“You’ll be thanking me when it saves her life.”
No one else speaks. We don’t have time to argue about morality or ethics. Right now, the only thing that matters is that we have a way to find Avery. The cop considers his options, casting a glance at his superior. When he looks me over, he seems to have come to a decision.
“Do you have a way to follow the tracker?”
I nod, gesturing for Thiago to approach. He slips beneath the tape and manages to avoid being seen until the throng of our bodies covers him.
“Tell me you have a signal,” I demand, my pulse roaring in my ears. Thiago’s eye roll doesn’t fit the setting. Placing his laptop on the hood of a police car, he opens it to reveal the map he already has loaded. Of course, Thiago already knew about the chip in Avery’s neck since I told him earlier in the week as insurance. He wasn’t phased in the slightest, but clearly, he doesn’t have the high expectations of me that his cousin does. Tilting the screen towards me, I nearly collapse in relief when I see the blinking dot on the map.
“She’s moving fast,” Thiago murmurs, tracking the signal as it weaves through the city streets. There’s a beat of silence, hesitation flickering across the officer’s face, his gaze bouncing between the glowing screen and the rigid set of my jaw, as if debating whether or not to trust me.
His stalling presses in on all of us. Every second wasted is another mile between us and Avery, another stretch of road leading her further out of our reach. My hands turn to fists at my sides, itching to force the officer to move, to let me go, to do something other than stand here and waste time. Dax leans in beside me, his shoulders squared, his own tolerance wearing thin.
“What the fuck are you waiting for? You have a location,” he juts his chin towards the officer. I’ve never heard Dax speak so aggressively to anyone, let alone someone who could have him locked up for it. Garrett, still clutching at Axel like he’s the only thing keeping him upright,mutters something under his breath, too quiet for me to catch, but whatever it is makes Axel’s lips purse underneath the dried blood splatter covering his face.
Huxley finally rejoins us, his breathing heavy, his hands shoved through his hair in a way that leaves a mess of unruly waves, but I barely glance at him. I know exactly what he’s thinking and feeling—the same thing we all are. Rage. Helplessness. That deep, gnawing fear clawing up our throats like poison, threatening to drown us in the possibilities of what could be happening to Avery and Meg right now.
The officer clears his throat, his gaze locking onto me with something between skepticism and reluctant understanding. “This is completely unethical and could hinder the investigation when it goes to court,” he relays as if reminding himself of the consequences of his next decision.
“I don’t give a fuck about any of that. You have the lives of two young women in your hands. What are you going to do about it?” I tilt my head. Challenging a cop who hasn’t entirely made up his mind probably isn’t the best decision. His mouth twitches into a fragment of a frown. He doesn’t like this. Doesn’t like me. But I don’t give a fuck about his moral code. I care about getting Avery back.
Thiago makes an impatient noise, tapping a finger against the laptop. “They’re heading south, fast. They’ll be out of the city limits if we wait much longer.” I don’t hear anything after that, not really—just the sound of my pulse pounding. I approach his shiny uniform, ignoring the way another agent shifts, clearly ready to intervene.
“They’re in danger. Right now. While we’re standing here, they’re being taken further away, and God knows what kind of situation they are in. I need you to take action, or believe me, I will do something stupid myself. Either way, I won’t stand here and let them disappear for good.”
A muscle jumps in his jaw. He knows I’m right. He fucking knows. A decision is made between the straightening of his shoulders and the authoritative stance he adopts. With a heavy sigh, the officer finally nods.
“Fine. I’ll gather a few cars and personally take you two,” he says, looking pointedly at Thiago and me. The rest of you will be taken to thestation for questioning.” The Souls appear reluctant but agree. This is the best shot we’ve got right now.
As promised, the officer heads off to collect a few others, announcing that we will do a drive-around based on his hunch. That’s fine with me. Holding his laptop carefully, Thiago follows me into the back seat of the nearest police cruiser. I have a few precious seconds to turn a sharp glare on him.
“What the fuck took you so long to tip off the police? We had a plan,” I grit through my clenched jaw. Thiago, to his credit, doesn’t even flinch.
“I only had three minutes, tops, to climb into the vents with my laptop when I saw the thugs storming the hotel to take Axel, and Avery’s mic stopped transmitting as soon as she stepped in that back room. I was completely blind on the ground and trying to gauge when you needed backup whilst hiding for my life.”
Thiago puffs out his cheeks at the inconvenience of it all. I have to remind myself he’s here as a favor to Dax, not because he has a dog in this fight. Forcing my jaw to unlock, trying to stay positive, I reach across him to close the door. Huxley catches it before I get the chance.
“I swear to fuck, Wyatt,” he growls, his blond waves falling forward around his narrowed eyes. “If you don’t bring her back to me alive, I’ll end you. You’ve made too many mistakes at her expense.” His voice is low, barely restrained, with the kind of quiet rage that promises violence if pushed just an inch further. I level him with an unflinching stare while Thiago cowers between us.
“If I can’t bring her back safe, I’m not coming back at all.”
And Hux knows from the seriousness radiating from my posture that I don’t mean I’ll be going on fucking vacation. It’s taken me a long time to come around, but I know now that there’s no me without Avery. There’s no believing in heaven without my Angel.
Avery landed in my life like an atomic bomb, destroying my existence as I knew it and leaving a fresh slate in its place. Now all I need is to get to her so I can start to rebuild a world she can be free in. All her fears and reservations about me will vanish when she realizes I don’t want to cage her. I want to encourage her to do whatever her heart desires. To live and love and cry and laugh, and I want to be there everystep of the way. I’m done putting any distance between us. I’m done watching from the side lines.
The young officer eases Hux back by his shoulders, slamming the door closed with a thud of finality. Dropping into the driver’s seat, protected from us by a mesh grate, he twists the key in the ignition, the engine rumbling to life beneath us as red and blue lights flicker across the interior. His hands tighten around the steering wheel as he radios in our transport, his voice clipped and professional, but something flickers beneath it. Hesitation, maybe, or the weight of knowing he’s putting his credibility on the line for our sakes.
“Tell me where to go,” he twists his head to call back. Thiago is straight on it, using his illegal hacking skills to chase the signal and read out the current location. We’ve got a lot of ground to make up, and I pray that Avery can hang on. The car pulls forward, rolling toward the main road through the mass of flashing lights and uniformed bodies swarming the parking lot. Instead of watching my Souls fade into the background, I press my knuckles against my temples, squeezing my eyes shut for half a second.
Unexpectedly, a hand rubs my shoulder, and when I peer up, Thiago isn’t looking at me, but he doesn’t withdraw his hand. I frown for a moment, then nod, thankful for his show of comfort. This man doesn’t know me, and he certainly doesn’t owe me anything. Yet I believe he can sense the lengths I’d go to and that I mean well in the depths of my damaged heart.
Mimicking his small smirk, because it seems like the right thing to do, I sit straighter, ready to face the world once again. For the first time since we entered the casino, something inside me clicks into place. Harrison thinks he’s won. Thinks he’s gotten away. But he’s wrong. Because no matter where he runs or where he hides, I will find him. And I will burn his entire fucking world to the ground to get to my girl.
Chapter Forty Seven
The car lurches as the driver takes a hard right, tires shrieking against the asphalt, sending me careening into Meg’s side. She barely reacts, her body still as loose and limp as when I stopped begging her to reply to me, her head knocking against the window with a dull thud. The seatbelt is the only thing keeping her upright, and even then, she looks like a ghost of herself, drained and hollow, staring blankly at nothing.
Vaguely, I feel the car slow, and my heart picks up a notch at the thought of arriving at a destination. However, we just blend into traffic, becoming lost amongst the masses. I swallow against the lump in my throat, my pulse hammering in my ears. Every instinct in my body screams at me to do something, to move, to fight, but my options are running thinner by the second.
