Focus

She was my sister’s best friend until tragedy struck, then she became my world. I wanted to stay with her and build a life together, but the pain from our past made a future impossible.

While she ran away from the memories and rose to fame, I left on a mission to seek vengeance. Then a call came that changed everything and our worlds collided once again, but this time, there was no going back.

CHAPTER 4

Callan

I actually thought for a second they were bluffing about having multiple snipers trained on her, but the red dots scattered along Exie’s forehead were as real as it got. And that wasn’t taking into account if she had any on the backside that I couldn’t see. The entire situation was already bad, but witnessing this shit with my own two eyes was something I’d never be able to unsee. The video was enough to scar me. This is going to haunt me. It was going to live in me, and even after I made the motherfuckers pay, I knew I’d lose sleep over what she’d been through.

Her big brown eyes were wet, and so was her hair, and I didn’t even want to imagine the reasons right now. She was trembling and terrified, but she had to remain calm, and the only way she’d do that is if I made her feel that way, so I had to pretend I had everything under control even though I didn’t. Sure, the job, what I did for a living rescuing people, that was flawless, but my mental state? It was not in a good way. I’d never had such a desire in my entire life to flat-out murder somebody, and I wasn’t so sure that was a healthy reaction to have.

I glanced down at her hands and saw blood on her wrists and felt my spine straighten and my shoulders snap back. My neck cracked as I ground my teeth at the sight of the damage they did to her, but more, what I couldn’t see. I wasn’t sure what other marks were on her body, but I took a second to pray that there weren’t more. “Hey, Pips.”

“Hi, Bear.” Her voice was so weak.

“Do you have instructions for me?” I asked, needing to get this shit over with so I could have her in my arms again.

She swallowed, and I could tell it hurt her to do just that simple function. “He said to put the money in the back of the van, dump it out, and take the bag with you. They’re going to count it before they leave, and once they do, the snipers will retreat. He said to wait ten minutes after that before you approach me.” I started to move toward the van, but she called my name. “Right here, sweetheart.”

“He also said if it was fake money or if you tried anything that they’d kill me right in front of you. It’s not fake, is it?”

I shook my head immediately. “No. It’s not. I wouldn’t risk doing anything stupid, especially not with you.”

“Okay. Good. Because I really don’t want to die.”

“I don’t want you to die either, Pips, and you’re not going to. Just hang tight and stay still for me, okay?”

“Okay,” she whispered, and I watched a tear roll down her cheek. The same cheek that had dried blood on it.

I opened the door and wasn’t surprised to find a barrier between the seats and the back. The chair she was tied to was tossed on its side, and when I saw the black bag they must have put over her head, my fingers clenched. I did as instructed and dumped the cash, then slammed the door shut. After I dropped the duffel on the ground, I took a couple of steps in her direction but left plenty of space to assure them I wasn’t going to approach her before they said.

She tried to blink away her tears, but they kept coming.
“Are you sure it’s all there?”

“It’s all there.”

“Okay.”

Her eyes were buzzing all over the place, and I waited until they landed on me again and lifted my chin. I sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it, and she nodded a few times before she copied me. Relax, cooperate, breathe, and wait. I said the words in my head, hoping she was doing the same. Relax, cooperate, breathe, and wait. It was almost over, and I needed her to be a fucking statue for ten minutes. I wouldn’t put it past these fuckers to play dirty if she moved.

The van shifted and squealed away, and my heart skipped a beat. When the taillights were out of sight, the targets on her head vanished, and I sighed in relief. I glanced at my watch and then took a small step closer to her. “Ten minutes, Exie. You can do it. You always won at freeze tag, so I know you can do this no problem.”

“I only won because everyone else sucked, and you let me.”

“I never let you win at anything.”

“How did you get the money?” she asked sheepishly.

“Don’t worry about the money.”

“I need to talk about something to distract myself from the fact that I’m dehydrated, starving, yet somehow I really need to go to the bathroom. My legs are sore and half numb, and I seriously don’t know how I’m even standing.”

“Adrenaline,” I answered. “Adrenaline can do powerful things. Nine minutes.”

She swallowed. “Where are we?”

“About an hour east of your house.”

“So we’re close to civilization? Because I also really need food.”

I couldn’t believe she was so calm, or at least able to appear that way. But then again, this was Exie Evans. She was a phenomenal actress, so she was good at pretending. I knew the real her, though, and right now, she was petrified. “I’ll get you whatever food you want, Pips.”

“How are my parents?”

“Worried.”

“How are you?”

There wasn’t a word to describe how unbelievably furious I was at the moment. I’d never been so enraged in my life, so scared, crippled, so full of dread. “Relieved,” I answered truthfully. She didn’t need to hear how tense I was at the moment. “How are you? Eight minutes.”

“Same. Although I think once I get away from here and what I just went through hits me, I’ll probably have some kind of meltdown.”

“That’s understandable.”

“I was scared.”

And I was going to kill them. “I know, sweetheart.”

“I hoped you’d find out, I prayed you would, so I just did what you taught me. I stayed calm and cooperated, but I was still freaked out that I was going to die. But when they said your name, I stopped worrying as much because I knew you’d save me.”

Christ, I needed to touch her. “I’m glad.”

“How do they know you?”

That was the five-million-dollar question, and one that would get an answer if it was the last thing I did. “We’re working on that.”

“Were you?”

“Was I what? Seven minutes.”

“Were you scared?”

Fuck yeah, I was scared. “I knew you would be terrified, and that scared me because I didn’t want you to try something that could put you in more danger.”
“I thought about it, but I was outnumbered and way overpowered. There was literally nothing I could do, so I just tried to remember everything you taught me. I tried to keep calm and paid attention and cooperated.”
Thank God for that. “I’m glad, Exie. Really fuckin’ glad. Six minutes.” She let out a breath, and I saw her legs start to wobble, so I changed the subject. “What movie are you working on now?”

“Oh, uh… It’s based on a book about a young couple separated because of circumstances beyond their control. The book was fantastic, and I’m so honored to have been picked for the role. I hope I can do the character justice. I had just wrapped up a really emotional scene last night, so I think my brain was kind of mush, which is why I wasn’t thinking when I decided to leave my car on the side of the road and walk home in the dark.”

“Not surprised they picked you for the role. You’re the best, and I know you’ll do a fantastic job. You always do.” I dipped my chin. “What happened to you wasn’t your fault. You need to know that. Don’t blame yourself because you did absolutely nothing wrong. Five.”

She looked over my shoulder because she disagreed with me. Hell, I disagreed with what I just said. She should have had a man on her, but me pointing that out wasn’t going to help the situation. “Can you count faster?”

I took a step closer. My fingers itched to touch her, but I balled them and held them at my sides. “What do you want to eat?”

“Burger. Fries. And I’d say a shake, but I think that’ll make me sick, so just water. Lots of it.”

“Sounds good. I’m hungry, too.”

“When are you ever not hungry?”

I tilted my head. “When I’m sleeping.”

“Is it four minutes yet?”

“Almost. Do you want to go change and shower before or after you eat?”

She lost her balance and had to hold her hand out to regain it, and when she did, her face turned white as a ghost as she frantically glanced around, searching for a threat. “Oh, no.”

“It’s okay, only three and a half minutes left. You didn’t answer my question.”

“What was the question?”

“Shower first, or food first?”

“I may have just been kidnapped and held for ransom, but I need sustenance before anything. Food first. Shower, then more food.”

I grinned. “Yeah. You never were shy about eating while you were filthy. Remember when you found that baby deer stuck in the woods and had to dig in the dirt to free it?”
Her dry lips split into a smile. “Oh my God, yes. And I went to church and tracked mud down the entire aisle. My parents were so pissed at me.”

“But God wasn’t because all creatures are valuable. Carpeting, not so much.” I mocked what the pastor said in front of the entire church that Sunday morning. I remembered it vividly because it was the last service my sister was at with us. She sat next to me, and we both tried not to laugh while Exie walked in late, completely unaware she was leaving muddy footprints behind her.

“I think my mom was more embarrassed about the fact that I was a tomboy than she cared that I got the church carpet dirty. If it would have been one of my brothers, she would have laughed.”

She wasn’t wrong. “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Time’s up, Pips.”