Page 24

“She was in a car accident when she was sixteen… she was on her way to pick me up from track practice. A truck driver didn’t see her car…

it was a mistake. Wasn’t his fault. But she sustained a traumatic brain injury, so now she’s permanently disabled.

” I close my eyes tighter to prevent the tears from falling.

“The insurance company denied a lot of thin gs for her… my mom was a stay-at-home mom, so it was just my dad’s insurance from when he worked at a mechanic shop and it wasn’t very good.

Now she’s on disability, which also isn’t very good.

My parents make do with what they can… but Ama’s life will never be the same.

It is hard to lose someone, but they are still here.

It’s a different type of grief. Now… now a lot of my payment for all this goes toward making sure she’s in a state-of-the-art care facility back home.

My parents don’t have to work as hard, and Ama is safer, happier where she is.

That’s all that matters, that Ama is safe. ”

Reid’s hand rubs up and down my back in a comforting glide.

He moves his body closer to me, side pressed against my arm, because he knows I need the comfort of the warmth of his skin.

I take a few deep breaths, then stand up to look down at him.

His mouth is bunched to the side, searching eyes flicking between mine.

“Is that why you do this?”

I shrug, because I don’t know. “Do I need a reason beyond wanting bad people to pay for bad deeds?”

“No, I guess not,” Reid answers truthfully. He dances his fingers up my back to lovingly tangle in the hair at the base of my neck. “I like you so much. Don’t hurt me.”

“I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

Reid smiles shakily, then leans up on his toes to kiss me.

We kiss like that for a while, soft and slow, sweet kisses that make my toes curl against the cold tile.

Finally, we pull apart and I switch the bathroom light off, then follow Reid into the bed.

We lie side by side for a while, staring up at the dark ceiling, no words exchanged between us.

Two broken boys, hurt by the world, finding an odd comfort with each other.

If soulmates exist, I think Reid would be mine.

Hayden bursts into the room panting, bringing bright light from the hallway with him.

“Parker’s tracker went off, I got an alert.”

I sit up straight in the bed, heart pounding. “What do you mean?”

Hayden frantically waves his phone at me. “Gone, a few minutes ago.”

A loud crash from Jacob’s bedroom sounds, then he’s stumbling towards us. “I feel sick.” And then he promptly pukes all over the hallway floor. What the fuck.

Hayden glances at him in concern, hand twitching to reach out, before yanking away to turn his gaze back to me. “We’ve got to move.”

I glance over at Reid, leaning forward to kiss him hard, I pull away with my hand wrapped around his chin. “You have to stay here.”

“I’ll come with you,” Reid says defiantly, eyes blazing.

“Absolutely not. Stay here.”

I climb out of the bed before my brain can make a bad decision like allowing Reid to come with us, where I can’t effectively protect him.

I hurry to get dressed in an ops outfit, harness over my shirt with two guns strapped in, knives in my cargo pants pockets.

When I’m finally done and exiting the closet, I find Reid grumpily cleaning up Jacob’s puke.

He shakes his head when I look at him in wonder. Jacob and Hayden are gone, probably getting ready for the scrambled mission.

“I–”

“Shut up,” Reid says, nostrils flaring. “I’ll see you when you get back. Okay?”

“Yeah. Listen, we have a panic room. I have to put you in there. ”

“What?” Reid screeches. “No… you can’t. I’m claustrophobic.”

Well, that isn’t going to make this easy, then.

I roughly grab Reid by the bicep and drag him toward the other end of the floor, kicking and screaming.

I slap my hand against the wall to open it up and shove Reid inside when the hidden door slides open.

Reid stares at me from the ground, wide-eyed and frightened, but I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep him safe.

Including breaking his trust. Scully rushes into the room beside Reid, and Reid’s hand instinctively goes out to touch her.

Usually she hisses or spits at me, but not this time.

Oddly, her animal eyes say she’s got this, got him, and I pray that I’m doing the right thing.

I leave him kneeling in the safe room because if I don’t, I’ll say something stupid, like tell him how much I love him and want to marry him.

Silence envelops me when the door to the safe room slams shut, and I force myself to back away, to leave him there.

Jacob and Hayden are already standing downstairs in their own tactical gear.

Hayden’s hand is wrapped around Jacob’s neck, squeezing gently while Jacob sways back and forth.

“Ready to go?”

Hayden removes his hand so fast it looks like he’s been burned.

Jacob looks green around the gills, tanned skin a few shades lighter than normal, eyes a little glassy.

I’m not sure he’s fit for a mission but there’s no way I can keep him from checking on Parker.

Jacob and I head toward our bikes, and Hayden hops onto Jacob’s bike behind him, arms tight around Jacob’s waist.

The night is cold, clouds passing over the full moon as we make the quick ride to Mason’s house.

Parking a block away, we walk the rest of the way quickly under the shadow of darkness.

I’m already concerned when Parker isn’t posted up outside in a usual spot we’d pick while watching someone.

The front door pushes open without any fight, making Jacob gasp in fear behind me.

“I’d stay out here with Jacob… in case,” I order Hayden, not even finishing my sentence because he knows.

Hayden goes pale, but lifts his arm to grip Jacob’s shoulder firmly.

Jacob’s pulse visibly pounds in his neck.

That’s the last thing I see before easing into the house.

The kitchen light is on, but the rest of the house is quiet.

Slipping one of my guns out of the harness, I creep toward the kitchen after I’ve cleared the downstairs living room.

I freeze in the hallway as I take in the sight of Parker passed out cold on the ground, and Mason tied up in a chair. Duct tape is over his mouth and tears slide down his cheeks. I rip the duct tape off and Mason heaves in gulps of air.

“They touched me, they touched me,” Mason repeats over and over while shaking his head. “Dante, grab that pill bottle. Now. Please, fuck.”

My frantic gaze lands on a prescription bottle on the counter.

I grab the bottle, about to open the lid but Mason mewls loudly.

Looking back at him, his eyes are glassy, lips trembling at the sight of me with the bottle.

I don’t know what to fucking do. Instinct takes over.

I cut him loose from the zip ties around his ankles and wrists behind the chair.

Mason lurches forward to grab the bottle. Opening it, he tips it back so two pills fall into his mouth and he swallows them dry. Slumping in the chair, his stomach shakes as he fights to inhale, his fingers twitching in his lap. Fuck.

“What the fuck happened?” I ask. I dip down to check the bump on the side of Parker’s head.

Fuck, they hit him hard. After a cursory check of his body, I’m pleased that all else seems to be fine.

I roll him over gently onto his back, dropping my head down to listen to his breathing.

He’s fine. He’ll wake up with a headache but that’s the best scenario here.

Mason has calmed already, but his hands still tremble in his lap.

“I need to wash my hands.” He stands on shaky legs and goes to the sink, diligently washing his hands four times.

His shoulders lower from around his ears, then he spins around to stare at me.

“I was cooking dinner, getting ready to do some work this afternoon. Two men in masks barged into the door dragging this guy with them. They tied me up, asked me questions but I…” Mason pauses and takes a deep breath.

“I have terrible OCD, and when they touched me, it triggered me, so I was effectively useless. Didn’t give them anything they wanted.

But they mentioned Reid’s name before they left…

what have you got my brother tangled up in? ”

All of my blood runs cold.

“They mentioned Reid?” I ask quietly, voice shaking.

Mason squints at me. “Yes. Where is he? Isn’t he with you?”

Oh, fuck. I run out of the house like a bat fleeing hell.

Jacob and Hayden scream after me, but I can’t think of anything beyond getting back to Reid.

I don’t even remember the ride back to the house.

It’s been maybe thirty minutes since I left Reid behind.

The bike skids to a halt in front of the house and I don’t even bother with the kickstand.

Just climb off the bike and let it fall to the ground to take the stairs two at a time.

“Reid!” I scream.

If something happens to Reid because of me, I’ll kill myself. I’ll never let myself feel an ounce of joy ever again.

The empty house echoes back to me. My heart pounds violently as I climb the stairs two by two.

I pause for a moment, afraid to find what my instincts shout at me.

I should’ve let him come with us, should’ve kept him safe beside me.

Gritting my teeth, I slap my hand against the wall, and gasp when the hidden door whips open.

No Reid. Holy fuck. Scully races out of the room, hair sticking up, tail straight to the sky.

I end up back in the kitchen, spinning around with my head in my hands.

That’s how Hayden finds me when he bursts through the front door.

A few moments later Jacob, Mason, and Parker come in behind him.

Parker is still kind of out of it, an ice pack pressed to his head.

“Reid?” Hayden asks wearily.He dips down to pick up Scully, gripping her tight as she mewls and digs her claws into him for protection. Fuck.

“I… he’s not here.” I fight against the urge to sob. “He’s not here. I don’t get it… they didn’t take Mason or Parker… what did they want?”

Parker winces at my voice. “They wanted Reid. We were a distraction.”

My stomach drops at his point, because it sounds right.

Hayden steps past me, eyes caught on the dining table.

His fingers reach out, but hastily pull away.

My eyes follow his hand to see the piece of paper on the table.

The paper is perfectly white, ink black and typed out, looking as if it was pulled directly from the printer before being plopped on the table.

“You all will pay for your crimes. You take from others, so now I will take from you.”

“It’s not even a ransom letter…” Hayden trails off to lift his scared blue gaze to mine. “What the fuck do they want?”

“You’ve got to tell Robin… we’ve done so much. It’s our turn to be helped. If something happens to Reid…” I blow out a breath, squeezing my eyes shut. “I’ll burn this city to the ground if one single hair on his head is hurt.”

Mason gasps loudly. “You care about him that much?”

I swallow roughly. “I’d fucking kill for him. He’s mine. Take that how you will.”

Parker moans loudly from the living room. “They smelled like the guys from the one job. The one where we killed the guy and returned all the money in his bank account to the people he’d stolen it from. The club owner.”

“What?” Hayden asks around a laugh. “You remember them from the way they smell?”

Parker shrugs lightly before moaning. “Clove cigarettes and salami.”

Hayden squeezes his eyes shut tightly, then pulls out his phone to type away.

He collapses at the table and Jacob joins him, their bodies pressed tightly together as Jacob keeps a wary eye on his twin.

Mason stands uncomfortably by the front door, eyes darting around the room.

I haven’t cleaned in a while, so it’s messier than normal, but we're not dirty guys. It’s a normal lived-in house, but Mason’s cheeks take on a flush as he wraps his arms tightly around himself.

“Please find my brother soon,” Mason pleads.

“I’ll tear the world apart to find him,” I promise, meaning every word.

Hayden quickly stands from the table, chair screeching against the tile floor. He heads outside into the night, voice hush-quiet as he whispers on the phone. I feel anxious and out of it while I wait for some sort of hint, some way to find Reid.

What if I can’t find him? What if someone hurts him?

What if he’s crying out for me, waiting for me to save him, as the minutes tick by without me bursting through the door.

So many what-ifs run through my brain that I start to feel sick with it.

I dip down in a squat, cradling my head in my hands as I almost vomit from the emotions sweeping through me.

I’ve got to get to Reid before someone tries to hurt him. I’ve got to tell him that I love him.