Jamison’s voice came through the door, “You left something at the front desk, sir,” he called, his voice still filled with good cheer. “I thinkit’s your wallet? It has quite a bit of money in it, so I knew you wouldn’t want to lose it,” the doorman called through the door.
“Hah!” Dreyven eyes lit up and he laughed, the greed bright in his eyes as he shoved me aside. “Money? Yep, must be mine!” he said gleefully. He got to his feet and pushed past me, tucking his dick back in his pants. I knew the wallet didn’t belong to him, but that wouldn’t bother Dreyven.
I sat there in front of the couch, brushing the tears away from my eyes that the gagging had caused, trying to catch my breath. I had to figure a way out of this, but how?
In the reflection of the window I saw Dreyven walk over to the apartment door. He checked through the peephole first, making sure it was Jamison at the door before unlocking it. As he opened the door, I saw light flood into the darkened apartment, then I heard a click and a loud“Boom!” that I felt in my bones, then everything went black.
31
Mason
When I regained consciousness,the steely gaze of David Jarreau was the first thing I saw. The years seemed to have been kind to him, a few more laughter wrinkles around his eyes, a touch of gray in his hair. Overall, though, not much had changed.
“Good to see you again, kiddo,” he said, helping me sit up. “How’s the head?”
“Um, okay?” I answered, reaching up and rubbing a tender spot on the side of my head. “Ouch! That hurt…” My voice trailing off as I looked around the room in confusion. The room looked like, well, like an explosion went off in it, papers and bits of ceiling littered the room.
Wait, ceiling?
“What—?” I started to ask, looking around.
“Well, I got your message, obviously. Took a little bit of doing with our federal friends, but we managed to delay your flight back long enough to get your friends to a safe house and get Jamison in place,” he said. I could hear him speaking, but my ears were still ringing from the explosion, and I was having a hard time following the conversation. I saw Dreyven kneeling on the floor by the door, his hands cuffed behind his back.
Oblivious to my confusion, Jarreau continued. “That security guard of yours, Joe, was it? Feisty fellow. He was dead set against leaving you unprotected. We told him he had to leave so that we could control the scene, but he refused. Did you know he used to be a Texas Ranger? Tried to pull rank on me!Ha!” Jarreau laughed and scratched his chin.
“He’s a stubborn old man, but it sounds like he cares a lot about you and your friends. He only let us take over his post on the condition that, in exchange, we let him ‘guard’ Everett and Lizzie at the safe house. I had to have one of my agents drive him over there. We had just enough time to place some cameras in the apartment before you and Dreyven showed up,” Jarreau said, leaning back in his chair.
“Youdelayed the plane?Fuck, I didn’t know you could do stuff like that,” I said in amazement, finally started to track the conversation. Jarreau grinned at me like a kid in a candy store.
“We don’t get to do it all the time, but once in a while, if the need is great, we have a few people we can call,” he said smugly.
I rubbed my head again, which still stung pretty badly.
“Damn, sorry about that,” Jarreau said, tilting my head back gently to get a better look at the side of my face. “Popper! Get the kid some ice for his head.” He turned back around toward me. “Had a flash-bang that malfunctioned, and it looks like it sent a piece of plastic into the side of your head. Knocked you for a loop. You were out for a few minutes. We’ll be taking you to the hospital to get checked out shortly, but the medics said they think you’ll be fine.”
“Lizzie and Ev, are they okay? Where are they? How did you even find us?” I asked, the words pouring out of me, even though I knew I should let him speak to answer my questions.
Jarreau looked at me like I was a simpleton.
“Mason, I’ve known where you were every day of your life since you left that hospital,” Jarreau said solemnly. I felt my eyes widen in surprise. “Dreyven Reckner needs to be taken down, and I can’t do that if I don’t have your help.”
Thoughts were rolling through my head when one of the officers came over to us.
“Detective Jarreau? Can I speak to you a minute, sir?” the young officer asked nervously.
“What is it, Fitz?” Jarreau asked.
“The suspect…” Fitz began. “His ID says he’s a cop from Ohio.”
“Does it now? Is he one of Dreyven’s men, Mason?” Jarreau continued, the suspicion heavy in his voice. He turned his sad eyes toward me as I considered his question. “I know you weren’t ready back then, back in the hospital, son. The question is, are you ready now? Are you ready to stop running?”
I tilted my head around the detective and looked at Dreyven where he knelt on the ground next to the broken door. He watched me smugly, the corner of his mouth curled up, his eyes confident and knowing. I thought about Lee, the Devereauxs, Zem. I thought of the twins in the ICU, and the damage that Dreyven and his people had already done to the those I loved.
I could keep running, and hope that I might, someday, outrun all the evil in this world. Or I could face it. I could fight it. It was time.
Something in my face must have shown my decision, because as I looked over at Dreyven, he began swearing at the officers, who pulled him to his feet. I thought back to all the lives mine was now touching: Lizzie, Ev, Lee, his family, hell, even my fans. It wasn’t just about me anymore.
“Don’t say a word, Mason!” Dreyven yelled as he was helped to his feet. “You know what will happen if you say another fucking word.”
