I drop to my knees, scavenging through the devices. “Indie, please tell me what the fuck’s going on. Why the hell do you need a tracker?”
I don’t want to tell her, not the entire truth. If she knows my mom’s come to harm, she’ll instantly offer herself up.
I won’t fucking allow it.
“Someone’s broken into my mom’s; I need to get over there.”
It’s the shittest excuse I could think of under immense stress.
Her hand grips the circle device, handing it to me as I stand, rushing out the room to her calling my name behind me. It follows me down the hall, fading the faster I clatter down the stairs.
My hand reaches the entrance doors to the Pit, when a much larger one thumps across it, forcing me to crash into it. “What the fuck’s going on?” Dawson barks, looking from me to Regina, whose footsteps rattle down the stairway over my shoulder.
“Dawson, let me leave…” My voice breaks.
Please can everyone stop asking me fucking questions?
Regina speaks up behind me, breathless as she stops in between us. “Someone’s broken into her mom’s.”
Dawson’s face shifts instantly.
He knows.
He reads between the lines, sees the anxiety in my eyes, and feels the fear radiating off my skin.
“Indie, you can—”
“Please, Dawson…” I drag in a steadying breath, clenching my jaw as I fight to contain the outburst. My words come out in a broken whisper. “He’s going to kill her.”
Regina slowly walks to Dawson’s side, gaze searching mine, and her eyebrows crinkle together. “Oh my God, Barry has her?”
I nod frantically. “I’ve tried to buy myself a couple of hours, but I need to leave now. Or I’ll never make it to…”
I can’t finish that sentence. Can’t allow those words to physically leave my lips.
I can’t lose Mom to them; she’s the most precious, untouched love I have in my possession.
Dawson mutters a curse under his breath, dragging his phone to his ear as he walks into the meeting room. I reach out to stop him, until I hear him saying someone else’s name.
Regina wraps her hand around my arm. “I’m coming with you.”
“No! No, Gina, you need to stay here. Jenna needs you.”
“You can’t do this alone.”
“I won’t be.”
She stares at me, her green eyes watering as she shakes her head. “They want me, don’t they? It should be me that goes.”
My hands grip both her arms. I stare at her before tugging her to me. “They’re not getting you or Saint. Ever. I need you to be my fucking eyes and ears, Gina. Just like always.”
Her hands slide up my back, pulling me towards her. It’s a soul-crushing hug, and I study Dawson as he slips on a bulletproof vest before throwing one to me, catching it behind Regina’s back. “We have a team assembling outside. I’ll come with you—”
“Dawson, you should stay with Gina,” I say, glancing at my best friend, who’s now turned the palest shade of white.
He looks across his shoulder at her, features instantly softening.
Turning towards her, he cups her face in his hands, whispering something in her ear that makes her eyes squeeze shut, and presses a kiss to her forehead. “I’ll be back. I promise, angel.”
