He smirks at me and waves a hand towards a seat nearby. "Want to wait with me?"
Groaning in frustration, I go to the couch and dramatically plop down on it. In all actuality, this is a big improvement from the big bag of nothing we've gotten so far.
We wait in silence as we watch the upload bar indicator slowly move centimeter by centimeter on the big computer monitor. If she activated the watch, that means Lucien can track Adeline's whereabouts and download any data that's available.
Well…if she is even the one who activated it, that is.
"What if it's not her?" I ask him softly.
"Then we'll find out who has the watch and see if they know where she is," he says through clenched teeth.
And then his attention snaps to the screen when a new window automatically opens. I move from my seat on the couch to hover over his shoulder as we read through the data together quickly.
"She's in Pennsylvania," I whisper in awe.
Lucien's hands move to the keyboard as he quickly brings up Google maps and searches the address. The town she's in has a population of around 900. It's a small farming town in the middle of nowhere. It would be easy to stay hidden in a place like that.
"Smart girl," he mutters proudly.
"Do you think it's really Adeline?" There are so many scenarios running through my head. One of them is that she is, in fact, dead. The watch could have wound up in Pennsylvania a million different ways, but I have to hold onto the fact that it's her. It has to be.
"It's her," he says confidently, echoing my inner thoughts. "If nothing else, this will give us a better lead than we've had since she first disappeared."
I nod in agreement as I move towards the door. "When are we leaving?" I ask anxiously.
He glances over at me. "As soon as possible," he confirms.
"I'll tell Wraith to ready the plane," I tell him. Inwardly grimacing, I realize I'm going to have to try to convince Katya to get on a plane again with me. I can't trust that she'll stay here by herself and behave. And if she leaves, she's as good as dead. The only option is very clear — I have to take her with me. Then I quietly add, "For all of us."
"All of us?" he inquires with a raised brow.
I shrug and glance down at the floor for a moment before saying, "Well, I have to bring Katya along." With a shake of my head, I explain, "I just don't trust her yet not to run, and she's not safe out there on her own."
Lucien nods once, clearly understanding my situation given what he went through with Adeline. It wasn't safe for her to leave either. "Just be careful," he tells me.
I stare at him for a long time, letting the hidden meaning of his words sink in, before nodding several times. Then I leave to find Wraith so that he can get everything ready to go.
The sooner we leave, the sooner we'll be able to make sure Adeline is safe and sound and back in our lives.
I smile when I think about bringing our girl back home.
CHAPTER 34
KATYA
JACKSON COMES BACK to the bedroom about an hour later…only to announce that we're leaving.
"Leaving?" I exclaim, sitting up in bed. "Where are we going?"
"To the U.S. Pack light, just necessities. We're leaving in fifteen." He goes to the walk-in closet and rips out two suitcases. He begins to pack some shirts and pants into one of them.
I stare at him like he just grew a third head. I can't even process what he's telling me right now. "I-I can't justleave," I protest. "What if theBratvafinds me in the States?" They have soldiers all over the world. All it would take is just the right person to recognize me. Then I would be as good as dead.
Jax stops packing and looks up at me. "They won't," he says, as if his confident answer solves everything.
"How could you possibly know that?" I yell at him, not caring anymore if it's the middle of the night. "What are we even going for?" I ask, although I already have an inkling as to the reason.
"Lucien found Adeline," he says, not offering more of an explanation other than that, as he continues to pack. He glances up at me when I say nothing in response and says sternly, "Twelve minutes now, Katya."
