Forever Hers Walters, Ednah (best novels for teenagers .TXT) 📖

head off whenever he shifted to self-pity mode. “I’m on my way, Nolan. Wait for me.”

“Okay. You will help us disappear, won’t you? Just like you disappeared. This time it will be just the two of us. You and I, Amy.”

Thank goodness he didn’t mention Raelynn. “Yes, Nolan. Just the two of us.”

“That man I saw you with in Sandpoint…”

“He’s nobody.” Her voice caught at the lie. “He’s just the person I work for.”

“Don’t lie to me, Amy. If I see him...”

“I’m alone, Nolan. I came back home alone. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Nausea hit her again and for one brief moment, she braced herself against the wall and fought to steady herself.

She put the phone in her pocket and wiped her hands on her coat. Her hands were clammy and she could feel sweat forming on her forehead. With unsteady legs, she walked to the door next to theirs and knocked. TV sounds filtered through the closed door. She didn’t wait long before Lori appeared.

Lori took one look at her and frowned. “What’s wrong? You look terrible.”

“I have to go to my parents’. My father had a heart attack,” Amy fibbed smoothly. “Could you stay in our room and keep an eye on Raelynn until I come back?”

“Of course. Just a second.” She ran back inside her room and returned with her key card. “Does Eddie know?”

“I’ll call him next. Don’t let Raelynn out of your sight, Lori. No matter what happens. Take care of her for me.” Lori gave her a strange look, but Amy didn’t explain.

She wanted to call Eddie. She needed him, yet how could she call him when Nolan made it clear he didn’t want to see him? She was the one Nolan wanted. As long he still thought she was the same ignorant, scared woman he’d terrorized, she would have an advantage over him.

What if she choked like she did with Burgess, uh, Blackwell? What then?

Downstairs, Amy hailed a taxi, jumped in and gave the driver her parents’ address. Her stomach churned faster the closer she got to the house. She and her parents might not have gotten along for years, but the e-mail messages from her mother had been so positive. She had finally started seeing through Nolan.

The taxi pulled up outside the manor.

“Keep the change,” Amy said, paying the driver. She stepped out of the car and looked at the hulking manor. The lights were off in all the rooms, making the house seem dark and menacing against the star-lit sky. Cold fingers crept up her spine.

Come on, Amy. Hold it together.

Her phone started to vibrate. She ignored it.

***

The black SUV in front of Eddie signaled left and he did too. Soon Nolan Reither would be behind bars and Amy would be free of him forever. Eddie grinned with satisfaction. His phone went off. He frowned when his sister’s name appeared on the LCD screen.

“Lori?”

“Has Amy called you yet?”

Something in her sister’s voice set off alarms in his head. “No. I left her in bed.”

“She left about fifteen minutes ago and I just tried her cell phone, but she didn’t pick up. Something’s wrong, Eddie.”

Eddie frowned, pulling up behind Agent Ross’ SUV. The curb was packed with cars. Someone was having a party, the noise spilling outside. “Left for where?”

“Her parents’ place. Her father had a heart attack. Why would she go home instead of the hospital? Then she said something even stranger.”

“What?”

“That I shouldn’t let Raelynn out of my sight no matter what happens, and to take care of her,” Lori added.

Something cold had long since settled in his gut. Now it spread. “I’ll find out what’s going on, Lori. And she was right. Don’t let Raelynn out of your sight.”

“You’re scaring me, Eddie,” Lori said. “What’s going on?  She said she’d call you, but obviously she didn’t.”

“Let’s talk later. I gotta go.”

“Be careful.”

“Always.” Eddie jumped out of his car, ignored the agents pouring out of more SUVs behind him and walked toward Agent Ross as he speed dialed Amy’s number. It went unanswered. Before he could speak, Agent Ross raised her hand.

“Thanks for your help, detective, but we’ll take it from here. And please, take your people with you.” She inclined her head towards Rod and Hailey’s rental and went back to issuing instructions to her men.

“He’s gone,” Eddie said.

“What?”

“Reither isn’t here. He’s at the Kincaids’ house.” Eddie started across the street.

Agent Ross called after him. “How do you know?”

“Only one thing would make Amy leave her daughter behind and visit her parents in the dead of the night.” He didn’t wait to see whether she believed him. He needed to get to the Kincaids but had no idea where they lived, which left Rod and Hailey.

Rod rolled down the window as he approached their rental. “Are the suits here to arrest Reither?”

“Yeah, except he’s at the Kincaids’.” Eddie yanked open the back passenger door and slid inside. “Get us there as fast as you can.”

Rod gunned the engine. “No one has left his house and there’s no back exit.”

“And the last image showed him entering his bedroom,” Hailey added.

“Forget how he slipped past you,” he snapped, tension coiling inside him. “Just go.” Across the street, the agents were attempting to break down Nolan’s door. Agent Ross and her partner hopped in their car and followed Rod down the narrow street. “Amy received a phone call that her father had a heart attack and left the hotel.”

“The professor rides his bike to campus every day, hardly a candidate for a heart attack,” Rod said.

“Exactly. The fact that she didn’t call me meant Nolan had threatened her or her parents if she did.”

Fear like he’d never known wrapped around Eddie and refused to let go. He always took pride in his ability to stay calm and in control in any situation, anticipate whatever move any criminal pulled and adjusted his thinking. Until now. He couldn’t focus on anything except Amy. Getting to her. Keeping her