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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jolie

Two days. Two fucking days they have kept me asleep or passed out on sedatives. Admittedly, every time I wake up, I freak out and start hurting people. After my last outburst, they sent the girls home.

Trace pops his head in the door. “Can I come in?” he asks, and I nod. I think my violent outbursts have passed, at least for now.

“Petra wanted me to bring you this. You need to eat and start pumping.”

I look down at my lumpy breasts, and tears fall. I have kept them at bay, and now—I don’t know if I can contain them. My heart hurts so much more than it ever has before in my entire life, for little humans who I barely know. Even as that thought forms, I tell myself I did know them; I grew them inside of me for months.

“Thank you. Any news yet? Have Chester and Marlow come home?”

He shakes his head, but his eyes tell me he isn’t saying everything. “Stop lying to me, Trace.”

They always seem to forget I was also trained to be able to pick up on deception. It may not be as well as the others since I was gone for a few years, but I can now remember all that training. While it was one of the most boring classes I ever took as a child, it always came naturally to Davis, and we later found out it’s because it’s his ability.

He sighs and places the breast pump, sandwich, and a bottle of water on the bed and takes a seat next to me.

“Fine. We wanted to tell you when everyone was here. Elizabeth was at the house with Melinda when Ziyon picked them up. Corey helped Kai sketch it out, but we think Chester and Marlow somehow knew, and they went to hunt down their mother.”

“Why would she help Ziyon?” I ask.

“Jealousy. She was so far up Mr Z’s ass, and we think she must have gone to Ziyon in hopes he had a plan, or she had a plan—we can’t be totally sure. Jimmie is trying to track her down, and Chester and Marlow are not answering their phones. We have even tried calling the guys from your phone and still nothing, so we think they have ditched. It seems they cut their tracking devices from their necks, as our attempts to track them were also unsuccessful. Colt found the trackers on the side of the road not far from where Melinda was being held in Sunset Haven.”

Fucking hell, my brain scrambles to process what he has just said. “I need to call Melinda. She never came across as someone who would steal babies. Maybe he is forcing her.”

I reach for my phone and dial her number, but it goes straight to voicemail.

“Hey, Melinda. It’s Jolie. Please, if you have my babies, I just need to know that they’re safe. Please. I never imagined you could do this to me after what they did to you. You were robbed of a life with me—don’t let him do the same to me,” I sob out, ending the call and slamming the phone on the bedside table.

“We will find them, Star. I’ve been running images, and so far, they don’t hit any red flags and have never been on Olympia’s radar before.”

“I know everyone is doing everything they can, but I’m scared for my babies, and I’m scared for Chester and Marlow. If they find her, Chester won’t ask questions, and taking your own mother’s life isn’t something anyone should have to do.”

“Marlow can deal with Chester. How about we set this contraption up, so when we find them, they’ll have milk to drink?”

I nod, and Trace picks up the box and opens it. It’s a little electric pump; we have a bigger one in the nursery.

“Do you mind if I use the one in the nursery? I just need to be alone.”

Trace nods, and I slip from the bed. I take the bottle of water with me and head towards the nursery.

I push the door open, and the sight of Case startles me. He looks up from his position on the floor where he is sitting with his back against the wall, clutching a teddy bear to his chest.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“What for?” he asks, pushing himself up.

“Disturbing you. I just wanted to pump.”

“It’s fine. I was just pulling myself together. I’m trying to be strong for you, but it’s hard. I can’t lose them. Losing you almost killed me, and I don’t know if I can survive this,” he says through his tears. I step up close to him and pull him into my arms. He wraps his arms around my waist and rests his head on my shoulder.

“I know. We just have to believe we will find them. I can’t accept that we won’t. Especially now knowing Elizabeth is involved, Chester won’t stop hunting until he finds her. I just hope he asks questions first.”

“I have never felt so useless in my life. I’m their father, I’m supposed to protect them, and yet we sent you off right into his hands.”

“What even happened to you? Why were you not right behind us?” I ask. In the haze of losing the twins, I didn’t even think to question it.

“There was a bomb threat, and the entire carpark went into lockdown. They closed the gates, and we couldn’t get out straight away. Marlow had to get Jimmie to hack their system and override the code.”

“So he really did have someone on the inside who knew we were leaving.”

“It makes sense if it was Elizabeth. I’m sure Grandma Betty would have been updating her.”

“Has anyone asked Grandma Betty if she told Elizabeth? Because if no one told her, we may have another leak at the hospital.”

Case pulls back and looks into my eyes. “I’m not sure, but I will talk to Brennan. Are you okay on your own?”

“I will be fine. Just need to empty these before they explode, since someone drugged me and I slept for two days,” I say, looking down at the boulders on my chest.

“In our defence, you would attack anyone who looked your way. It was for your own safety.”

I get it. It still annoys me, but I can’t focus on that right now. Case leaves, and I spend the next five minutes figuring out what tube goes where and how to attach all the pieces. When I have it figured out, I make myself comfortable on one of the rocking chairs. I gently attach both bottles to my rocks, but I don’t know how this will go, considering the pain I feel right now.

I turn the machine on the lowest setting and wince as it sucks my nipple in. When nothing happens, I close my eyes and picture little Zadom with his fine layer of jet-black hair holding his sister’s hand. A daughter I didn’t even get to name.

The relief is almost instant when the first stream comes out. It doesn’t feel nice, but it’s a relief all the same.

When the small bottles are filled and my breasts are no longer so lumpy, I turn the machine off. I put the girls away, and as per the instructions, I tip the milk into the freezer bags. I’m not sure how much they will drink, but at this point, I’m just glad I can do something for them.

The sound of a door slamming has me grabbing the breast milk and racing down the stairs. It’s a fast walk, but I stop dead in my tracks when I see Chester standing in the foyer, his mother hog-tied and thrown over his shoulder.

“Is she alive?” Laughn asks, moving in close. Elizabeth thrashes around and Laughn jumps back.

“Where is Marlow?” I ask, and everyone turns to me.

“Right here,” he says, stepping through the door. “Let’s take her to the holding cells while we decide what to do with her.”

“Let me slit her throat, really fucking slowly,” Chester growls, standing in a stare off with his brother.

“I told you already, we can’t kill our own mother,” Marlow snaps.

“I’ll do it,” Laughn says with a shrug of his shoulders.

Something snaps inside me, and I race down the stairs, my fury at the forefront. I hand the breast milk to Laughn, who just raises a brow at me. Chester drops his mother to her feet and holds her up while I get closer.

“Where the fuck are my babies?!” I scream at her, ripping the damn tape from her mouth.

“Help!” she screams, trying to plead with me, but at this point, no amount of begging is going to save her. I slap her across the face, and the sound echoes through the foyer. Her mouth drops, and a red angry handprint forms on her skin. It’s not even the beginning of what is going to happen to her if she doesn’t start talking. Though, if she hasn’t opened up to her own sons, I doubt any of us will get her to change her mind.

“No one here will save you, bitch. You will meet your maker if you don’t start talking. Fuck Laughn doing it—I want to see you suffer, agonisingly slow.”

I had always thought I would never be able to actually kill someone, even after finding out who I was and getting my memories back. But right now, sheer anger courses through my veins, and my hands tremble with rage. She will tell me by the time I’m finished with her.

“Fuck you!” she snaps. “I won’t say anything, especially not to you.”

“So you do admit to taking part in your grandchildren’s kidnapping,” I snarl back.

Her face goes white, as if she hadn’t even considered them her grandchildren. “That’s right. They’re your blood, your sons’ DNA runs through their veins, as does yours. I can’t believe you’re that self-centred you would do that to innocent children, and for what? Money? What is it? Now that your sons are legal adults, has the cash flow stopped?”

I shake my head. “Don’t even bother taking her to the holding cells—take her to the morgue. Saves messing up two rooms. Strap her down and let her recoup for a bit.” Wetness catches my attention mid tirade. “Fuck, I just leaked through my damn shirt. I will deal with her after I eat. You can’t carve up a body unless you have a full stomach... right?” I say, looking around and making eye contact with Creed.

“That’s right, Tenshi,” he says with a half-smile, one that doesn’t indicate happiness—it’s forced at best.

Turning my back on her, I hurry back up the stairs and into the closet, my breathing erratic. Leaning against the wall, I try to slow my racing breaths. It doesn’t work, and I clutch at my chest as I slide down the wall.

A knock has me glancing over at the door. Davis stands in the doorway, but at the sight of me his eyes go wide, and he moves into the closet, kneeling in front of me.

“Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth,” he says, taking my hands in his. “That’s it. Try to slow it down a little.”

He copies the actions along with me until I feel like I have control of it again. “Thank you,” I whisper.

“I wanted to check and see if you would be okay to question Elizabeth with me. A woman like that will not be easily swayed.”

I nod. “I have to try. She won’t talk to any of you guys because you have nothing to offer her. I will try, for a split second she responded when I called them her grandchildren, but if I can’t get through to her, maybe we get Mr Myers to try. He has money and status, and she responds well to that.”

Davis nods and stands, holding out his hand to pull me up from the ground. “Let’s feed you and deal with her. Marlow and Jimmie had a hit in the police database on one of the sketches, so they are following up that lead.”

“What about Paul, the other security guard? Has anyone heard from him?”

“Not yet. We don’t know if he has gone rogue, but I doubt it since we have his family. To be safe, we have sent an underground team to extract and move them. Maybe also to do a little role-play and get some convincing photos,” he says with a smirk.

We go back downstairs to the kitchen, where Petra has snacks set up. Laughn is already sitting at the table and pulls me down onto his lap as I pass him.

“Where is Chester?” I ask him.

“Creed has taken him to work out some of his aggression before he is around people. He isn’t in the right frame of mind at the moment.”

Petra gives me a small smile as she places a smoothie down in front of me. “This is good for your supply, an old trick my grandmother taught me. Drink that, then you can go get some answers from that dreadful woman.”

I can only nod at her. I’m scared of the ire that might come out of my mouth, and even more so that I might direct it at the wrong person. My hands shake as I pick up the mason jar and take a sip. I have no idea what’s in it, possibly berries with the purple colour. That, or they just disguise all the other things she has dumped in here. Either way, I will need my strength for what I’m about to do.

Davis pulls a stool into the corner of the room, out of Elizabeth’s line of sight. She is strapped down to the table, a new strip of tape covering her mouth, and I get mild satisfaction from ripping it clean off her face. She looks old now that her makeup has faded, and she isn’t so put together.

“Are you ready to tell me where my babies are?”

She tries to thrash around, but she realises it’s no use. “Fuck you! You gold digger!”

I have my back to her, and I laugh. “It takes one to know one, right?” I throw over my shoulder, but she doesn’t realise how wrong she is. How could I be a gold digger when I was literally created to run this company?

I pull out a shiny scalpel and turn back around to face her, watching with sick satisfaction as panic washes over her face. “I won’t tell you anything,” she sneers.

“That’s what I can’t figure out. We could pay you double what he has, and you know that, so it’s not money. He has something on you, something you would risk your relationship with your sons and your grandchildren for. So, I propose a deal. You tell me something I want to know, and in exchange, I won’t use this. I can bet you’re well acquainted with plastic surgery, but by the time I’m done with you, I’m not sure even that could fix you.”

Turning the scalpel upside down, I run it down the side of her face. “Hmmm, I wonder where I will start. What will you be without your beauty?”

“Don’t you dare, you savage bitch! I’ll ruin you,” she seethes.

“The issue with that is, I have nothing left to lose. Tell me what you know!” I yell.

Losing my cool, I stab the little blade into her leg. I didn’t nick anything major, and she can always have it fixed. Her scream radiates through the air, the screech of her voice bouncing off the walls of the morgue.

Once she gathers herself, she laughs. “You really think he would have told me anything?”

I run the scalpel lightly up her leg; it’s not enough to cut her deep, but it’s so sharp it scrapes the skin enough to leave a mark that has blood rising to the surface.

“I know he took you with him when he left Sunset Haven. So, he had to take you somewhere, or surely you overheard some of his plans.”

“I know nothing,” she snaps, shaking her head. “He dumped me back at my car.”

“Not good enough, Elizabeth.” I tsk, shaking my head at her. Pointing the scalpel into her cheek, I smirk as it instantly pierces the skin. “Hurry up... this will just get longer and bigger if you don’t talk. You wouldn’t want to leave here covered in scars. I’m going to move to your scalp next. Just imagine some of these chemicals in here. Melting your scalp to the point you could never grow your hair back, the skin so sensitive that wigs will put too much pressure on you. Tick tock, Elizabeth.”

“Gahhh,” she screams. “Not my face.” Her thrashing renews, but she cannot cover her face with her arms restrained. I pull the scalpel away quick enough before it does any more damage.

“You want to match on the other side?” I taunt. “Okay.”

“No, please no. All I know is one of the men is Guy Bradley. He works for some big pharmaceutical company. Please, that’s all I know.”

“It’s a good start. Lock her up in the cells for safekeeping,” I tell Davis, and he nods. “And get her a bandage so she doesn’t leave a mess for us to clean.”

I throw the scalpel on the metal bench and leave the morgue, heading straight for Marlow’s office. I knew it’s where I’d find him and Jimmie; they both turn and look at me the moment I enter the room. “Guy Bradley, look him up.”

Jimmie turns back around and starts typing away. A picture of him pops up on the screen in less than a minute.

“How is he connected to the other guy?” Jimmie asks Marlow. “The other guy is some petty cybercriminal who can barely get a job done.”

“They probably have no connection—he would be disposable to them,” I add. “What do we do now that we know who Ziyon is with?”

Marlow’s fingers fly over the keys. “We find any properties they own and places they frequent. If this man is in pharmaceuticals, he could be building a new company and have taken our babies as guinea pigs. I’m hoping I can also find... Ah, hah! Peirce Mason is a leading scientist. He has won some bullshit awards, and guess who he has been friends with since college? He owns a building just outside the city. Let’s gather everyone.”