The distress in my voice is enough to make her realize just how serious I am.

“Fuck,” she curses, finally listening. “Let me pack a bag.” We really don’t have time for her to pack a bag, but I don’t want to push it. I’ve just shown up in the middle of the night and demanded we leave.

After pacing for a few minutes, Heidi comes back with an overnight bag. Dressed in yoga pants and sweatshirt, she hands me a pair of shoes. I take them with a thank you and we move back to the front door. I don’t know where we’re heading; all I know is I need as much of a head start as I can get.

“You sure about this, Kenz?” she asks one last time.

“I’ve never been more sure about anything. I only have you here. And as much as I love you, I need to get as far away as I can.” I admit the ugly truth. I don’t have anything holding me here. No family. No loved ones. If I stay any longer, I’m not sure I will survive.

She doesn’t say anything or try to change my mind. I can see the understanding in her eyes, see the pity she feels for me. The concern. As much as I love Heidi, I can’t let our friendship deter me from leaving.

“Come on,” she finally agrees. I know this will be hard for her, but she knows deep down it’s my only option. We walk quickly back through her house but before we can get to the front door, the bell rings.

Our eyes find each other quickly, both of us coming to a standstill.

“OPEN UP, HEIDI! I know she’s in there.” Chad’s enraged voice comes through the front door and washes over me, blanketing me with his own particular kind of terror. He rings the bell again and bangs on the door.

I wasn’t quick enough. It’s only going to be worse now.

“Oh, God, no.” My legs become jelly, no longer able to keep me up, and I fall to the floor in a heap.

“Don’t you dare give up,” Heidi whisper-yells at me. She comes forward and leans down. Placing her hands under my arms, she helps me find my feet.

“It’s too late, Heidi. He’s found me.” The words find their way out over my distress. If I thought tonight was bad, when he has me alone after this, who knows what he will do.

“Call the police. Now!” she orders as the front door is kicked open. Chad stands in the doorway, his face distorted with rage. I want to run, take my chances and hope I can get away, but I can’t. I failed to be out of his clutches for less than twenty minutes, and the pain of that realization hurts more than my busted-up face.

“Mackenzie, there you are, sweetheart.” His sugar-coated voice fills the hall, sinking me further into the depths of despair. “What are you doing here?” He looks at me, a frown spreading across his face.

“You better fucking get out of my house. I’m calling the cops, Chad.” Heidi steps in front of me, but we both know she’s not going to stop Chad from getting what he wants.

“I’m just here to take my wife home.”

“To her prison?” She scoffs, making the situation worse. She has no idea what he’s capable of.

“Come here now, Mackenzie. You should have known I would find you. Wherever you go, I will always find you.” Just as the words leave his lips, a lone tear rips its way through me and slides down the apple of my cheek. I’ll never be rid of him and he’ll never let me go.

Eight

Beau

“What do you mean it’s a missing person’s case?” My hand comes down on Jackson’s desk. My patience is wearing thin and I’m about to fucking lose it.

“I mean he’s off the grid, Beau. The Mayor has the whole department trying to find him. We’re treating it like a missing person’s case.” Jackson delivers the news I don’t want to hear.

“Bullshit, the asshole probably has him in hiding so he can protect him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“No, I don’t. But I know his family’s ties, know what they are all capable of. We can’t just sit around and wait for Chad to pull some shit. He’s messed up. You’ve fucking seen how far he was out of line at Jesse’s party last year and how he got off.” I think back to when he held a broken beer bottle to Holly’s throat trying to find Mackenzie. We thought the crazy fucker would be put away, but he pleaded out and was slapped with a misdemeanor and community service.

“I don’t know what you want from me, Beau. I’m doing what we can here. For all we know, he fucked with the wrong person and he’s in some shallow grave. We need to look at all possibilities here.”

“Fuck, I wish.” I scoff, knowing it’s where he belongs.

“I didn’t hear that.” Jackson counters.

I smirk, then hold his stare for a minute before running my hand over my beard.

“So that’s it. Just some bullshit play from the Mayor and it’s filed away for never.”

“Trust me, it’s far from over. But you’re blowing up for no reason. Keep your head straight. No one knows she’s back in town and if Chad is missing, he’s not going to bother you.”

He has a point, but it doesn’t placate me.

“I don’t believe for a second he’s missing. He’s waiting.”

“Well, we have an APB out on him. We’re waiting too.”

“Fuck the APB. You think some bullshit police protocol is going to protect her from this sick fuck?” I stand and begin pacing. Jesus Christ. How hard is it to find the fucker? “You sure you can trust these assholes here?” I point out the door to the officers on the case. “They’re not working for the Mayor?”