Of course, I hold my palms out. “Of course, Charlie. Take all the time you need.” I lean in and drop a kiss on her forehead. “Be sure to eat as soon as you get home.”
She smiles up at me. “Cross my heart.”
I wink as I close the door, but I don’t feel light about the way we parted. Not at all.
Charlie’s having doubts, and I don’t like it one bit.
Charlie
I need a walk to clear my head. And I need to pick up the prenatal vitamins, anyway.
I’m walking up the sidewalk near Adele's shop when I notice something strange. I'm at the back of the retail strip, where the shop’s back door opens to an alleyway and a dumpster. The door’s ajar but there are no lights on. Like someone forgot to lock or close it properly.
I head over, frowning. Is Adele inside? And she just forgot to shut the door behind her? Doesn't seem like something my conscientious and responsible friend would do. But her loosey-goosey business partner is another story.
“Hello?” I call, pushing the door open. I wait a beat but there’s no answer. I frown and pull the door shut, making sure it’s secure. It's not locked but that's the best I can do. I shoot off a text to Adele real quick.
Hey, are you at the shop? The back door was open. But no lights are on.
I kick around in the back alley for a minute or so to see if Adele will text back. A cold wind snakes up as I wait. The temperature’s dropped with the sun so I turn up my collar. I should have put on more layers or a scarf before leaving the house. Will the baby be okay in the cold? It's still so little in my belly. There are so many things I don't know about being a mom.
I check my phone and there's still no text from Adele so I keep walking. Hopefully she’ll see the text and come by to lock the shop properly. Weird that it was left unlocked—probably Bing being an idiot.
I'm a few steps down the alley when I sense someone behind me. I half turn but there are only shadows.
“Hello?” I call, but there’s no movement around the dumpsters. I could have sworn some was there. I rub the back of my neck. I got the same sort of feeling when the wolf was following me. Of course that wolf was really Lance, and look how that turned out.
I’m halfway down the alley when there's a roar of an engine and a large van turns into the alleyway. Its lights are off.
“Hey,” I shout, to make sure the driver knows I’m here, even as I scuttle to the side of the alley, heading to safety near a cluster of dumpsters. I’m facing the dark van, walking backwards, when I bump into something warm and solid.
“Oh!” I whirl and recoil. A shadowy shape looms closer—a man in a ski mask. What the—? I startle away, nearly falling. My cell phone falls out of my hand and spins across the pavement. I would dive for it, but the thug’s still coming at me.
I turn to run, but the van blocks my escape. Its lights are still off, and in the darkness, trapped between the thug and the van, I slowly realize what’s happening. I open my mouth to scream when the thug lunges and strikes me in the head, and the world goes dark.
Lance
I give up knocking on the front door and head to the back, adrenaline pumping. Charlie hasn’t answered texts or calls. I shoot a text to Deke: Has Sadie heard from Charlie? She’s not answering her calls.
I know she wanted space, but when she didn’t text me back, I got worried. I wrack my brain, trying to figure out where else she might have gone.
Deke replies: Sadie hasn’t. Channing’s on it. Channing can track her cell.
I force open the back door and walk briskly through the house. Lights off, place quiet. No sign of Charlie. My wolf is restless.
“Take it easy,” I say aloud. “She’s fine. She’s just taking a walk. Or running an errand—without her car.”
My phone rings. When I answer, Channing says, without waiting for a greeting, “Cell data says she’s in Taos. Pinpointing now.”
I trot out of the house and down the sidewalk, forcing myself not to break into a run. She’s fine. She’s fine.
“She’s near The Chocolatier. Adele’s shop.”
Relief. I break into a jog anyway, my wolf desperate to see Charlie. When I’m by the shop, I redial Channing. “Where?”
He doesn’t need clarification. “Around the back. In the alley. I’ll ring it.”
I race around the back. Charlie’s scent is back here, a mix of old and new, but no Charlie. The bottom of my stomach drops, and dread crawls over my skin.