Chapter 120: Denials and Disappearances 2
Damon’s POV
Right at that exact second, Micah turned his head desperately, looking for a way out through the gap in the guys’ shoulders. His big, tear-filled eyes swept across the crowd... and locked directly onto mine.
He saw me. He saw me standing just a few feet away, with Jennifer Riley clinging tightly to my arm.
The look of pure, heartbroken confusion and betrayal on Micah’s pale face hit me straight in the gut like a physical blow. He looked so scared, so utterly hopeless, clutching his bag while those predators closed in on him.
My heart felt like it was being ripped to pieces. I wanted nothing more than to tear my arm out of Jenny’s grip, run over there, and drag Micah safely behind my back. But I couldn’t move. If I admitted I knew him right now, if I blew my cover before Jenny gave me the details about Jenson’s plot, everything we had planned would fail. She would realize Micah was one of the targets mentioned in her message, and she would use it against us or refuse to speak.
’Noah is around,’ I reassured myself, my mind spinning into a panicked overdrive. Noah said yesterday they were coming together. Noah is probably just in a nearby shop or in the restroom. He wouldn’t leave Micah alone.
I forced my facial muscles to lock into a cold, indifferent mask. I ripped my eyes away from Micah’s pleading gaze, turning my head completely away from him.
"I don’t know him," I said flatly, my voice forced.
Jenny’s suspicious frown instantly vanished, replaced by a wide, satisfied grin.
"Is that so?" she purred softly, wrapping her hand even tighter around my arm, pulling me away. "Good. Let’s just go get the bag. I want the super expensive designer model that came out three days ago at that store over there!"
She dragged me down the hallway, away from the courtyard.
Even though my back was turned, I could literally feel Micah’s heavy, devastated gaze burning into the back of my neck with every single step I took away from him. My hands clenched so tight in my pockets that my nails dug painfully into my palms. I was one step away from losing my mind, turning around, and dragging him out of there myself. But I kept forcing myself to believe that Noah was nearby.
’What if Noah isn’t around?’ a dark, terrifying thought whispered in my head.
"No," I muttered under my breath, shaking the thought away. Noah wouldn’t leave him.
We finally reached the luxury shop, and Jenny immediately began looking around at the glass display cases.
While she was distracted, I pulled out my phone with a shaking hand and typed out a message to Noah as fast as my fingers could move.
Damon: Where are you? Why is Micah all alone?
I hit send and stared at the screen, my heart hammering violently against my ribs.
"This is so cute! Can I see more like this?" Jenny asked the saleslady attending to her, pointing at a sleek black handbag. "Do you have it in other colors?"
I ignored her completely, my eyes glued to my phone screen. Seconds felt like hours.
Finally, my phone buzzed. A message from Noah popped up.
Noah: I’m at the arena. Coach wanted to see me, so I sent Micah to get the phone himself. Is there a problem?
The blood instantly drained out of my face.
My brain went completely numb. The world around me seemed to freeze into absolute terror.
He’s at the arena?! He left Micah ALL ALONE?!
Fuck!
Panic exploded in my chest like a bomb. My thumb smashed into the keyboard.
Damon: What? You left him alone?!
Damon: Fuck!
I didn’t wait another second. I didn’t care about Jenny, I didn’t care about the designer bag, and I didn’t care about her stupid information anymore! Without saying a single word, I turned on my heel and rushed straight out of the shop!
How stupid was I?! How could I have been so damn blind?! I thought since he was in a mall filled with people, those bastards wouldn’t do anything.
I was so focused on getting information about Jenson’s plot that I had literally walked away while Jenson’s men were actively cornering Micah right in front of my eyes!
"Damon?!" Jenny’s angry voice screamed behind me from inside the boutique. "Damon! Where the hell are you going?! What about my bag?!"
I ignored her, sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me through the crowded mall corridors.
"Damon! Stop!" she yelled again, but her voice quickly faded into the distance as I shoved past confused shoppers, my chest burning, my heart pounding in my ears.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
My phone started vibrating wildly in my hand. Noah was sending rapid-fire messages, and when I didn’t reply, his name flashed on the screen as he called my number directly.
I swiped the screen and slammed the phone against my ear without slowing down my pace.
"What the hell is going on?!" Noah shouted through the speaker, his voice furious and laced with sudden panic. "Did you see Micah?!"
"Yes!" I yelled back, my breath coming out in ragged, frantic gasps as I dodged around a group of teenagers. "He was with some guys from Jenson near the phone shop! But I couldn’t go to him because Jennifer Riley was right there with me! I thought you were with him!"
"Fuck!" Noah cursed loudly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoing over his end of the line as he started running too. "I’m on my way too!"
"Hurry up!" I shouted into the mic.
I rounded the final corner, my sneakers skidding against the slick mall floor as I burst back into the open courtyard where I had seen Micah just minutes ago.
My eyes scanned the entire area, my breathing wild and erratic.
The phone kiosk was still there. Shoppers were walking by normally.
But the group of Jenson guys was gone.
And the exact spot where Micah had been standing... was completely empty.
"No..." I gasped out, my voice cracking as I stepped closer.
On the cold floor near the kiosk lay a single, crumpled paper bag from the mobile phone store, completely abandoned.
"No, no, no..." I panicked, turning in circles, scanning every exit, every hallway, every shop window in sight. There was no trace of him. No sign of the dark leather jackets. Nothing.
Noah’s voice slammed through the phone speaker. "Damon! I’m almost at the mall entrance! Where is he?!"
I stared at the empty floor, my hand trembling so hard I could barely hold the phone to my ear, a cold, sickening horror paralyzing my entire body.
"He’s gone," I whispered with panic in my voice. "Noah... they took him."