I whimpered. Oh God. He was serious. Nothing about his tone or demeanor said he was bluffing. If I didn’t do as he said, he’d kill Blair—presuming he wasn’t already dead. I could survive getting shot myself, but I couldn’t be responsible for another death in my family. It was my job to protect my siblings, and if this was what it took, then I’d just have to do my best to send a message to Liam that my captor would overlook.

“Okay,” I relented, grabbing the notepad. “But I need a pen.”

He nodded. “Don’t try anything.”

He followed as I retreated to the living room in search of a pen. My heart hammered wildly as I mentally sifted through options. If I followed his instructions, I’d keep him calm, but there was no telling what he planned to do, and I didn’t want to make things easy for him. If I delayed, someone might notice something was amiss and send in a rescue team.

I sat on the sofa, pen in one hand, paper in the other, and a gaping pit of despair in my gut. Who knew what this guy would do to me once he had me on his own? But at least if I got him away from Blair, there was a chance my brother might be okay.

With shaking hands, I scrawled a note, praying Liam would understand what I was trying to tell him. When I’d finished, I pretended I was still writing, and reached into my pocket with my left hand to activate my phone by touch. I couldn’t afford to try to look at the screen and risk him seeing, so I pictured the swipes and pushes I’d need to make to activate the location tracker function and crossed my fingers that it would work.

“Good girl,” the man said after I withdrew my hand and set the notepad down. “This will only hurt for a second.”

Something pinched my upper arm, and then the world went dark.

Chapter Forty-Six

LIAM

I love you. Stay safe. - Message from Liam to Kennedy, earlier today

We were crammed into the engine on our way back to the fire station after assisting at a workplace accident at a vineyard out of town when my phone rang. I glanced at Parks, who gestured for me to take it.

“Hello?” I said, raising the phone to my ear.

“Where are you?” It was Nate’s voice. His abrupt tone made me sit up straight.

“Driving back from a callout. What is it?”

“Kennedy is missing.”

“What the fuck?” I exclaimed. “How? Blair was with her. He’d have stuck to her like glue.”

“He was drugged.”

“What?” I shook my head, trying to make sense of his words. How could Blair have been drugged if he and Kennedy were together? And where was Kennedy?