Rhyannon Byrd - Wild Wolf Claiming

Lowering his arms so that she could cross the room, he asked, “Why wouldn’t she just call your cell?”

“My battery’s completely broken, remember?” She flicked him a quick look as she crouched down to hit the play button. “Look, I know it sounds weird, but you can check this thing remotely by calling the number and punching in a code. So this is how we sometimes leave messages for each other, because my cell phone is pretty much a piece of crap. Something always seems to be going wrong with it.”

He muttered something under his breath about her needing a new phone, then turned and quickly made his way over to the front door, yanked it open and shouted, “Max, get in here!”

His partner came rushing through the open door just as the message began to play.

“Skye, it’s me. I hope you’re calling and listening to this from someplace safe. But if you are in the apartment, please, please get the hell out of there and go to the shelter. Something’s... I don’t... Something weird is going on, but I don’t know what. It...it might have to do with the club, and I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you about that place. I should have, and now...now I think I’m in trouble, so I’m getting out of town. It’s the only thing I can think of right now to keep these assholes away from you. I know your stupid phone isn’t working, so I just called the diner. That bitch Robin said that there had been some kind of robbery, but that you were okay and might have had to go and give a statement or something. Just...please don’t stay at the apartment, in case someone comes there looking for me. I’m on my way there now, to quickly pick up some clothes and that stuff of my mom’s, and then I’m heading out. I’ll call you as soon as I can. Love you, girl. Stay safe!”

* * *

As a heavy, leaden silence settled over the room, Elliot glanced at Max, and he thought the guy looked like he was going to be ill, his face too pale and his breaths coming sharp and fast.

With his hard gaze focused in tight on the answering machine, Max quietly muttered something that sounded like Christ, I’d hoped they were just fucking with me.

“I don’t understand,” Skye whispered, drawing Elliot’s attention back to her. “Wh-what assholes? How did she know she was in trouble if she hadn’t even gotten here yet?”

“Something must have happened at the club. Or when she snuck away,” he offered, catching Max’s gaze, hoping he might have an explanation. But his partner looked just as confused as he was.

“I don’t think she was even trying to get away from Max,” Skye murmured, swiping at the tears on her cheeks with her fingertips, while the machine continued to play a soft static sound, even though Vivian had ended the call. “She was probably running from whoever’s hurt her.”

Elliot rubbed his palm over his whiskered jaw and nodded. “You could be right, Skye.”

Shifting her gaze to his partner, she blurted, “I’m sorry I snapped at you earlier. I get that you were only trying to help her.”

Max blinked, clearly caught off guard by the apology. Then he managed to jerk his chin up in acknowledgment, before scraping out a low “Don’t worry about it. It’s good that she’s got someone like you looking out for her.”

Skye’s bottom lip quivered, and Elliot was worried she might start to break down again—but then she surprised him by sucking in a quick breath and moving back to her feet. She started to step away from the machine when the first message finally ended, and it beeped to signal that a second message was about to play.

“What the fuck?” Max croaked, just as Vivian’s hoarse, terrified voice filled the room.

“Shit, Skye... My stupid battery is dying, but I don’t think I should keep my phone on anyway. Remember that show we watched where the stalker traced the girl’s cell signal? I know I sound paranoid...but, God, Skye, you didn’t see these guys. They showed up at our apartment while I was there, and it...it was freaking crazy and I—” She broke off, hissing as if she was in pain, before muttering a sharp curse, and then going on in a tight, breathless voice. “They tried to follow me when I got away, but I managed to ditch them on the road. Now I just... I need to disappear for a while. I tried to call the diner again, just in case Robin was wrong and you were still there, and this time I got Cheryl. She said you weren’t with the police, but that she thought you’d left with some...some badass hottie. She said he stopped the robbery and saved you. God, I hope you’re with him and not coming home tonight. Just please...please be careful! I promise to call as soon as I ca—”

The machine beeped, and Skye looked like she wanted to kick it for cutting off her friend, even though it was Vivian’s phone going dead that had ended the call. “I hate freaking technology!” she muttered, fisting her hands at her sides as she turned her head, locking her raw gaze with his. “Her phone charger for her car is broken, so who knows when she’ll be able to call back.”

Elliot opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Max made a deep, guttural sound that drew their attention.

“Holy shit,” the guy growled, looking like he might collapse in relief. “She must have been leaving that message just as I got here.” He slumped back against the wall that was behind him, his chest jerking with each of his ragged breaths. Then he lifted his hands, scrubbing them down his face, and Elliot had the feeling that Max was trying to keep them both from seeing whatever expression he was wearing at that exact moment.

“Ohmygod, why am I even freaking out about her phone? She got away!” Skye’s hoarse words came out in a breathless rush as she brought her stunned gaze back to his. “They don’t have her, right?”

“Yeah. That message they left in her room—it’s bullshit.”

Her slender brows pulled together with worry. “But where did the blood come from? Could it...could it be from an animal or something?”

“Maybe,” he lied, flicking his tongue over his lower lip. He knew damn well that it wasn’t from an animal, because he’d already been able to tell from the scent of the blood that it was Vivian’s. “Or she might’ve gotten hurt fighting them off—but hopefully not too badly. As much as it sucks that she’s run, she’s actually being smart by getting away from here. And I think she really does believe she’s keeping the bad guys away from you. Which means she’s one hell of a friend.”

“This is...this is crazy .” She shook her head, looking like she was caught in some painful, confusing place between shock and terror and relief. “My head is spinning.”

Wanting to hold her again so badly he could taste it, he told her, “Just take another deep breath.” Then he tacked on what was starting to sound like his goddamn mantra for the night: “It’s gonna be okay.”

Her beautiful green eyes, still red from crying, went wide. “How the hell is it going to be okay?” she asked with a bitter, scratchy laugh. “None of this is okay, and I’m so pissed off about all of it. And that stupid sentimental crap of her mom’s! She got hurt because she came back for it.”

Elliot took a step toward her, wondering what she was talking about. “What exactly was she keeping for her?”

Voice tight with frustration, she said, “Viv’s dad was a complete bastard who abandoned them years ago, but her mom, Marcia, is still completely hung up on him. And her taste in men never improved. Marcia didn’t want the loser she’s getting ready to dump to trash the few things she has left that were Viv’s dad’s out of spite, so the last time Viv saw her, Marcia asked her to hold on to them for a few weeks. They’re the only keepsakes that she has from their marriage, and Viv knows how badly her mom would freak if anything happened to them.”