Filed To Story: Secret Shifters Next Door Series PDF Free
“We know where Aiden is.” April showed him the phone.
Kellan’s eyes softened, and his face went slack. “I know that place. It’s a walking park and playground. It’s only ten minutes from here. Let’s go.”
It was all I could do to keep up with Kellan as he ran to my truck. I leaped into the passenger seat, and April took a spot in the back seat. I drove to the park almost as fast as Tate had driven to Kellan’s house. I screeched to a halt in the parking lot, and Kellan was out of the car and running before I even had it in park. April followed a moment later. I cursed and jumped out, chasing after them.
Kellan ran to three different lamp posts, each with similar landscaping and looking almost identical to the picture Ryland had sent us. April and Kris checked the third one and moved on, but I sniffed the air. He
was there.
“Stop. Come back,” I yelled. I ran to the bushes and started digging through the leaves and limbs.
April and Kris hurried back to where I was. The shrubbery was thick, and it seemed like we’d never dig to the bottom. Then I felt my hand brush something that didn’t feel like a plant. It was hair. I finally saw a thick green blanket with bright red hair sticking out from beneath it. They’d hidden him so well, it would have been hard for anyone but a shifter to find him.
Kellan gasped in relief and pulled Aiden out from under the bushes and vines. The boy was breathing steadily. Unharmed, just asleep. Kellan was crying but smiling at the same time. He ran his fingers over Aiden’s body and pulled his shirt up, looking for injuries. Seeing that the boy was fine, Kellan pulled him close and wrapped him in a hug. He sat sobbing and rocking his son while April clung to me, burying her face in my chest.
“Steff, I can’t stand this,” April murmured into my chest. “We have to do something. Ryland has to be stopped.”
I couldn’t agree more. My mind played through a thousand different possibilities. Each one ended in Ryland screaming and covered in blood. It scared me how much the images I imagined pleased me. It made me wonder if I could control myself the next time I came face to face with him.
Kellan looked at us. “He won’t wake up. What’s wrong with him? He’s breathing, but I can’t get him to wake up.” He patted Aiden’s cheek gently, “Aiden? Buddy? Wake up for Dad, okay?” He glanced back up at us. “Why won’t he wake up?”
“Let’s get him to the hospital. I’m sure he’s okay, but it’s best to get him checked out.” I said that to calm him down, but I was worried.
I drove, letting April and Kellan sit in the back with Aiden, who was finally starting to wake up. He was definitely acting like he’d been drugged. I shot a text to Tate, letting him know we’d found him, and to tell the cops to meet us at the hospital.
It was a small regional hospital, and thankfully, they were almost empty when we got there. The doctors took Aiden and Kellan back immediately. We made sure to have them test his blood for whatever they’d used to knock him out. Kellan demanded they let me and April come back. I was happy to see Aiden sitting up in bed, awake and safe.
“Hey, buddy. How are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m good, Coach.”
April sat next to Aiden and took his hand. “Sweetheart, do you remember what happened?”
Aiden shook his head. “I was playing catch with Billy from next door. Then his mom called him in for dinner. I went to walk home… and then I was waking up in Steff’s truck with you and Dad. I don’t remember anything else.”
The cops arrived a few minutes later with Tate right behind them. The officers looked harried and confused. Things had moved faster than they were used to. They also seemed a little put out that we’d gone looking for Aiden without giving them a heads-up.
“So,” the lead officer said, “Exactly how did you know the boy would be at the park?”
“I already told you, damn it,” Kellan snarled. “Ryland Fields took him.”
The officer winced and looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes. “The teacher from the high school? Sir, we already checked that. He was on the phone with a parent for over an hour, which is almost the entire time your son was missing.”
Kellan’s hands curled into fists, his knuckles going white. “Then he fucking lied. Whoever he was on the phone with is part of this. It was him, goddamn it.”
I was positive Ryland would have created an airtight alibi. Whoever had been on the phone had probably been his body double. If I had to guess, he was using Ryland’s phone, and may very well have been talking to a parent. That parent was probably also a hunter. The traditional route wouldn’t work. There was no way the cops would believe the story.
The officer had already closed his notebook. “Look, it’s more likely the boy wandered off. Maybe he got lost and then got sleepy. Fell asleep in the park.”
I thought Kellan was about to go to jail. He looked to be about a second from ripping the cop’s head off. “You incompetent assholes. What are you even good for? Talk to the damn doctors. He was drugged, for God’s sake! How do you wander off and accidentally get drugged?”
I put an arm around Kellan’s shoulder. “He’s very stressed, Officer. You understand. It’s nothing personal.”
The cop nodded but didn’t look happy. “Maybe he found something and ingested it while he was wandering around. You can call us if there’s anything more we need to know. You all have a good evening, now.”
Kellan glared after them as they left the room. He got himself under control and turned back to Aiden, who was looking at him with wide eyes. “Dad, you used bad words.”
Kellan blushed. “Sorry, kiddo. I got really worked up there. I’m sorry.”
I patted Kellan’s chest. “I’m going to handle this, brother. I promise.”
He clutched Aiden’s hand and nodded. He was shaken and freaked out. I’d never seen him like this before. This was all my fucking fault. Aiden was a target because of April’s connection to me. If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened. This was all retaliation for me somehow stealing her from him. Which was crazy.
That was part of the problem right there. Ryland was batshit crazy. We had to do something fast. Otherwise, we were going to end up with another dead body on our hands. Things seemed to be escalating toward an endgame of some sort. It would be ugly, but it would finally put an end to all this.
TWENTY-SEVEN
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