She wouldn’t.
Even after everything I’d done.
Surely, she wouldn’t.
Guilt continues to tug at me as Link lowers his tablet to the table.
We all wait in silence with our backs to the door as we stare at the screen, trusting Xander, Gunner, Toby, and Nico to secure the building and stop us getting ambushed while we try to figure this shit out.
“There.” Link points to a dark patch in the trees.
“Let’s go,” D barks out, heading toward the front door before the image has even cleared enough to be able to take out a building. It could be anything.
Link hesitates for three seconds, his eyes locked on the screen, but the second he agrees, he slams it closed and marches right out behind Dawson, Cruz falling into step beside him, quickly followed by us.
“Get ready, boys,” Cruz says as we head into the trees, ready to make our way to this building hopefully unnoticed. “We’re about to put a dent in the Wolves’ pack.”
Pulling out the gun Cruz ensured we all had before we arrived from my waistband, I let my fingers flex around the handle, wishing it was mine.
It doesn’t feel right, and I need everything to be fucking perfect right now if I stand any chance of fixing all this shit.
Blowing out a long breath, I push all my concerns aside.
I’ve been shooting with damn near perfect precision since I was a kid. Who gives a fuck whose gun it is? Who I’m protecting with it is more important.
Trust your instincts, Theodore.
Trust your training.
Dad’s words ring out loud and clear in my head.
Moving faster, I step up beside Dawson and Cruz as a building begins to appear through the trees in the distance.
“They probably already know we’re coming."
“So we’re either expecting heavy fire, or they’ve already run like pussies,” I suggest.
“I’d put money on the latter,” Cruz mutters. “Wolfe loves his pretty face too much to risk getting it shot at.”
“As long as they’ve not taken her with them,” D adds.
“We’ll get her, bro. Don’t sweat it,” Cruz says lightly, much to Dawson’s irritation.
“Can you at least try to take this more seriously? We’ve not just lost her favourite teddy, this is my fucking daughter we’re talking about.”
“Take it seriously? Are you fucking shitting me, man? That girl means as much to me as she does to you. We’re getting her back in one piece.”
We fall silent as we come to a stop, still hidden by the trees and thick undergrowth.
The others step up behind us, but my eyes don’t waver from the building, desperate to see some movement. To see her.
“Ready?” Dawson barks out.
“Let’s go.”
Both D and Cruz step forward, their bodies in perfect sync despite not having worked together in this capacity in years, maybe even ever, until recently.
I think back briefly to the day they turned up at my flat both covered in blood and wonder if they were as seamless with whoever they beat the shit out of that day.
Probably.
Twigs snap and old leaves rustle as we all emerge from the trees and spread out, ready to cover the entire building in the hope of stopping anyone from leaving.
Movement in one of the windows catches my eye a second later than Cruz’s, and the pop of his shot echoes through the silence.
“If they didn’t know we were here before, then they really do now. Let’s go get our girl.”
The second I get to a door, I lift my foot and slam it into the old, weathered wood.
Immediately, it swings open, revealing an old kitchen beyond.
The sound of gunfire fills my ears as doors slam and engines start in the distance.
“Motherfucker,” someone grunts deeper in the building.
“Where is she?” Dawson’s cold and terrifying voice reverberates from my right, and when I get to the doorway, I find him with a Wolf pinned against the wall, his arm pulled back at an angle which can only mean he’s dislocated the fucker’s shoulder.
Good. It’s the least he deserves if he’s got Emmie captive here somewhere.
“I said, where the fuck is she?” He booms when he doesn’t get the response he was looking for.
The pussy screams like a girl when D pulls his arm farther back.
He must give Dawson the answer he wants because two seconds later, D drives his fist into the cunt’s kidney and lets him drop to the floor like a sack of shit.
Stepping over the fuck as he groans and writhes on the floor, I take off after D.
More gunshots sound out, but I don’t pay any attention to the fallout of what’s happening around me. My focus is solely on one person. And I don’t relax until Dawson darts to the left into a room and announces, “Emmie.”
My feet move faster, racing in behind him.
I come to a grinding halt as I watch her jump into his arms. “You came,” she cries.
“Of course we did, kiddo. Did you think we’d be anywhere else?”
She clings to him like he’s her lifeline.
It hurts, really fucking hurts, as she tucks her face into his neck and allows him to hold her up.
“Take me home. Please,” she begs, not pulling away even an inch.
She’s not even noticed I’m standing here.
There’s a part of me who wants to just walk up to her and announce my presence, allow her to acknowledge that I’ve been a part of this too. But there’s also another part who just wants to back away and let her be with her dad. Let him be the person she needs right now.
And in the end, that’s exactly what I do.
“Come on, let’s head out,” I say the second I find Alex and Seb standing at the front door.
They both immediately look over my shoulder as if Emmie is going to race after me.
“Where’s Emmie? Is she okay?” Seb asks in a rush. I’m not surprised; the two of them have become closer since they discovered their connection.
“She’s fine. D’s got her. Come on, let’s get out of their way.”
“But—”
“Stella’s going to be losing her shit. Call her and tell her everything is fine,” I demand, taking off toward the main house where we left Alex’s car.
She wanted to come with us, no surprise there, but the second Calli learned that something was up, she was blowing up Stella’s phone, so she reluctantly agreed to go and keep her company while we dealt with everything. I can imagine her pacing back and forth as she waits for news.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay, make sure she gets home okay?” Alex asks, rushing to catch up with me.
“She’s where she needs to be. Come on.” I continue walking, and I’m about to turn a corner when I make the fucking mistake of looking back.
She’s standing there with her dad’s arm wrapped around her shoulder, her hands stuffed into the pocket of the hoodie she’s wearing.
Her tired eyes find mine and I gasp at the pain within them.
What did they do to her? What has she endured in the past few hours while she’s been captive here? Why did they want her in the first place?
“Theo?” Alex calls, having not seen what’s stopped me.
Seb has though, because he’s stopped with his phone to his ear and is staring right at Emmie as well.