Toxic Bad Boy(81)

I was on my way to my car, intent on doing anything proactive. “Gage did. I’m going looking for them, they’re in her Jeep.”

“Wait there for the police!” he said, hanging up.

Ignoring him, I got in my car and Ian was able to jump in right before I peeled off. “Where are we going?”

I hit the steering wheel. “I don’t fucking know.”

“I thought he was locked up until next year?”

“Me too.”

“Do you know where he lives?”

“I doubt he’d be stupid enough to take her there,” I told him, forced to stop when a light turned red.

“He’s insane,” Ian said. “He could take her anywhere.”

“Not fucking helping,” I muttered, my heartbeat accelerating at the thought of all the ways Josh could be hurting her.

“The school,” Ian blurted. “He’d take her to their old high school!”

I flipped a bitch, almost causing an accident. Horns honked at me as I sped toward the high school. It was insane that he’d bring her there, but Josh was batshit crazy. Thought of it that way, it made sense for him to bring her to the last place he’d seen her. The place where they’d spent time together before I’d come along.





GIANNA





Josh paced back and forth on the freshly waxed floor. The rubber soles of his plain black sneakers squeaking with each step. His navy polo shirt was wrinkled and his tan pants had dirt stains at the bottom of the legs.

“Get up,” he said, coming toward me.

I got to my knees and then my feet quickly in an attempt to avoid his touch. Backing up to the nearest wall, I barely held back a panicked scream. When I’d screamed earlier, he’d slapped me. I could handle a smack, but I couldn’t take him hurting me like before.

My legs shook as Josh grabbed my arm and jerked it so I’d let him lead me around. School would start next week and the gym was left open a lot in August so practicing football players could get into the locker room to change and shower. The weight room was also in the building but I didn’t think anyone was on school grounds except for maybe a janitor in the main building.

No one would know we were here because Josh had parked my Jeep behind the gym out of sight. “Come on!” Josh snapped, his grip bruising my arm.

He opened a door in the gym, revealing a narrow stairway. “Where are we going?” I asked, already guessing it led to the roof.

At his cold expression, alarm bells rang frantically. “To give you a choice.”





CALEB





“They’re not here!” Ian announced. “Let’s drive by that fucker’s house just in case. Kidnap his mom to do a swap.”

Committing a felony wasn’t the answer. I was close to breaking down, but I needed to stay focused. Think! Where would he have taken her?

I was about to exit the parking lot behind the school when Ian said, “Wait! I think I saw something! Drive behind the gym.”

Increasing my speed, I circled around the back of the enormous building, and there sat Gianna’s Jeep. I parked next to it and reached out to clap a hand over Ian’s mouth. “Shh, we go in quietly.”

My fingers moved over the screen of my cell phone. I texted to Gianna’s dad, The gym at her old school, and left my phone on the seat. If possible, we’d sneak up on Josh.

The thought of losing Gianna was unbearable, but that crazy fucker had zero hold on his volatile emotions and I was afraid he’d take her away from me forever. Gianna was my whole world. There’d be no life without her.

The heavy gym door creaked as Ian slowly pulled it open. The lights were off and scanning every dim corner with my eyes brought no sign of my girl or the psycho who had her. A search in the locker rooms, weight room and equipment closet came up empty. Ian crossed the room and opened a door that concealed a long staircase that led up to a metal door.

“The roof,” he whispered.

I pushed past him and took the stairs quietly. The second door squeaked open and my first glance over the roof’s edge showed the rooftops of a neighborhood on the south side of the school. Circling around the brick enclosure of the roof access door, Ian bumped against my back as I came to a stop.

“You assholes again?” Josh spat out, his hand gripping Gianna’s throat as he stood behind her at the ledge. All he’d have to do was fall back to take her with him as he toppled over.

“Let her go, Josh,” I begged, meeting Gianna’s frightened blue eyes. I didn’t even have a weapon to defend her with. But neither did Josh.

Sirens wailed dimly, growing louder as police cars flashing lights neared the school. They’d be too late and their presence had Josh acting twitchy. His eyes raced in all directions, searching for a way out.