The Dance Part 2

Chapter 263 Nightmare

Jill was left with the dismal task of having to tell the rest of the family what transpired earlier that night. She waited until Blue and Noah were well on their way to their honeymoon destination before gathering the remaining family to break the news. Bam was adamant about not disrupting his youngest brother's plans. Bird kept a watchful on the Brown children sheltering them from the news of Lila's disappearance. She could hear the soft sobs of her mother as the family wanted to know how they could assist in the search.

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Nato sat with his back against the bedroom door watching Lila sleep. His adrenaline raced through his body and he dared not sleep for fear she would try to make a run for it. Her long tresses covered her face as if she struggled against the covers in her sleep. To him, she was perfection with the exception of her love for his rival. The same thoughts ran through his mind. He would make her forget him. He would make her love him. She would be his for always, if only he could keep her apart from him.

He moved closer to where she slept, brushing her hair from her face trying not to wake her. She had kicked the covers off of herself leaving her leg partially exposed to him. His hand fluttered above her leg and he ached to touch her but didn't want to frighten her. Instead, he covered her back up. He laid next to her on the bed on top of the covers desirous of what she had with Bam. He wanted her to come to him of her own accord. Still asleep, he moved closer to her until she rolled into the crook of his arm, her body only separated by the blanket from his body. He soon fell asleep next to her until her sleep became restless and she woke screaming his name in her sleep....Joshua. Her nightmare startled her awake only to find him next to her. Her scream rustled him from his sleep and he instinctively grabbed her holding her tight against his chest. She struggled against him suddenly realizing her nightmare was real. It wasn't Bam's arms holding her, it was Nato.

She pushed and kicked her way loose stumbling out of her sleep and out of the bed. "Don't touch me! Don't ever touch me!"
Her whole body shook in anger. Her nightmare was real. She wasn't home. She wasn't with Joshua. The body she felt next to her was not Bam's but that of her captor.

"Lila, I'm not going to hurt you." He tried to calm her down but she was like a feral cat that didn't want to be touched. She didn't trust him. He had already hurt her by stealing her away from her children, from her home and from her husband. As he walked toward her, she swung at him wildly.

Nato grabbed her arms pinning them to her sides until she quit struggling against his firm grip. "Now is that any way to start rekindling a romance," he asked as he slowly released his grasp on her arms.

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Bam and Matt stopped at every home and every store along their route questioning anyone they could find about Lila's disappearance. Each time they came up empty-handed. No one had seen Matt's truck or anyone fitting Lila or Nato's description.

Matt pulled out a map and spread it out on the hood of Bam's truck. "I had about a half of a tank of gas. They could have driven at least another 200 miles." Matt trailed his finger around the map. "They have to be somewhere in this region. If they didn't stop for gas, they couldn't have ventured outside this area." Matt circled a 200 mile radius on the map.

Bam studied the area within the circle trying to determine where Nato may have taken Lila. "This route." His finger tapped at a more remote location. "It's a hunch but I think we should continue going farther north. It's less populated and Nato probably wanted to stay away from any major roads."

Matt agreed with Bam's summation. "Let's keep going North. There's a small town along the way. Maybe he stocked up on some supplies." Bam desperately wanted to find Lila and never let go of her again. He knew she was strong, but just how strong would be left in her hands.

Chris Isaak- Return to Me