She's Cold✔️

Chapter Thirty Two

Shane looked from Ian to Jason and then back to Ian, "can someone tell me what I'd be walking into?"

"We," Jason corrected, and Shane shot him a glare. "Like it or not, I'm coming with you, you guys don't know the area like I do."

"Right, what should I expect?" Shane asked again, they had flown into Texas that morning and he was already tired of sitting still. He and Jason had checked out the apartment Josie and her parents had supposedly lived in, but were surprised to find a different family there. According to them, the Smiths had moved out their stuff through an agency a few years back. They had asked around town and a few folks had admitted seeing Elaine back in the town mall, but none of them was sure about their exact whereabouts.

Sweetwater Haven was a small town, where it was very easy for one to know everyone who resided there. The town consisted of a few apartment blocks scattered about, a grocery shop, a bakery, two diners, the local pub, the mall, the police station and an office complex that housed private businesses. Many of the folks had been reluctant to talk to Shane, his expensive clothes and angry tone had all but scared them off.

Jason had spoken with a few friends, some of them which had speculated that the Smiths had purchased a small ranch at the end of town.

Shane was all for storming the place, certain that time was of the essence, but Jason had refused, forcing them to wait a few hours. So, they'd gotten two rooms in a bed and breakfast to wait it out.

It was already evening, and the sun would be setting in less than an hour, providing an excellent cover of darkness for when they'd get to the ranch.

"Calm down, bro, we all want Lyn back, rushing things without thinking it through can cost us her life."

"Jason, I'm trying so hard to be calm, now give me the rundown on this before I fucking lose my mind."

"Right, Lyn would probably be tied up in a fridge somewhere," Jason shrugged.

Shane grabbed for a chair immediately, feeling the wind being knocked away from his sail, he tugged at his shirt collar as he stuttered, "fri...fridge?"

"Her mom is insane."

Shane suddenly found it hard to breathe, the air in the room was stifling. Josie, his Josie had been locked up in a fridge several times as a child, Josie was probably freezing to death somewhere in this backwater town, now he understood so much about her. Why she was cold during her nightmares, why she never turned on the air conditioning unit while she slept at night, whose name she'd called in her sleep. Josie had been through so much, and he was an ass for not realizing it sooner.

"Oh God! This is a whole big deal of fucked up," Shane groaned, rubbing his eyes furiously.

"You need time to take this all in?" Ian asked. Shane turned to look at the man, he realized he liked having Ian's reassuring presence around, the man knew when to talk and when to keep quiet unlike himself.

"No, let's go get her," Shane couldn't stomach the thought of leaving Josie in the hell she was in for a moment longer, he had wasted enough time cooling his heels.

"I'll drive," Jason replied, heading for the door.

Ian and Jason got into one of the rental cars they'd with them, while Shane followed behind in the other. He pulled out his cell phone and called for backup, one could never be too careful, he also placed a call to the local sheriff whom he'd discussed with earlier, at the man's affirmative response, Shane ended the call.

All through the ride, his mind was heavy with grief and fear, he could feel his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach with each passing second of the time. He nervously tapped the steering wheel, while trying to keep a clear head.

Half an hour later, Jason stopped in front of a long trail that led to a driveway and came out from the car. He picked up his back pack, then checked his cell phone. "We'll walk from here," he mouthed to Shane who had also stepped out of his rental.

Shane nodded and set his phone on silent, they couldn't see the ranch house from where they were parked, which meant no one from the house could see them. The last thing they needed at the moment was to alert Elaine of their presence.

Jason took the lead and started walking down the dirt road, Ian hung back a little and was walking beside Shane.

"We'll get her in time, Shane, Jocelyn is a fighter," Ian stated quietly.

"Thanks a lot man, I needed that." Shane patted the man's shoulder and they increased their pace to catch up with Jason.

A few minutes down the trail, they could spot someone running towards them.

Jason and Ian came to a standstill while Shane ran forward. He could make out Josie's outline in the big T-shirt.

"You came, thank God," she cried and collapsed in front of him.

Shane hurried forward, noticing the dried blood on her forehead, her bare feet and her bleeding ankles. When he finally got to her, he did something he rarely did, Shane Malcolm, multi billionaire cried.

I hope I've not kept you guys waiting for so long, I've been so busy, and I apologize for that.

How do you think Josie escaped? What happened to Elaine?

The next chapter will be even juicier..

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please vote and share your thoughts with me.

Thanks for reading..