When You Were Mine (Stone Lake 2)

Something is fucking off…

“Did you call the school?”

“Luna is calling the coach—”

“Gavin,” Luna’s voice hits my back and I turn to look at her. Tears are rolling down her face, she’s pale and she looks like she’s about two seconds from crumbling.

“Moonbeam,” I manage to squeak out, my throat feeling like it has sawdust in it.

“I… I just got off the phone with Josh’s coach,” she says, tears falling harder down her face. I feel like I’m stuck in glue, but I walk to her. I take her in my arms, and she falls against me. I take her weight and sit down in a chair, pulling her into my arms when it becomes clear she can’t remain standing.

“Talk to me, Moonbeam,” I tell her, my voice thick with fear and emotion.

“Whoever it was, it wasn’t the coach that called my secretary. They don’t have practice today. Their new uniforms aren’t even here yet.”

“Fucking hell,” Kingston mumbles from beside us. It feels like acid is burning in my stomach.

Luna lifts her head to look at me. Our gazes locked as tears slide down her face, smearing her makeup and silent sobs shake her body.

“Someone has our son, Gavin. Someone has taken our son,” she says and with that last word she loses it. Sobs so strong and so horrifically torn from her body lets loose and she wails a sound so filled with anguish that I’m afraid it might kill me.

“We’ll get him back, Moonbeam,” I whisper into her ear, as I firmly hold her against my chest trying to helplessly bring her comfort. “We’ll get him back,” I promise, but as I look at Kingston, we’re both at a loss on how to do that. We have no fucking clue where he is or who even has him.

In my heart, I know the Cremator has my son. Images of Josh, my beautiful son with the whole world at his feet flash through my mind. Only these images are of him lying in a pool of blood, lifeless with his eyes cut out of his head. My hands tremble as a wave of anger, fear and despair explodes through me with the force of a category five hurricane.

“You have to save our son, Gavin. You have to,” she says, her voice almost lost between her tears and the roar of agony inside of me.

“I will, Moonbeam. I promise you, I will.”

I give Luna my vow, but inside I have no fucking clue how I’m going to do it…

I just know I have to… For Josh, For Luna…

For all of us.

Luna

I’m in shock. Realistically I know that I am. My body is so cold, and it feels like lead. It’s so heavy that I can barely move.

Not that I want to.

I can’t seem to do much more than stare out this damn window, looking out over the busy downtown area of Stone Lake and pray my son will just appear walking up the sidewalk. I know it’s not going to happen, but I can’t stop myself from staring out at the scenery and wishing it would.

Gavin and Ben have already been out to the house, tearing the place apart, searching for clues as to where my son is.

They’ve found nothing.

“Ms. Marshall, here, I thought you might want this.”

I jerk around to see Myrtle holding out a coffee, her face filled with concern.

“Thank you,” I murmur, not really wanting the coffee. I take it, however, because I feel like a robot just going through the motions of what I’m supposed to be doing.

I know the room is loud with activity, but I can barely hear anything over the dull roar in my head. I turn back to look outside, letting my forehead drift to the cold glass on the window, wishing that wherever my son was, I was with him.

If I could just be with him to protect him…

The back doors open, and I turn immediately, hoping against hope that it’s Joshua. Gavin and Ben walk in, Gavin is covered in black… no…

Oh God, he’s got blood on his pants and shirt.

“No!” I scream, my legs giving out on me.

Gavin takes off sprinting to get to me. I’m already on the floor by the time he gets here, the grief too much to handle.

“It’s not Joshua’s, Moonbeam. It’s not Joshua’s blood,” he says and somehow I manage to hear him over my crying.

“Who… what…” I gasp each word, unable to catch my breath as my body just succumbs to all of the hits I’ve been given today.

“Rivera’s the deputy who was assigned to pick up Joshua. He was ambushed, apparently before he even got to Josh. He was in the front seat of the squad car, dead.”

“Oh God…” I cry, the pain so intense it hurts to breathe.

“Joshua wasn’t there, Moonbeam. He wasn’t there. If they wanted to harm Joshua, we would have found him by now. You got to hold onto that, and you have to have faith in me. I will find our son, Luna. I will find him and bring him back to you. I promise you,” he swears.