t want to admit to him that I didn’t listen to her. That she tried to talk to me, told me she’d done some research and had news. I couldn’t give her five minutes to listen.

  Arrow flares his nostrils but starts talking. “Lia called. Asked me to meet her at her store. Confronted me about the house this morning.”

  As soon as he says the words, I feel like the biggest piece of shit on this goddamn planet…again.

  “She wanted me to know that she did some research, and she knew that I couldn’t just kick you out of here in two weeks, even if Tim didn’t show for his court date.”

  Now that’s news I would have wanted to hear. No wonder Lia was all bright and worked up this morning.

  God fucking damn me and my stupidity.

  “She told me she knew the whole process could take months. The court would give Tim extra time, and that basically the best outcome for all of us would be for us to work together to find Tim.”

  I nod.

  She would come up with a plan like that. Everyone working together. She teamed up with my nemesis to help me and put herself in harm’s way doing it. Meanwhile, I was debating cutting and running. Hitting the road and abandoning her and everything I have. I was so close to leaving this whole town, my house, my business, in the rearview. The entire time, Lia was out on some mission to find my brother with Arrow.

  “So, what the fuck happened?” I demand.

  “We went to Checkers. Figured that if Tim and his wife really were hanging out there, they’d recognize you, if they hadn’t already.”

  Damn. That’s why she went with him tonight. A date that probably wasn’t even a date. Not a real one, at least.

  “What happened at the bar?” I ask, my mind spinning.

  “We had a couple drinks, danced…” He stops for a second and goes on. “She used the bathroom and took a long time. When she didn’t come out after like twenty minutes…”

  “Twenty fucking minutes?” I demand. “Why the hell would you wait twenty minutes before making sure she was okay?”

  Arrow hardened his face. “I—we almost kissed. It didn’t happen, she stopped it, and I thought maybe she was mad or confused. I don’t know. Splashing cold water on her face, calling you…” He gave me a look. “I think she’s really into you, but there’s no denying we have some wicked chemistry. I honestly thought she was trying to figure out what she wanted. Me or you.”

  That gutted me.

  “I let it go longer than I should have, and I’m fucking kicking myself over it now,” he admits. “The bartender went in, said there was no sign of Lia. At first, I got pissed. I thought maybe you and she were playing me somehow, but that didn’t make sense. I came back here, figuring you’d come and picked her up and I’d find her safe at home, laughing at me with you.”

  I cringe and swallow a hint of bile that’s creeping up my throat. “She’s not here.” I’m stating the obvious, but my mind is swirling, and I can’t stop the words from coming out. “I didn’t know what she was doing. I didn’t talk to her all day.”

  “All day?” he echoes. “Why not?”

  “Doesn’t matter now,” I say. “She’s not with you, she’s not here, but she’s with someone.”

  I think back over everything Arrow said. He tried to kiss her, but she didn’t want it. She didn’t want him. Maybe, just maybe, that’s because she still wants me.

  I grab my phone and show Arrow the missed calls. “You know this number?”

  He types the area code into his contacts list, searching for a match, but comes up empty. He shakes his head. “Burner, I’m going to guess.”

  They want Tim.

  They have Lia.

  “Who are they?” I ask. “Who would want to get to Tim?” I look at him with fresh suspicion. “Is this you?” I demand. “Is this some game to flush out my brother?”

  “No, Leo. Before you go there—Jesus. No.” Arrow looks at me and throws his hands in the air. “I swear to God, man. I have nothing to do with this. I had no idea this could happen. I would never have brought Lia out tonight if I’d had any idea she might have been in some kind of danger.”

  “Think,” I demand. “You know these low-life scumbags. This is what you do!”

  Josh clenches his hands into fists. “I know you’re fucking pissed right now, but I think the sooner we stop fighting and start working together, the sooner we’ll find Lia.”

  I don’t want to trust him, but he has a point. If I’d stopped and fucking listened to Lia this morning, maybe I could have stopped this whole thing from happening.

  Working together is exactly what we should have been doing all day. But I was too pigheaded, organizing a pity party for one, to listen to anyone else’s good ideas.

  I don’t trust Arrow and I’m not about to call him a friend, but I’m willing to call a truce if it means finding Lia faster.

  “All right,” I say. “What do we do? Call the cops? Report her missing?”

  “Maybe…” Arrow is pacing, thinking.

  I set Pixie down on the couch and pace my own route across the carpet.

  “They want Tim,” he says, thinking out loud. “So that leaves us two possibilities. The first is that you and I aren’t the only ones Tim’s fucked over. The second is that Tim himself is behind this.”

  “What?” That throws me sideways. “How the fuck would he be behind this?”

  “I don’t know, Leo.” Arrow seems as stuck as I feel. “Think about it, though. He knows I’m hot on his heels, and if he’s keeping tabs on you and this house, he knows that you know. Maybe this is some harebrained junkie plot to find out whether we actually do know where he is.”

  That gives me a glimmer of hope.

  I know my brother.

  He may be an addict, he may be a deadbeat, but I know in my soul he’d never hurt another person. He wouldn’t harm a hair on Lia’s head.

  “Could it be Tim?” I ask. “How do we know?”

  “We text them back,” Arrow says. “You tell them, whoever they are, you don’t know where your brother is. You haven’t talked to him. Tell them that if they know, you’d really love to get in touch with him because he’s fucking you in the ass too.”

  I punch a message back, but before I hit send, I look at him. “What if this isn’t Tim?” I have to consider it. “If Tim is in some kind of trouble with somebody else, if they hear we don’t have any idea how to find him, what’s gonna happen to Lia?”

  Josh nods and holds up his hand. “Right. It could go either way. Could be Tim, or it could be…”

  “It could be anyone. And I’m not taking a chance with Lia’s life.” I delete the message, so I don’t accidentally send it. “What the fuck do we do?”

  Arrow points at the phone. “Ask them. Ask them what they want from Tim. Let’s play a little ball.”

  That seems safe enough. If they think we know where Tim is, they’ll keep the conversation going. Maybe. If it is Tim, he’ll definitely keep talking to find out what exactly we do or don’t know about him.

  “Should I call the number or text back?”

  “Try calling,” Josh says.

  I pull up the list of missed calls and select the unknown number. I hit redial and wait. The phone rings once, twice, and a third time before the call is picked up and disconnected.

  “No voice mail,” I report. “Sounded like someone answered but hung up.”

  “Did you hear anything?” he asks.

  I shake my head.

  “Send a text,” he says. “Just ask who they are and what they want. Keep it simple, and don’t give anything away.”

  I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to give away in a text, but I follow his lead.

  Me: Who is this? What do you want?

  We both watch my phone. I unsilence it in case they call back.

  The severity of the situation hits me, and my rage morphs into something like terror. I can’t imagine calling the cops to report her missing. That would mean she’s really gone. Really in danger. That I might never see her again.

  The fact that Lia may be alone, scared, in danger someplace because of me, because of my chickenshit decisions…I want to scream or punch something, someone.

  “What now?” I ask Arrow, desperation making me crazy. “Call the cops? Report Lia missing? Kidnapped? Maybe I should go to the shop. Check there. She could be anywhere, maybe she’s…”

  “Leo.” Josh holds up a hand. “There will be plenty of time to start searching. Let’s see if they respond. Okay? There’s still a chance this is Tim trying to find out what we know.”

  I’m not holding my breath waiting for that text.

  Josh and I watch my phone until finally, a text pops back up.

  We’ll trade Tim for Lia. You have twenty-four hours. We’ll contact you with a time and location.

  “What do you think?” I ask. “Is it Tim? Is he behind this?”

  Arrow shakes his head. “I mean…it could be. There’s no way to know.”

  “Let’s play this out,” I say. “If it is Tim, he’s given us twenty-four hours to prove whether or not we know how to reach him.”

  Arrow nods. “If we contact him, he may let Lia go and run. If we don’t contact him, best-case is he knows we can’t, and he leaves Lia for us to pick up where he tells us he left her.” He looks at me. “I can’t imagine he wants to add kidnapping and who knows what else to his list of charges.”

  I hope to hell that’s true. “And if it’s not Tim?” I ask.

  Arrow doesn’t answer.

  “We have twenty-four hours to find him,” I say. I grab my phone and prepare to start dialing.

  “Who are you calling? Are you calling the cops?” Arrow asks. “We need to be careful, Leo. We need to work as a team on this. Lia’s life could be in danger.”

  “I know that,” I say.