I follow her eyes to a screen at the top left. There is the same room from the video, the same worn out bedding, the same unmoving body. I bring up the feed, projecting the stream on all of the screens. We watch as Liv lies motionless on the bed, face down. Blood pools around her face.
Fuck. She might be dead.
“Liv,” Celeste whimpers as Luke moves to wrap his arm around her shaking shoulders.
And then she breathes. The motion is almost too small to detect—but it’s there. She’s breathing.
“There…” Ali notices too. “She’s breathing. She’s okay.”
Everyone leans in simultaneously. We take a collective breath and sigh of relief as her back rises and falls ever so slightly. She’s alive. We can get her.
“Can you tell us the room?” Luke asks.
I click through the system, identifying the labeled room number. “Yes,” I confirm. We have her.
“What about Will? Erika?” Celeste asks, her worried eyes looking up to Luke.
“We will need a distraction. Something to keep those two busy while Garett and I grab Liv,” Luke responds to her as he holds her tight. She leans into him without any restraint and I find I am a bit jealous. I long for that type of intimacy—when another trusts you to literally hold them up.
“Why you two?” Celeste questions. “I want to help. Why can’t I come? I can be the distraction and—”
Luke silences her by pulling her into his arms. His forehead touches hers as he stares her down. His normally slick hair has fallen across his forehead. They spend a silent moment just staring at each other. Ali’s hand finds my shoulder, the touch soothing a part of me that I didn’t know was hurt. I haven’t needed anyone in a very long time, but I’m beginning to think that I won’t survive losing her again—not now that I have her here.
Mine.
“Will could recognize you, Sweetness. They won’t be fooled in the slightest.”
My mind reels through potential ideas, any possibilities we might be able to use to keep Will and his sidekick busy long enough for us to grab the pink-haired girl.
“They won’t recognize me,” Ali offers from my side.
“Absolutely not!” I roar as I spin to face her. “There is no way in Hell you’re getting anywhere close to that cas—”
“Why not?” she argues back as she crosses her arms and pops her hip. Normally, I love her fire, her fight. But not now. Not about this.
“I am not letting you get anywhere near that place, these people. Ali.” I take her hand in mine, pleading. “I can’t risk it. They’re dangerous.”
“She’s right,” Luke adds from behind me. “They wouldn’trecognize her. Wouldn’t suspect anything.”
I spin on him, seeing red at his suggestion. That he would even suggest that we put Ali in risk…
“I will gut you if you even think about using her—”
“Threaten him again, and I will go get the bat and hit you upside the headagain,” Celeste interrupts, her eyes alight with a flame fanned bright by rage and loss and love.
“Enough!” Ali yells, quieting us all. Apparently, the teacher’s voice really does work. “I am doing this.” I start to argue but she holds up a hand to interrupt me. “I am doing this and we are getting her out of there. Then we will regroup and figure out how to make all of these fuckers, including Brody, pay for all the vile and evil things they’ve done.”
“Are you sure?” I ask her, clasping my hand around hers and pulling her toward me. She doesn’t fight me. No, she easily surrenders to my will. A surge of pleasure rushes down my spine.
“I want to be free of Brody. I want to be able to be with you without an angry husband looming over our future,” she reassures me as she lays a free hand against my chest. “I want them to get what they deserve. And I want us to have the future we deserve.” She leans in and kisses my cheek, her soft breath whispers across the shell of my ear. “I trust you to keep me safe.”
This is a truly terrible idea. It’s risky and dangerous and not planned out in the slightest. And yet, her faith is intoxicating. A man could do many crazy, ill-conceived things for the love of a beautiful woman. And knowing Ali trusts me is a heady rush. Despite my better judgment, my rational mind screaming no, I find my resolve wither away to ash.
“Fine,” I finally concede. “But we all follow my plan without question.”
TWENTY-SEVEN
Allison
