The sight of Lily’s empty classroom hit Piper like a sledgehammer. Her heart dropped into her stomach, and for a moment, the world seemed to tilt on its axis. Everything around her faded, replaced by a deafening silence, the kind that comes before a storm.
Lily is gone.
Panic surged through her veins, sharp and all-consuming, as she stood frozen in the doorway. The room was filled with brightly colored posters, tiny chairs, and children’s artwork pinned on the walls — a place that should’ve felt safe. But now, it was suffocating, a reminder that her daughter wasn’t where she was supposed to be.
Piper’s legs moved on their own as she rushed down the hallway, her heart pounding louder than her footsteps. She burst into the school office, barely able to contain the tremor in her voice as she spoke. “Lily Blackwood. My daughter — where is she?”
The secretary, a kind older woman who always greeted Piper with a warm smile, now looked alarmed. “Lily? She’s in her class, isn’t she?”
“No,” Piper gasped, shaking her head frantically. “She’s not there. I — I need to know if anyone’s taken her.”
The woman’s face paled, and she immediately grabbed the phone, her hands shaking as she dialed the number to security. Piper could feel her world collapsing around her. Her thoughts raced wildly, flashes of Noah’s enemies, the cryptic messages, and the threats crashing into her.
They had her. They must have her.
Seconds felt like hours as the secretary spoke into the phone, her voice low and serious. Piper could only catch fragments of the conversation — words like “search” and “check the cameras.” But it didn’t matter. Every instinct in Piper’s body screamed that whoever had sent those threatening messages had made their move.
And now, Lily was in danger.
Before she could spiral further, her phone rang. She fumbled with it, expecting the worst, but when she saw the caller ID, her heart skipped a beat.
Gabriel.
She answered immediately, her voice shaky. “Gabriel, something’s happened. Lily — she’s gone.”
There was a pause on the other end, and then Gabriel’s voice, calm but laced with urgency, came through. “Piper, listen to me. I’m on my way. Stay there. Don’t move. We’ll find her.”
His words were meant to be comforting, but Piper could barely breathe, let alone think. “How do you know? How can you be sure —?”
“We’ll find her,” Gabriel repeated firmly, cutting her off. “I’m calling Jasper. We need all hands on deck.”
The mention of Jasper sent another jolt of emotion through her — one she didn’t have time to unpack. She was desperate to do something, anything, but Gabriel’s steady voice kept her grounded, at least for the moment.
“I’m heading straight to the school,” Gabriel added. “I’ll meet you there.”
Piper hung up and pressed the phone to her chest, her hands trembling. Gabriel’s reassurance helped, but the fear still gnawed at her, growing larger with every second that passed. She didn’t know if she could trust anyone completely — not with everything that had happened — but right now, she had no choice.
Lily was missing, and they needed to find her.
Thirty minutes later, Gabriel arrived at the school, moving quickly through the parking lot toward the entrance. Piper had been pacing by the door, watching the clock and feeling like she was going to lose her mind with every passing second. As soon as she saw him, she rushed toward him, her emotions threatening to spill over.
“Did you hear anything?” she asked, her voice barely controlled.
“Not yet,” Gabriel said, his eyes scanning the surroundings as if he were already assessing the situation. “But we will. I’ve contacted some people who can help. We’ll find her.”
Before Piper could respond, Jasper appeared. He moved toward them with a determined look on his face, his presence commanding attention. The tension between him and Gabriel was immediately palpable. Piper could feel it in the way they barely acknowledged each other, the rivalry simmering just beneath the surface. But none of that mattered right now — not when Lily’s life was at stake.
“Piper,” Jasper said, his voice low but filled with intensity. “I’m here. We’ll get her back.”
The unspoken history between them lingered in the air, but Piper pushed it aside. There was no time for personal drama, no time to navigate the complicated feelings that had resurfaced between her and Jasper or the growing connection with Gabriel. The only thing that mattered was finding Lily.
“We need to focus,” Gabriel said, his tone clipped. He looked at Jasper, clearly measuring him. “Noah’s people took her. I’m sure of it.”
Jasper frowned, his jaw tightening. “Noah’s people? What do you mean? Why would they take her now?”
Gabriel exchanged a brief glance with Piper before answering. “Noah’s been running from something bigger than any of us knew. His past — whatever he’s involved in — comes back to haunt him. And now, they’re coming for anyone connected to him. That means Piper. That means Lily.”
Jasper’s face darkened, his fists clenching. “That son of a —”
“Stop,” Piper interrupted, stepping between them. “We can’t waste time. We need to find her.”
The two men exchanged a tense look, but they both nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. Gabriel pulled out his phone, calling someone while Jasper turned to Piper, his voice softening.
“I need you to tell me everything,” Jasper said, his eyes locked on hers. “Every message, every threat. I need to know what we’re up against.”
Piper swallowed hard, then recounted everything — the cryptic messages, the shadowy threats, and Noah’s dangerous connections. As she spoke, Jasper’s expression shifted from anger to something deeper, more protective. The man she had once loved — the one she had shared her life with — was still there, beneath the layers of pain and betrayal.
“We need to hit the streets,” Gabriel said, snapping them back to the moment as he ended his call. “I’ve got contacts looking into this, but we can’t wait. We need to move now.”
Jasper nodded, but there was a flash of irritation in his eyes. “We should split up,” he said, his tone directed at Gabriel. “We’ll cover more ground that way.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t argue. “Fine. I’ll check the usual spots. Noah’s got some places he used to hide out. They might have taken her there.”
Jasper looked at Piper, his voice softening again. “I’ll stay with you. We’ll work together.”
Piper hesitated, torn between the two men. She knew she couldn’t afford to waste time deciding, but the tension between them was thick, pulling her in different directions. Finally, she nodded at Jasper. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Gabriel gave her a brief nod, but there was a flicker of something — disappointment, perhaps — in his eyes as he turned to leave. Piper felt the weight of it but pushed it down. She couldn’t let her emotions cloud her judgment. Not now.
As Gabriel disappeared down the hall, Jasper turned to Piper, his eyes filled with determination. “We’ll find her,” he promised, his voice low but fierce. “No matter what it takes.”
Piper nodded, her heart pounding. She wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that they could bring Lily back safely. But the fear gnawed at her, growing with every second that passed.
As they made their way out of the school and into the car, Piper’s mind raced with possibilities, with scenarios of what could be happening to Lily at that very moment. She tried to push the worst thoughts away, but they clung to her like shadows, impossible to shake.
She glanced at Jasper as he drove, his focus entirely on the road. His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, his jaw set in a hard line. There was a part of her that still felt safe with him, that still remembered the love they had once shared. But things had changed. They had both changed.
And now, with Gabriel in the picture, everything felt even more complicated.
The silence between them stretched on, heavy and loaded with unsaid words. Piper wanted to ask him about Isabel, wanted to know if his feelings for her had truly resurfaced. But this wasn’t the time. She needed to stay focused, to stay strong for Lily.
“Jasper,” she said finally, her voice barely above a whisper. “Do you really think they’ll hurt her?”
Jasper’s gaze flicked to her briefly before returning to the road. His voice was tense. “They’re using her to get to Noah. They think they can leverage her to make him pay his debts. But they won’t hurt her, Piper. We won’t let them.”
Piper swallowed hard, wanting to believe him. But the gnawing fear in her chest refused to let go. She had seen what people like Noah’s enemies were capable of. And now, Lily was caught in the middle of it.
As they sped down the road, searching for any sign of where Lily could be, Piper knew one thing for certain:
Time was running out.
And if they didn’t find Lily soon, they might lose her forever.