Chapter 12
Xander
No!
Not again.
I was too late.
I was too fucking late.
Wes and I pulled up at the house and it looked like disaster had struck. There were military officials outside, walking around. They tried to stop me but I pushed ahead, running inside.
I got to the living room and found a battered and bloodied Jack on the floor, with paramedics tending to him. He was out cold. No sign of Jia.
I rushed up to Jack. He looked bad.
“I’m sorry we have to tend to him.” The paramedic said to me.
Frankie came around and Wes joined us.
“I’m sorry man. We were ambushed,” Frankie began. He looked like he’d taken a beating too. But the beating he got wouldn’t have been enough to give him the sadness in his eyes. “Xander it was Ra guys and they took Jia. We thought she was in the basement. I was out here covering your old man.”
I walked over to the wall and threw a punch into the concrete.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Not your fault. Not yours.”
“Xander calm down. Please.” Wes winced.
I looked over to Jack, he started coughing when he came to. I rushed back to him and he saw me. His left eye was so swollen and bruised he couldn’t open it, but he reached out to me.
“Boy they took her. It was Balthazar. He was here.”
My skin buzzed from the trauma. It was all just getting worse and worse.
Balthazar was here, so Wes was spot on in his assumption of what would happen next.
Fuck. It was all so fucking convenient that I wasn’t here.
“I’m sorry Jack. Fuck, I’m sorry.” Once again I felt useless. Fucking useless as shit.
“Save the sorrys boy. I’m okay but we have to get her back. You find out anything useful from Dorian?” It was typical Jack to be in business mode even in this state.
“It was Ethan. It was him all along. He played me, he played me for years too. He and Balthazar were in cahoots. It’s on him why Claire died, Jack.”
Jack growled and tried to get up but the paramedic pressed a firm hand down on him.
“Ethan!” Jack cried. “That fucking dog! He’ll pay.”
Pay?
He was the reason why Claire had been killed and now the same thing could happen to Jia. I didn’t doubt that one bit. Right now though it didn’t look like I was in any position to be making any threats.
What the fuck was I going to do?
Balthazar had Jia.
