A phone rang. My pulse spiked when I saw who it was. “Logan. Got any news?”

“Do I ever,” he exclaimed. “Are you sitting down?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, hold on. I’m sending over a video.” He clicked away on his computer. “You’re never going to believe this shit. I was having trouble with the clarity, but I had one of my friends clean it up for me. Let me know when you get it.”

Heart racing, I grabbed my computer back from Nick and logged into my government email. “I have it. Clicking on it now.”

“All right. It’s dark, so we had to look at it through the night vision sensor. Tell me when you see the crash.”

Taking a deep breath, I held it in as I watched the car slam into the tree. I’d been in car accidents before and knew that hit shouldn’t have incapacitated them.

Nick gasped. “No fucking way. That’s it?”

I shook my head. “I don’t understand how they couldn’t have gotten out.”

“Who’s with you?” Logan asked.

I rolled my eyes and huffed. “Nick Myers. He followed me out here. The idiot thinks he can help me.”

“Prick,” Nick mumbled, flipping me off.

Logan chuckled. “I bet that has to be interesting.”

“You have no idea.”

“Well, things are about to get crazy. Tell me what you see now.”

Focusing on the video, I couldn’t believe my eyes. We watched as the driver door opened and Connor stepped out like nothing happened. “What the—”

“Exactly. Now watch. They aren’t alone.”

A car pulls up behind them and another man gets out, slapping Connor’s shoulder in passing. What the hell was going on? Connor proceeded to open the back door and lift Hadley into his arms, while the other guy dumped something into the front seat.

“Is that what I think it is?” I growled in disgust.

Logan sighed. “I think so. I don’t know where they got the ashes, but what else could it be? That guy dumps a container into the backseat as well.”

I watched Connor carefully place her into the backseat of the second car, as the other guy set flame to hers. “She’s alive,” my voice creaked out.

Nick fell to his knees. “Thank fucking God.”

Logan cleared his throat. “You know what this means, right?”

The car with Hadley inside of it sped away. “She’s out there and I’m going to find her. I don’t care how long it takes or what I have to do. I won’t rest until I have her back.”

Hadley

Cinnamon apples. I loved the smell of cinnamon apples so much that I had a candle in every room of my house. Was I home? How could that be? Footsteps sounded on the hardwood floor below me, but I wasn’t the one doing the walking. A set of arms held me tight and I sighed, thinking it was Blake but the cologne was different. I recognized it.

“Connor?”

“It’s me. I’m moving you to a different room,” he murmured. Ever so slowly, I could finally move my arms and my legs. My muscles ached across my chest; especially when Connor laid me down in the bed. By the time I could open my eyes, I watched him walk out the door.

“You’re awake,” a voice called out to my right.

Groaning, I turned my head to the side. “Dad?”

He smiled at me and grabbed my hand. “How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve been run over by a train. What happened?” I glanced down at my arm where a bandage covered the inside of my elbow.

My father glanced down at my arm and cleared his throat. “You were in an accident. They just took you off the IV.”

“Where am I?” It looked like a house instead of a hospital. A really nice house, as a matter of fact.

“Connor brought you here and had a private physician check you out. We didn’t want the media attention. They can’t touch you here.”

“Accident? What kind of accident? I can’t remember anything.” All I could remember was being in the car and then . . . nothing.

He squeezed my hand and stood. “Connor lost control of the car and ran off the road. He’s fine and so are you.”

“Where are we?”

For a split second, he hesitated and then answered. “In Canada. Connor knew you’d be safe up here.”

“Canada,” I shouted incredulously. “That makes no sense. Where’s Blake? He was coming for me. I have to let him know where I am.”

“Shh, it’s okay,” he uttered gently, kneeling down by the bed. “Blake knows where you’re at. The media is following him around, hoping he’ll come to you. Don’t worry, you’ll see him soon.”

I glanced around the room. “Where’s my phone? I need to call him.”

“It was lost in the accident. We’ll get you another one.”

“I can use yours,” I said, holding out my hand. “I don’t care if the media is following him around or not, he can still talk to me on the phone.”

Sighing, he leaned over and kissed me on the head. “My phone’s in the car. I have to head back to New York for a bit. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“How long do I have to stay here?”

He smiled and I could see a hint of tears in his eyes. Something was wrong. “Just for a few more days.”

“Dad, what’s wrong? You’re keeping something from me.”

He shook his head. “It’ll all work out in the end. But right now, I have to go. Connor and his people will take care of you.” Turning on his heel, he hurried to the door and rushed out.

“Dad, wait!”

He didn’t answer. He was gone.

There was a feeling in my gut I couldn’t shake. Trees surrounded the house and there was nothing around from what I could tell. Where the hell was I? Not to mention, there was no phone in the room. I had to call Blake.

Stumbling over to the closet, I opened it up to find an entire wardrobe in my size. Even the bathroom was stocked with the same toiletries I used. Instead of changing clothes, I walked out of the room in my hospital nightgown, and ventured downstairs. The house was enormous and nothing like I’d imagine Connor living in.

“Hadley, what are you doing?”

Gasping, I turned around and grabbed my chest. Connor stood there, dressed in a suit with a gun in his waistband. Why was he carrying a gun in here? “Why aren’t you all sore and feeling like shit like I am? You were in the car with me.”

He chuckled. “I’m not a woman.”

“Ha-ha, very funny,” I retorted, glancing around the house. There were pictures on the wall, expensive pieces of artwork.

“You have clothes in your room if you wanted to change. The stuff in the bathroom is yours too. Your father made sure we had everything you needed.” That answered one of my questions. “Are you hungry?” he asked.

I nodded. “I feel like I haven’t eaten in days.”

“You haven’t. Why don’t you go upstairs to change, and I’ll get you something to eat. Meet me down in the gardens and we’ll picnic outside.” He pointed to a glass door off to the side. I could see the flowers in the garden. They were beautiful.

“Can you bring a phone as well? Dad said mine is gone and there’s not one in the room. I need to make a few calls.”

“He called everyone, Hadley. My job is to keep you stress-free. The last thing you need to do is worry about everyone else.”

Dread settled into the pit of my stomach. I got the feeling they were keeping me away for a reason. Why was I meeting such resistance over a stupid phone call? “I just want to call Blake. That’s it. He’s probably worried sick about me.”

He pointed to the stairs. “After dinner. Now get dressed. You look like you could use a glass of wine.”

I wanted to argue but he walked away, leaving me by myself in the large foyer. I hurried up the stairs back to my room. Why did I have so many pairs of clothes? I changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt and slowly made my way to the gardens.

There was a gate off to the side that led to the front of the house. Since Connor wasn’t out there, I decided to explore. The house was huge, much larger than my father’s. A car door slammed out front so I hurried down the sidewalk to see who it was. I would’ve given anything to see Blake. Before I could turn the corner, a man dressed in a dark gray suit with slicked back brown hair and shades stepped in my way.