Out of the Dark: A Thrilling Romantic Suspense Novel (The Dark Series Book 2)

by Danah Logan

  Truth.

  Omission: I am going to rearrange my friends' faces, give Kat a piece of my mind, and hopefully not lose my shit in front of the media in a few minutes. Who knows what the fuck they'll throw at us?

  "It's time," Agent Camden announces, and Lilly's arm around my waist tenses. I tighten my grip on her and lean down to her ear. "Everything will be okay. I'm right here. I don't give a fuck about her no-touching rule."

  Lilly chuckles and kisses me on the cheek.

  "Eww. Gross!" Natty screeches and darts over to Mom, whose eyes crinkle in response to her youngest’s outburst.

  The FBI agents position themselves at the door, followed by Mom and Natty. Lilly and I are next with Dad in the rear.

  As soon as the door is open, the flashes start, and people haul questions at our group. Lilly takes a step back and bumps into me. My hands automatically clasp around her upper arms to steady her, but I let go quickly and move sideways. Dad steps past me to her other side, and her five-foot-four figure is now framed between two six-foot-plus walls.

  We're on the patio, with ten or more people on the lawn. I see several neighbors peek out their windows, if not even openly gawking from their properties’ yards. The two agents close ranks in front, Mom has Natty wrapped in her arms to the left behind Lanning, and the three of us are to the right behind Camden. The female agent takes charge and holds up one hand. It's fascinating how the quiet woman all of a sudden commands the group in front of us. While she waits for them to settle down, I scan our surroundings. Lancaster, the dude who’s been obsessed with the case for a decade now, is front and center. There are several unmarked cars in addition to the news vans which, I assume, belong to the reporters or whoever the people shoving their recording phones at us are. My gaze settles on a tall figure leaning against the rear end of the farthest van, and my eyes widen. He's dressed casually in dark jeans with a black hoodie under a black leather jacket. The hoodie is pulled up, and the brim of a baseball cap covers most of his face, including the scar. Arms crossed over his broad chest, I can see a phone sticking out in one of his hands, camera pointed toward us.

  They’re both here for her.

  I make eye contact with my BFF, but George's expression doesn't change a millimeter. Since we're partially hidden behind the two agents, I touch Lilly's arm to get her attention. She looks up, and I lean down to her ear, whispering as low as possible. "He's here. They're both watching." I don't dare say more. So far, no one has paid us any attention.

  Lilly’s eyes close briefly, understanding the meaning of my words. Then she turns back forward and faces the vultures, not looking around at all.

  The knowledge of their presence is enough to calm her nerves, and something clicks into place for me. She’s told me many times how I’m her home. We've talked about it a lot, especially during the first few weeks when we analyzed why she had always felt a certain way for me, despite not knowing. Things had shifted once Nate came into the picture, and I thought I was losing her. I was dead wrong. Nate—and with extension, George—have become an equally important part of her life. She needs all of us in different ways to make it through this.

  "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming." Camden's voice snaps me out of my revelation. "I am Agent Vivienne Camden and the lead agent in Miss McGuire's case. We have asked you here to give you the exclusive statement to this investigation. Miss McGuire and her family are in attendance; however, we ask you not to address them directly. Agent Lanning and I will answer your questions to the best of our ability and what we are able to disclose at this point."

  Murmurs go around the group, and—surprise, surprise—Lancaster asks the first question.

  "Miss McGuire was the first victim of The Babysitter. Since then, he abducted four other girls before he captured Miss McGuire again. What's his motive?"

  "That is still open to investigation. Due to the perpetrator never harming any of the victims, we suspect that he has an underlying mental condition that drives him to take the girls."

  "He drugs them. How can you say that he doesn’t harm the little girls?" a woman holding her phone toward us snaps.

  "That is correct. Let me rephrase my statement. Since Miss McGuire's first disappearance, the perpetrator has used a mild sedative to calm his victims. The girls are not being drugged to render them unconscious; he keeps them alert but calm. They receive food, have access to a bathroom, and are being entertained. He has not physically harmed any of them."

  I can feel Lilly getting more agitated, and I involuntarily make eye contact with my father over her head. He’s noticed as well. My heartrate picks up, and I fight the urge to grab her hand and drag her back inside.

  "Agent Camden." A woman from a local news station steps forward, her cameraman right behind. "What does Miss McGuire have to say about her kidnappings? We understand that, the first time, she was severely sedated and, according to previous reports, traumatized. Why was there never a report filed or an active search for the kidnapper? If this would've been handled appropriately, the following kidnappings could've possibly been prevented."

  "This is part of the investigation we cannot disclose at this point."

  Yeah, because you have no clue.

  I’m pretty sure my father has kept ninety percent of the facts from the suits.

  "Lilly, what does The Babysitter want from you? You're the one he wants. The parents of these little girls deserve to know why their kids were taken." Lancaster steps in front of the other chick. Dad squares his shoulders, which puts me on high alert. My fingers begin to twitch, and I curl them into a fist to avoid drawing attention.

  "Mister Lancaster, please take a step back," Lanning warns, looking straight at the guy.

  Lancaster doesn't comply right away. Instead, he stares at Lilly, who—holy shit, she holds his gaze without so much as blinking. Finally, Lancaster mumbles something under his breath and moves back in line.

  Camden takes over again. "Miss McGuire has no recollection of what happened during either kidnapping."

  Shouts erupt all around us.

  "How is this possible?"

  "That’s bullshit."

  "She’s lying."

  "She is not a child anymore; she has to know something."

  "What are you keeping from the public?" Lancaster again.

  Fuck, this dude is gonna be a problem.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice George straightening up. He's zeroed in on Lancaster. This guy better shut up, or George might snap his neck in front of everyone.

  This time, Lanning holds up a hand. It takes several minutes until everyone stops yelling, and he speaks up.

  "Miss McGuire was severely sedated when she was admitted to Hill Crest Medical Center. She was found on a bench outside the facility by a staff member. Miss McGuire remained under close observation for twenty-four hours while the necessary medication to counteract the drugs were administered. The combination found in her bloodstream has the known side effect of short-term memory loss. She will continue regular visits to local specialists to ensure that there is no permanent damage to her well-being."

  What the—? I fight the urge to storm over to George. He left Lilly on a fucking park bench? No one cared to tell me that tidbit—probably because I would’ve flipped a lid.

  "Why would The Babysitter drug Miss McGuire that way if she's the one he wants?" a new voice asks, and I take in the reporter that has stepped forward. Beside me, Lilly goes rigid, and I look down. She's gone pale.

  What the—?

  I glance back. The dude is tall and well-built; he's got me beat by an inch or two. He has black curly hair that's thinning at the hairline, a goatee, and his nose looks like it was broken one too many times. But his most prominent facial feature is his ice-blue eyes; they're so light they appear almost white. The hairs at the nape of my neck stand in all directions. Even when George had stepped out of the dark in Denielle's backyard, I didn't have that reaction. And my BFF is scary as fuck.

  Repor
ter guy wears a tan trench coat over a light-blue button-down and brown khakis—the outfit screams costume to me.

  I avert my eyes and focus on Lilly. Her thumb is flicking against the rest of her fingers. She’s about to bolt.

  Fuck it.

  I wrap my arm around her lower waist, and she immediately leans into the touch. I don't pay attention if anyone notices, mainly because I couldn't care less.

  As if from a distance, Camden's voice drifts into my brain. "What’s your name, sir?"

  "Francis Turner," Trench Coat Guy replies without hesitation.

  "Mr. Turner, at this point, we believe Miss McGuire was drugged so she couldn't fight back. As you stated, she is older, and the perpetrator could not have foreseen how she would react to him."

  "So, essentially, you have no fucking clue what happened to any of the girls or who The Babysitter is!"

  Ah, Lancaster is back in play.

  "Mr. Lancaster, this is an ongoing investigation. We are unable to release all the information at this point, not to compromise the case."

  As he said, you have no fucking clue.

  The press conference, aka joke of the year, goes on for another ten minutes, but no real information is being released. Oddly enough, none of the vultures brought up our relationship, despite it being splashed over several social media sites.

  Lilly is as white as a ghost and shaking like a leaf by the time we get back inside. As soon as the front door closes, she charges upstairs, taking two steps at a time.

  Mom calls after her, but Lilly doesn't respond. Dad gives me a look that I would interpret as worry if I didn’t know that the man has no feelings. Okay, maybe he does, but it's easier to be pissed at him if I pretend he's the robot he always acts like.

  Following Lilly to her room, I find it empty. Knowing where she is, I flip the lock and make my way to the bathroom. Water is already running, and when I step inside, I'm met by a cloud of steam. Lilly sits in front of the running shower, arms wrapped around her bent legs and forehead resting on her knees. In her one hand, she's clutching the phone, and I notice the box we stashed it in on the floor, contents spilled everywhere.

  The little alarm clock she keeps above her sink shows that it's well after eight, and I should be on my way to school. I sink down next to Lilly and place my hand between her shoulder blades.

  "Talk to me, babe." I lean over and place a kiss on her hair right above her temple.

  "Something isn’t right," she mumbles into her legs.

  I squint at her, moving my hand up and down her spine. "What do you mean?"

  "He was there. What was he doing here?"

  I’m not sure I understand her correctly. "He, who?"

  Lilly finally lifts her head, and my chest constricts. I haven't seen that expression since the text messages.

  "The guy from Magnolia’s," she whispers.

  I’m lost.

  "Babe, what are you talking about?"

  As she recalls the day she met Den at Magnolia's and, later, when she saw him again right before Nate got to her, I try to make sense of it. Nothing that has happened in the last five months has been by chance—apart from Lilly stumbling over the article that started it all. My heart feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest.

  "Does Nate know?" I force myself to steady my tone and not follow my instinct of ripping the phone out of her hand to call her brother myself.

  "No. I forgot about him. Until today." Her gaze jumps between my eyes. "Do you think it's a coincidence?"

  Truth?

  "No."

  Epilogue

  She has grown up. I've seen the occasional pictures Gray has taken over the years, but looking at the young woman in front of me, I'm reminded more than ever who her father is. She looks so much like him—and her brother.

  I’m partially hidden behind a fence, two houses down. I sent Gray to stand between the reporters and told him to make himself known. I want to see her reaction. She's smart; she'll put two and two together.

  Gray revealing himself to her back in January was not part of the plan—but neither was her disappearance. I didn't account for Nate to be in the picture before I could get to her. Something happened while she was gone; otherwise, his bloodhound wouldn't be standing a hundred yards from me, watching Lilly like a hawk.

  Why couldn’t she have just let it go for a few more months?

  Now, I have to improvise.

  Thank you so much for reading Out of the Dark!

  Were you prepared for her? I wasn't!

  Are you ready for the answers to all the questions? Of Light and Dark is the conclusion to the first two books in The Dark Series. (Almost) everything will be revealed. It is packed to the max with angst, suspense, and steam (the heat level has risen several degrees).

  Book three also has a special surprise at the end because The Dark doesn't end with this book.

  Get your copy of Of Light and Dark here!

  Loved it?

  Thank you for taking a chance on Out of the Dark, book two in The Dark Series. If you loved it, please consider leaving a review here:

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  Also by Danah Logan

  The Dark Series:

  In the Dark, Book 1

  (Lilly and Rhys)

  Out of the Dark, Book 2

  (Lilly and Rhys)

  Of Light and Dark, Book 3

  (The Conclusion to Lilly and Rhys’s Story)

  Because of the Dark, Book 4

  (Wes)

  Followed by the Dark, Book 5

  (Denielle)

  I’m the Dark, Book 6

  (HIM)

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  Acknowledgements

  Well…this was not how I had the second book in The Dark Series plotted.

  Lilly's story with Him, who you now also know as Nate, was fully outlined, including how it was going to end in Of Light and Dark. But then I started writing, and Nate didn't turn out how I originally envisioned him. I tried very hard to make him the bad guy of the series, but in the end, he wasn’t it. Yes, he is still a criminal, but he showed a lot of redeeming qualities—especially when it comes to his relationship with Lilly. What I also didn't account for was the internal struggle Lilly would experience from forming a bond with her brother. There was a chance Rhys wouldn't accept her decision—maybe there still is. As this book has taught me…things change. So, I can't promise anything as to what will happen to Lilly, Rhys, Nate, or any of the other characters in the future.

  The list of people I have to thank for making this journey possible is growing, and if I forget to mention one of you, please know it's not on purpose—I simply have the same memory-span as our fifteen-year-old dog. (;

  Abbi, who, for the past eighteen plus months, has let me run ideas by her and discuss scenarios for hours on end just for me to scratch them the next day because one of my characters did something we didn't take into account.

  My husband and daughters, who patiently dealt with my crabbiness when I didn't get to write for weeks on end, or when I did and lacked time to cook dinner, do laundry or have a conversation that consisted of more than one-word answers.

  Sammi (S.J. Sylvis), who took time out of her busy writing schedule to read the first draft.

  My betas, Linzy, Mary, and Becca: your feedback has been invaluable to this book; my editor, Jenn Lockwood; the real Den, who has been with me on this rollercoaster since the day I announced to h
er I would write a book; Lyndsey, who I somewhat coerced into reading my first book and then turned her into another beta for the remaining series; and of course, the bloggers, readers, and reviewers who have helped me spread the word about Lilly and her journey.

  I'll see you all at the end of book three.