Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

Tyler slammed his foot on the brake outside Mrs. Henry’s house. Liam and Blake sat in the car with him. They’d called Mrs. Henry again, but still no answer.

She was their best chance of locating Emerson. Too many minutes had already passed since she’d left the café. He needed to know where she was, and he needed to know now.

Mrs. Henry was just walking from her car in the drive to her front door when he and his friends climbed out of his vehicle.

She paused, her eyes widening as she looked at him, lips parted. “Tyler.”

Liam and Blake trailed him as he jogged to the older woman. “Where is she?”

“Tyler…she asked me not to tell anyone. She said if I did, you’d be in danger. Actually, she said everyone would be in danger.”

Oh, Emerson.

Liam moved a little closer to Mrs. Henry’s front door. When he turned back to Tyler, he shook his head. Dammit, the house was empty.

He gently grasped Mrs. Henry’s arm. “Right now, she’s in danger. I need to find her before that danger finds her first.”

The woman’s brows knitted. She was obviously loyal to Emerson. Had probably wondered if she was running from an abusive ex or something.

His voice lowered, a thread of desperation tangling with his words. “Please, Mrs. Henry. You know Emerson’s safe with us.”

Her gaze flicked between his eyes once more before she sighed. “I dropped her at Economy Car Rentals. She said she already had one booked.”

He took two big steps back. “Thank you.” Then he turned and ran. The guys followed close behind. Liam drove this time, while Tyler whipped out his phone. Callum answered immediately.

“What did you find out?” Callum asked.

“She booked a car at Economy Car Rentals.”

“Hang on, I might be able to get into their system.” There was rapid typing in the background. A beat passed. “Got in, but there’s no booking from Emerson.”

Air hissed between his teeth. He wanted to throw his fucking fist through the window. Had she booked with someone else’s name?

“Hang on.”

Hope flared in Tyler’s chest.

“There was a last-minute booking placed today by a Rowan Perez…”

Her ex-husband. “What type of car did she take?”

“I can do better than the type. They have GPS on all their vehicles, and I can tell you her exact location. She’s heading south, currently about twenty miles past Bellevue.”

Liam sped up.

“Thank you,” Tyler breathed.

Blake clasped Tyler’s shoulder from the backseat. “We’ll get to her.”

Yeah, but would they reach her in time? There was a good chance her stepbrother had been on her tail since the moment she left…and the guy wasn’t even close to stable.

Emerson dropped her bag beside the bed. Rowan had booked her a room at the Twin Falls Grand Suites. She’d made good time, driving faster than she should have, ignoring too many road rules. She was only about two hours from Cradle Mountain, but she was exhausted, both mentally and emotionally. Every mile further from Tyler had felt worse. Wrong. Like she was driving away from the only place she was meant to be.

She tugged her phone from her pocket. She should leave it off. That was the smartest thing to do. But she couldn’t. Too much of her needed to feel connected to him, even if it was just through a text.

She switched it on. No texts. Just a single call that she knew would’ve gone straight to voice mail…but no message, either. Why did that make her feel worse?

She knew the answer. Because she desperately wanted the momentary connection that a text or voice message would provide.

There was also another emotion running through her, though…unease. He would be searching for her. She already knew him too well to think otherwise. Whether out of guilt or obligation didn’t matter. Did the lack of a message mean he’d already gotten some clues as to where she was?

Her dry throat ached as she looked out the north-facing window.

She was just about to push the phone back into her pocket when a call from Rowan came through. Dropping to the edge of the bed, she pressed the cell to her ear.

“Hey.”

“Did you get to the hotel okay?”

The fancy duvet cover was soft beneath her fingertips. She’d asked him to book her a cheap motel. He’d done the opposite, instead booking a multistory hotel, full of staff and plenty of rooms. There was even some kind of big function taking place downstairs in one of the ballrooms.

None of that mattered, though. She just needed somewhere to rest briefly because she’d known leaving Tyler would be draining. She’d leave before the sun came up and endure a full day of driving tomorrow.

“I did. I’ll get a few hours of sleep and then drive through the day to get to San Francisco.” She had a better chance of lying low in a big city like that for a short while.

“That’s a big drive, Emerson. How long is it?”

“About ten to twelve hours. But I’ll drive straight through and try to cut the time down.”

Rowan sighed. “Emerson—”

“I know. But a city will make it harder for Ty to find me.” Her heart rebelled against those words. “I’ll be okay.”

There was a short pause. “You sound sad. Because you’re worried about Levi? Or because you had to leave Tyler?”

She scrunched her eyes closed at the sound of his name. At someone else voicing her fears out loud. “Both. I need them both to be okay.”

There was a heavy pause. “Are you certain you’ve made the right decision? Levi’s made his bed. He signed up for the project and did nothing when innocent people were being hurt. God, Em…you even told me he shot a cop the other night. Did the officer survive?”

“He’s in intensive care.”

Or at least, he was when she’d woken and asked. She’d been too scared to ask for an update before running from Callum.

“And honestly, no, I don’t think I made the right decision, because I don’t think the right decision exists. Tyler hates everyone who willingly took part in Project Arma. He’s confirmed that more than once, and his friend told me why today.” She shook her head at the memory. “If Levi’s within his grasp, he won’t let him escape a third time. He may even kill him.”

He hadn’t told her that, but he hadn’t promised her that her brother was safe with him either. She couldn’t take the risk.

“And Levi…” Her eyes closed. “He thinks Tyler’s the bad guy. Which means as long as Tyler’s close to me, he isn’t safe. Neither of them are.”

And the thought of either of them dying because of her? No. Her heart couldn’t handle that.

She could almost hear Rowan’s brain processing what she’d said before he spoke. “I commend the way you love people so deeply, Emerson. But you need to remember, Levi isn’t the same man who protected you against your father all those years ago.”

“Because of what he’s gone through. Because of his mental health. He has no one else. When I had no one, he was there. And I believe that Hylar took advantage of a vulnerable man.”

“Have you ever wondered what he’s done while he’s been missing? Everything you don’t know about? Who he’s possibly hurt?”

The question left a sour taste in her mouth and almost made her feel like one of Rowan’s case studies. “I can’t do this right now,” she decided abruptly. “I’m tired and hungry. I have to go.”

She hung up before her ex-husband could respond.

A knock sounded at the door, and she jumped, her heart thumping. Would Tyler knock? Or would he just beat down the door?

With slow steps, she crossed the room. Panic swirled through her chest, but she pushed it down and looked through the peephole. The air rushed out of her when she saw a man in a hotel uniform standing on the other side.

She pulled the door open a crack, leaving the safety chain engaged. “Yes?”

“Sorry, ma’am, but the car you registered at check-in has its lights left on in the front parking lot.”

Dammit. She’d been so frazzled…was still so frazzled. “Oh. Okay. Thank you. I’ll run down and turn them off.”

As soon as he left, she grabbed her keys and exited the room. She felt on edge the entire walk down the hall. Like someone was going to jump out at her at any second.

Stop it, Emerson, she chastised herself. You’re fine.

Yeah, maybe if she repeated that to herself enough times, she’d believe it.

She got into the empty elevator and pressed the button for the ground floor. When it stopped, the doors opened and she was about to step out—when she saw him.

Tyler.

Her throat closed.

He was just walking into the hotel foyer, Blake and Liam close behind him.

With trembling fingers, she stabbed at a random floor, then hit the Close button three times.

She looked back across the lobby just as Tyler’s gaze clashed with hers.

In that second, time stood still. He was all she saw. And the way he looked at her stole her breath. It stole everything. He didn’t try to catch the elevator…but there was steel in his eyes. A promise that she wouldn’t get away.

The doors snapped shut. The connection broke.

She scanned the small space like the beige walls might provide a new plan. A desperate exit strategy. Sweat beaded her forehead, and her hands grew clammy.

He’d found her. How he’d found her, and so damn fast, she wasn’t sure. But it didn’t matter. She had to accept he was here now and figure out how to leave unnoticed. And not just from him. He’d brought his team.

Oh Jesus. Her mind was a mess. She couldn’t think. She could barely breathe. Exhaustion fogged her brain.

The doors opened and she ran. She didn’t know what floor she was on or where she was going. She just sprinted, her feet pounding down the carpeted hall toward an exit sign.

Halfway to the stairwell, the tingle chilled the back of her neck.

Levi was here.

No. Not now…

Something wrapped around her waist. Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was tugged off her feet. Air whipped around her. Then they were moving down the dark stairwell.

Music permeated the air when they reached a landing. They must be close to that function on the ground floor. He carried her out of the stairwell, the walls blurring around her again, then he stepped into a small room.

The second they were inside, she was enclosed in darkness.