My Dad's Bestfriend

Chapter 232

Evelyn

"What's the plan?" I asked Chloe, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand after finishing the water she'd given me.

God. I hadn't realized how parched I was until now. It was like pouring water over a desert-bottomless, dry, aching.

She looked at me for a moment, then exhaled slowly. "If I'm being honest? There's no perfect plan. Nothing with a hundred percent chance of success. Not against a man like Tyler." Her eyes were honest-raw and unguarded. "But what I can promise you is this: you're going to make it out of here. Alive. With your baby. Even if the plan fails, I'll make sure you don't."

She gave me a small, weary smile and reached across to squeeze my hand.

"It's late," she added gently. "You should try to sleep a little."

"B-but-" My voice cracked with resistance. I didn't want to sleep. Sleeping felt too much like surrender.

"I know," she cut in softly. "But I can't make the call to Jacob right now. Even though I want to. Tyler's got this place locked down with every kind of surveillance you can imagine. If I make one wrong move, we'll be caught red-handed. And if that happens..." her jaw tensed, "he'll transfer you somewhere worse than this. Somewhere I won't even know. Somewhere no one will ever find you."

The thought made my skin crawl.

She continued, "We have to wait until tomorrow. He'll go out for supplies—and the drugs he's been using. He can't function without them. He will leave, Evelyn. And when he does, that's when we move. That's our window."

I nodded faintly, still brushing my fingers over my belly.

Sienna.

I didn't want to die. I wanted to hold her. Raise her. See her smile, see her cry, walk, fall, rise.

"You think we'll really make it out of here?" I whispered. My voice trembled. I wasn't even sure if I was asking her or myself.

Chloe didn't hesitate. "Yes. You will. You and Sienna will have a long, beautiful life together."

A small, melancholic smile crept across my lips. I didn't know if I believed her-but God, I wanted to.

I leaned back into the chair. And as if exhaustion had been waiting for permission, it wrapped its arms around me and pulled me under.

***

Jacob

"That bastard's been planning this for a long time," Joey's voice crackled through the video call, his face stern on the screen. "The place he took her to-it's sealed. Tracker signals are blocked. Security's tight, almost military-grade. If there's a glitch, we'll find it, but Jacob..." he paused, then sighed, "it's damn near impossible. I don't want to disappoint you, but I need to be straight with you. We can't alert him—not even slightly. If he finds out we're on his trail... we don't know what he'll do to her."

"What the hell do we do then, Joey?" I snapped, pacing in the cold dark beside my car, parked in the middle of nowhere. I didn't even know how far I'd driven-l just knew I had to find her. "I have less than twenty-four hours. He told me he'd kill her. Kill her, Joey. That's my fucking Evelyn! If anything happens to her—"

"Jacob." His voice was firm now. "You need to calm down. If you lose it, we lose time. We lose her. I have a plan, and it's all we've got but it might actually work. We just need to be smart."

"What plan?" My hands trembled as I ran them through my hair. I hated the helplessness.

"It's risky, I won't lie," Joey admitted. "But look-if Tyler really just wanted her dead, he would've done it already. He gave you forty-eight hours because he's playing a game. That means he's got a motive-something deeper. Something bigger. He took her somewhere so secure, so hidden, because he wants control, not chaos. That's his weakness-we use it."

something up

alerts, no news leaks, no scandals. Just a clean, focused search. These guys are ghosts-they'll track her down without

that they're good," I muttered, jaw tight, "but if Tyler catches

he leaned closer to the camera. "I hate saying this, but... it's the only plan we've got. He's too careful. This wasn't some heat-of-the-moment crime. He's been planning this

I didn't answer.

Because I couldn't.

softened when she talked about the baby. About our baby. And just like that, the present cracked under the weight of the past, and I was standing in the middle

I knew what

had to save

it meant walking straight into the

low but steady.

***

Evelyn

And

was right behind me, screaming, knife glinting in his

Tyler roared. "I'll cut Sienna

dark, my legs barely holding up. My lungs burned. Panic surged through every inch of my

fell and he was there-right above me, knife

And I screamed.

"No-!"

"Evelyn. Sweetheart-open your eyes."

blinked, disoriented. My skin was soaked with sweat my breath ragged, my heart galloping

above mine, worry etched into her

a flash, both hands

Sienna.

let out a shaky exhale. She

into a careful hug, her arms surprisingly warm and steady. "It's okay,"

safe-felt like an anchor. I needed to hear

But then-

Bang.

door slammed open with a

shirt wrinkled, a knife twirling in his fingers. He looked

s

gaze swept over the two of us. Chloe was

clung to

hurt her?" he sneered, stalking closer. "Why was she

even

Chloe said evenly. "And unlike you, I'm

lifted. "Wow.

stepped toward us, smirking. "One

too late for

girl you think?"

s