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CHAPTER 9

JAXSON

“Have you found the son of a bitch yet?” General Parks growls in my ear.

It's been three months, and we’re no closer to finding the bastard than we were when we went in search of Aurora. Our only saving grace is the victims we have found and rescued. Every day is a battle with conditions worse than the last for each layer we uncover. Unfortunately, I had to call and debrief General Parks on our progress.

“No,” I admit angrily. “Fucker keeps slipping through our fingers. He’s always one step ahead. I don’t know how he keeps evading us.”

“How’s the recovery coming along?”

Today, we’re in Romania, where we found thirteen more victims of human trafficking. All bore the same tattoo that the others had… Property of Krukov.

“We’ve rescued a total of seventy-seven people,” I report. “Mostly female, some male, and the youngest so far…” I take a deep breath. “Ten.”

“Fuck!” General Parks shouts so loud that I have to pull the phone away from my ear. “Where to next, Rivers?”

I gesture to Carver to hand me the map. “Looks like we have a lead in Belarus.”

“Good, good,” he says absently.

Desperation eats away at my insides to ask how Aurora is doing, but it’s not my place. The terror on her face when we rescued her from that shack still haunts my dreams to this day. I know the general has her best interests at heart and will make sure she has the best care possible to overcome this.

My mouth, however, doesn’t get my brain’s memo. “How’s Aurora doing?”

Hudson’s head snaps up and turns in my direction, as do the rest of my men.

Carver mouths, “ What the fuck are you doing?” I flip him off because I really don’t know. I need closure, to know Aurora’s doing well and that she’s safe.

Despite being confused with my behavior they all gather around, so I put the call on speaker.

General Parks sighs. “It’s not good, Rivers.”

Instantly, our postures all stiffen. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” he says, defeatedly. “Aurora accompanied me and Vera to the State dinner in D.C. because I was getting an award.” I glance at Hudson, knowing he’s thinking what I am. She was probably in no shape to be around huge crowds, but we keep our mouths shut. “I didn’t want her to go, but Vera insisted, and once Aurora found out I was the one receiving the award, she wouldn’t be deterred.”

Well, that explains that. I had a feeling she was a daddy’s girl at heart.

“Sir?” I say, prompting him to continue.

“Oh yes, um… Aurora left before the event started, but she sent a text saying she was going back to the hotel. I knocked on her door when we returned, but she didn’t answer. I thought she was asleep.” We all draw in a sharp breath. “The next morning, still nothing, and I panicked. I had a spare key so I opened the door, but she wasn’t there. The bed looked like it was never slept in. Her stuff was there, but Aurora was gone. The limo driver said he never saw her after he dropped us all off. He had no idea she had left either.”

“Where the fuck was Benson and his team?” I snarl.

“Benson followed her to Virginia,” he explains. “I told him and his men to get some rest since she was with me. I can protect my daughter. At least, I thought I could. We were going to a State Dinner with government officials, for fuck’s sake.”

I signal the men to start packing up. “Where do you think she is?”

“I ended up tracking her phone back to her apartment,” General Parks admits. “I sent Willow over to check on her.”

We all raise our brows in anticipation, wondering where he’s going with this.

“Aurora… she… I…,” General Parks babbles.

I’m barely holding on by a thread. “Sir,” I interrupt. “What happened to Aurora?”

“She tried to kill herself!”

The blood in my veins boil. I pick up the nearest chair and throw it into the wall, puncturing a hole in it. “Fuck!”

“Willow found empty bottles of Percocet, Xanax, and Ambien in the bathroom after she called nine-one-one,” he says. “Fortunately, Willow got there in time. She barely had a pulse, but she had one.”

All of my men have matching looks of fury etched on their faces. I clench and unclench my fists repeatedly to keep myself from destroying our room any more than I already have.

“Aurora was doing so well,” he explains. “She’s in therapy and went back to work. She seemed happy.”

I can’t hide my shock. “Aurora went back to work?”

“Remotely,” General Parks clarifies. “She met with Hugh, and he offered her a position writing articles under a pen name. Aurora doesn’t interview anyone anymore. She only writes what others give her.”

That makes more sense. So, what caused this episode? If she was happy and doing well, what made her want to end it all?

“What are the doctors saying?” Hudson pipes up.

“I should’ve known you’d put me on speaker,” General Parks mumbles. “They won’t tell me much because of HIPAA. As far as I know, they’re keeping her for at least a seventy-two-hour involuntary psych hold and evaluation. I hate that they’re doing that to her, but I have no idea how else to help her. Willow’s in there with her now. I stepped out to take your call.”

I lock eyes with Thomas. “What about Yazzie?”

Thomas rubs his chin in thought. “I could get a message to him.”

“Do it,” I order. “General, I have an idea.”

Thomas pulls out his phone and begins texting.

“I’m listening.” He sounds hopeful.

“I have a friend in Fairbanks. He raises Wolamutes.”

“What the hell is a Wolamute?” he asks, confused. I scroll through my pictures, searching for the one of a dog that would put the fear of God into anyone, and hit send. “What the hell is that thing?”

I smile. “It's a crossbreed. A gray wolf and an Alaskan Malamute. Very loyal dogs, and as you can see, they’re also huge and very intimidating. They also make very good guard dogs,” I explain. “Our buddy, Yazzie, breeds and trains them for vets with PTSD.”

“You think he’d have one for Aurora?” he asks, hopefully.

“Yazzie has one,” Thomas announces. “Who’s gonna pick him up and when?”

“You are,” the General states. “Pack up. You boys are coming home. Bennett, get the travel plans ASAP. I want you in the air in two hours. Debriefing in my office in seventy-two hours, gentlemen.”

“Sir,” Carver inserts. “What about our mission? What about the other missing victims?”

“I’m sending another team out today. Carver, send whatever intel you have over to Benson’s team,” he orders. “I’ll see you on Friday.”

“Roger that,” we all respond before he disconnects the call.

Hudson breaks the silence first. “I can’t believe she tried to…”

“What do you think triggered her to do something so drastic?” Bennett asks the question we’re all thinking.

I shake my head. “Who knows? Could have been overwhelmed by the crowd, or something might’ve triggered her. We’ll have to ask her.”

Carver rubs the back of his neck. “Hate to say it, man, but if she ain’t telling the general, she sure as fuck isn’t going to tell us.”

I scowl at him because he’s right. We’re not close to her. We feel a special connection to her because not only is she the general’s daughter, but we also saw her at her lowest. We were there when she lost control. Sure, we’ve rescued other victims, but we didn’t see the same horrors we did the night we found Aurora. That’s a bond that’ll never be broken.

I turn toward the bedroom. “You heard the general. Wheels up in two hours.”

A chorus of ‘Oorahs’ follow me.