“Come on,” she said, pulling Alex’s arm, “we need to find someone who can help us. And you need a hospital.”
Alex looked at her as he steadied himself. He was having trouble getting his footing, and she wondered how much blood he had lost.
“He got away, Sydney. I couldn’t stop him.”
She looked ahead toward the beach as they pulled themselves free of the jungle’s brush. The light hit them both, and they had to squint to see anything in the bright light. Sydney took a quick look around and saw no sign of Jack.
“Don’t worry,” she said, putting her arm around Alex’s waist. “He’ll be back. If not for me, he will definitely want to finish the fight with his brother.”
Forty-Two
Ethan
Ethan tried to open his eyes, but the searing pain in his head made it hard to do so. He could hear the chattering of voices around him, mostly with Jamaican accents. He tenderly lifted his head. Small pieces of gravel were sticking to his left cheek and temple. But movement of any kind was too much of an effort. He felt his arms being roughly pulled behind his back, and he heard the click of stainless-steel handcuffs as they pushed against his wrists.
Truthfully any distraction from the pain in his head was welcome. He was drowsy and disoriented. He tried to recall what had happened since Jack had stood before him, chiding him about his plan to take Marissa’s money. How had Jack figured out his plans? The pain in his head was too much to think about anything for more than a split second. The last memory he had was of a searing pain at the back of his skull and then he was falling.
He started to open his eyes as he was pulled up to a sitting position. He felt a punch of nausea hit his stomach, and he was able to lean forward just far enough to prevent vomiting all over himself. He felt someone nearby reach down and prop him up until he stopped. He was certain he had a concussion, having been knocked unconscious twice in one day. There was no way he could stand. He was sweating and freezing at the same time, and he felt his body shaking. His vision become blurry again, and he was able to make out a stained white gown and a stretcher heading in his direction before he passed out again.
He went in and out of sleep for the next few hours. When he finally became conscious again, a dimly lit hospital room came into view. By the lackluster paint peeling from the walls, he guessed he was still in Jamaica.
He started to get up and realized that he was wearing handcuffs that chained him to the hospital bed. He tugged and pulled for several seconds before realizing there was no use. Exhausted and still woozy from the multiple blows to his head, he fell back onto the pillows propped behind his head.
He looked to his right and realized a large man was seated next to him. He was hunched over, his massive shoulders nearly blocking out the light from the only window in the room. He watched Ethan with an intensity that made him squirm in his bed.
“Good morning, Mr. Evans,” he said with a deep, guttural voice. “Glad to have you back with us. My name is Inspector Sam O’Connell. I’d like to ask you a few questions.”
Forty-Three
Sydney
Sydney shifted her position again, causing the vinyl seat cover of her chair to creak and moan in the corner. The light from the room gently filtered through the sheer curtains. She could hear voices coming and going down the hallway and the gentle beep-beep of the heart-rate monitor next to the bed.
She had been waiting three hours for Alex to wake up from his ear surgery. After they left the beach, they had quickly found a nearby resort and the staff called for an ambulance. It was the first time Sydney had ridden in an ambulance since she was a kid, and the experience in Jamaica was no different. Alex took the ride in stride, although she could see by the grimace on his face that he was in pain.
And now she was waiting. The first hour she had spent quietly looking out the window at the rolling hills and mist hanging on to the valleys below. She looked at it as a type of meditation, a chance to reflect on everything that happened. It wasn’t long after though that her phone began to beep and vibrate, beckoning her from her quiet respite and back to the realities of the world.
Marissa had texted to let her know she was safe. She was preparing to fly out tomorrow and wanted Sydney to join her. She wouldn’t take no for an answer. When Sydney was ready, all she had to do was call the number and a private car service would pick her up. She had never taken a private jet before and was actually looking forward to the experience.
Once she had pulled out her phone to text Marissa, she realized she had an inbox jammed with messages. Part of her wanted to delete every app and social media account on her phone, a sharp digression from the way she had felt before the last few days.
She posted a few outfit photos to her Instagram feed, responded to several emails from brands she worked with, posted an update on her Facebook page, but it all felt empty. She felt disconnected with the rest of the world, like the rose-colored glasses through which she saw her social media presence had been ripped away.
She heard Alex stirring from the other end of the room. He was lying in a white hospital bed, sheets tucked in tight so as not to disturb the web of cords and wires surrounding his bed. There was a thick white gauze bandage wrapped several times around his head with a bulge around his right ear. The color from days in the sun had drained from his face, and she worried he had lost some of his sparkle. She moved closer to him as his eyes fluttered open.
“Alex?” she whispered into his good ear.
He looked at her. A smile creased the corners of his mouth and when he saw her, she could have sworn she saw the color come back into his face. The sparkle was still there.
“Sydney, what are you doing here?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. How are you feeling?”
His squinted a bit and tried to move. “I’m a bit stiff, but I’ll live.”
“Good,” she said with a satisfied smile. “Good news or bad news first?”
“I could handle some good news right now.” She paused, leaned in, and placed her hand on his.
“Well, the good news is, I spoke with the doctor and they were able to save your ear. With some therapy, your hearing should come back as well. Full recovery.”
“Bad?” he said, grabbing her hand in his.
“Your boss is here, Inspector O’Connell. We had a nice little chat. So friendly that one.” She rolled her eyes as Alex let out a small laugh. “He let me have first dibs on you. Ethan is here too, and they too had a nice little chat. Apparently he’s willing to strike a deal with DOJ and give them what they need to bring down Estavez.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad. What about Jack—any news?”
Sydney sighed and pushed her long blond hair over her shoulder. “No. No news of him yet.”
“How does that make you feel?” His face softened as he looked at her.
She shrugged. That was the part where she felt conflicted. When she first found out Jack was alive, she was furious, indignant. The news brought about so much fury and pain, she just wanted him to go back to being dead. It was like reliving his death all over again. But when they caught up to him on the path and he reacted the way he did toward Ethan, wanting to protect her, her feelings changed. Jack kept saying over and over again he had a plan that included her.