“If I can have her, there’d be no reason to fear the dark.”

–Cuba

I WENT HOME that day after we’d made love in the barn, my head swirling with how to help her in a way she’d let me. I went round and round with it, testing out theories. One option was to tell my father and let him handle it, but he’d want to get the police involved. I kept replaying what Dovey had said about Alexander having cops in his pocket. I was afraid to take the chance. I didn’t want her running forever.

Other ideas flitted in and out, and it wasn’t until the next morning when I parked in my spot at BA that it dawned on me. So simple.

I jerked the car in reverse and squealed out, but slammed on the brakes when I saw Spider exiting his Range Rover. I paused, thinking about him and all these years he’d been Dovey’s friend.

I rolled down my window. “Get your scrawny British ass in here.”

He quirked an eyebrow at me but came over to the car, his gait long, eyes wary.

Dude looked beat and I knew why. He loved her like I did. No, wait. He didn’t. Because no one loved her like I did.

“This Englishman kicked your arse,” he snarked, leaning his arms on my car, smudging it up.

“Sucker punch, asshole. Get in here. Dovey needs us.”

“You her knight in shining armor?”

Yeah. “Hell yeah.”

He straightened up, gave me a weird look, but crawled in on the passenger side. I slid my eyes over him. “We good?”

“Can I smoke in here?”

“Fuck no.” I whipped my silver baby out of the lot and onto the highway.

“You suck, football boy.”

“We both suck, guitar prick,” I said.

Because I should never have let her leave our barn yesterday.

He peered out the window. “About what happened. She’s got a shitty past, and she’d never do that if she wasn’t in a corner. You get that, right?”

I took my eyes off the road to examine him. “I love her, man. I don’t give a shit what she did or who she did it with or why she did it or how many times. I can’t fucking breathe without her.”

His eyes widened as realization dawned. “Right, then. Tell me what to do to help.”

And there it was. Our common thread. And the guy whom I’d disliked for as long as I’d wanted Dovey, well, he kinda became less of an asshole. I was holding out on if I liked him or not. No need to rush.

We ditched school and went to save the one girl both of us loved.

IT SEEMED LIKE the longest day of my life by the time we reached her house in Ratcliffe. Heather-Lynn met us at the door, carrying her yipping dog.

“You’re too late,” were the first words out of her mouth.

My body clenched. Shit. What had happened? It had been less than twenty-four hours since I’d seen her.

“Where is she?” I asked as Spider stood beside me, inhaling the cig he’d lit as soon as he got out.

Heather-Lynn glanced over her shoulder—looking for Sarah? She stepped out onto the old porch, closing the screen door gently.

“Alexander sent her off to Vegas to meet that man. She’s supposed to stay until her debt is paid.”

The porch spun and I gripped the railing of the porch. My entire body shuddered at the thought of her lying under someone else.

No, no, no. I was not letting it happen. I was never letting anyone hurt her again.

She studied her watch. “Her flight’s already left. She’s supposed to be there at three and—oh, wait a minute, let me go get the paper.” I fumed and tapped my foot as she rambled back into the house, coming back in a minute with a crumpled piece of notepaper. “Here’s her information. If there’s any way you can—”

But I was gone, running straight for the Porsche. Spider followed.

I called back out the window to Heather-Lynn. “Tell me where to find Barisnsky.”

She pursued her lips. “I’m not sure I should—”

“Dammit, Heather-Lynn. Do you want me to get her back or not? Spill.”

She beamed at me. “Big Daddy’s Pawn, on 54th and Central.”

We pulled out from the street, and I had her at seventy before we reached the first red light.

Spider read through the note aloud, and I memorized the flight number and hotel deets. Shit, shit, shit. There was no time to lose. She was going to beat me there no matter if I left within the hour. I tossed Spider my phone and wallet. “Call every airline at Dallas Fort Worth and get me a one way ticket out to Vegas in the next…” I checked my watch, “two hours.” I still had Barinsky to deal with.

Hopefully, that gave me time.

While he called, I went through my plan and what I was going to say to that bastard.

But then Spider blew it all up…

“No flights out this morning. Your best shot looks like a seven o’clock flight with Delta.”

Too late. By the time I arrived, she’d be with her date.

“Fuck,” I yelled, slamming the steering wheel with my palm.

Then…

“Call Dovey. Tell her I’m coming, to not go to that hotel room,” I barked at Spider.

He dialed but got nada.

“Try again,” I said for the fifth time. He kept at it, his digits doing the work. My eyes darted over to him every so often, willing him to reach her.

“She’s got it turned off for the flight,” he said, staring out at the passing scenery. Dude seemed calm, but I knew he wasn’t. His hands shook.

What if her date did things to her she couldn’t come back from?

What if…

I sped the car up, weaving in and out of traffic.

Finally, we spun into Big Daddy’s Pawn, a run-down place that was no store at all. That much was obvious from the high dollar cars in the parking lot and the barbed wire than rimmed the property.

I threw her in park and jumped out.

“Slow down,” Spider called. “You’re going in there half-cocked. What’s the plan?”

He lit a cig. Could he not go five minutes?

“The plan is this: everything I say, you nod and look serious.”

He sucked in a long drag. “Even if you get him to call off his dogs, you’re never gonna make Vegas.”

Dude was a downer. I tightened my lips, not giving up, not when I’d gone through so much to finally realize that I was worth love.