Page 34

Ty

I ’m no stranger to police interrogations. But even still, I’m tired and frustrated by the time the police have finally finished making me repeat my story. Since Danielle’s death, I’ve been wary of the cops especially since in my mind they’ve been more vigilant and concerned with the Iron Serpents’ business than they ever were with the gangs responsible for her death. Perhaps if they’d done their jobs properly back then, she’d still be alive. Being back in a police station brings up memories of that fateful night that I’d rather stay buried.

But if it helps reunite Emma with Max, I’ll willingly embrace the pain.

When I come out of the interrogation room, I head to where the others are waiting. Only Jax and Bess are in the waiting room. They look anxious, but not unduly so.

“Hey, guys. Where are Emma and Mace?” I ask.

They glance at each other, an unspoken conversation taking place. “Mason is still being interviewed,” Bess replies.

“And Emma?” I prompt, feeling nervous by their hesitancy.

“She freaked out a bit and went to the hospital to be with J-Bird,” Jax admits.

“And you let her go alone?” I reply incredulously.

“Not exactly…” Jax says.

“Jax, I’m tired and grumpy. I suggest you spit it out before I take it out on you,” I grunt.

“The FBI has arrested Kane. He’s being interrogated as we speak.”

“The problem is, they didn’t find Max,” Bess adds. “But they’re hopeful that they will be able to find out his location from Kane soon, we have some of our best guys working on it.”

“Fuck! No wonder she freaked out. Mason’s gonna flip when he hears this,” I reply, feeling a whole range of emotions and not sure how to process them all at once.

Anger for us following the plan and it not paying off. Rage at those responsible for taking Max. Fear for his safety. Irritation for having agreed to testify against Kane for nothing. Concern for Emma’s wellbeing. Anxiety at the thought of what Max must be going through. Helplessness thinking that Emma might have to suffer and go through the pain of losing a child. And so much more.

“When I hear what?” Mason asks, coming into the room behind me.

“The cops have arrested Kane, but they can’t find Max. Emma supposedly rushed off to the hospital to be with her brother when she heard the news and these two idiots thought it was a good idea to let her go alone,” I explain.

“You did what?” Mason roars.

“It’s not like that. When Emma heard the news, she said she needed some fresh air. I went outside with her, but she was adamant that she wanted to be left alone. I told her I’d come back out in fifteen minutes. Just as I was coming outside, I got a text from her saying she’d taken the car to be with Jacob and that she didn’t want us to follow. She said she was fine but just needed to be with him alone for a while and to let her know if there was any progress in the investigation and interrogation of Kane,” Jax explains.

“That doesn’t sound like the sort of thing Emma would do. She would want to be as close as she can to the investigation to hear any news…” Mason says, thinking aloud.

“Mason’s right. As worried as she is about J-Bird, her priority is Max. It doesn’t make sense that she’d rush off, no matter how upset she was,” I agree.

“Are the FBI making any progress with their interrogation of Kane?” Mason asks, turning his cool attention to Bess.

She cringes a little under his glare, it’s evident that he blames her for the poor result from the FBI and now Emma’s absence.

“Let me go check,” she says, scuttling off.

Mason and I continue to quiz Jax as he becomes increasingly defensive, a sure sign he regrets taking his eyes off Emma. I know it’s not his fault, but I can’t help but feel a little bit annoyed with him for not keeping a better eye on her. Kane might be in custody, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have men on the outside who could hurt her. My concern for her grows as I try calling her phone and it rings out. The others all do the same.

“Should we call the hospital?” I ask.

“Good thinking,” Mason replies, immediately dialing.

After an agonizingly long time, Mason is finally able to speak to someone at the hospital who agrees to check if Emma is there. “You’re sure?” Mason says before thanking the person and hanging up the phone.

“Fuck,” he hisses under his breath. “Emma never went to the hospital,” he says, grim-faced.

Jax shakes his head, confused. “No, the person you spoke to must be mistaken. She said she was going there.”

“Well, she never made it. They even checked the system to see if the license plate for the car had flagged up on their system for the parking lot. She was never there. She didn’t sign in and the doctors and nurses on Jacob’s ward haven’t seen her,” Mason snaps.

“So where is she?” Jax asks.

“She’s not answering her phone, so I don’t like the options. Either she got into an accident on the way to the hospital, Kane’s men got to her, or something else made her rush off…” I say, my mind already going into overdriving thinking of what might have happened to her.

“Jesus, Jax, what the fuck were you thinking?” Mason growls, rounding on him.

“I’m sorry man, I didn’t… I don’t…” Jax flounders, blaming himself, the concern for Emma etched into his face.

“Arguing amongst ourselves isn’t going to find her any quicker,” I reason. “Jax, how long has she been gone?”

“An hour or so, depending on if she left at the same time she texted or not.”

“Alright. Hopefully, Bess will be able to provide us with some insight when she comes back. In the meantime, Jax you figure out the furthest points she could have gone in any direction in an hour. Mason, you call around any hospitals in the area and see if there’s been any accidents in the past couple of hours,” I instruct. “I’m going to go to speak with the reception here, see if they know of any accidents or can track down the car.”

They both nod and we all get to work.

The person at the front desk of the station is sympathetic and helpful as I explain the situation to her. She agrees to check if any accidents or anything else have been reported in the past couple of hours. A short while later, she confirms that nothing has been reported. I’m not sure if the news should make me feel happy or more anxious. At least Emma isn’t lying broken in a hospital bed or on the side of the road, but we’re no closer to finding her.

Despite turning on the charm, the woman politely but firmly tells me that she cannot search CCTV cameras for Emma’s license plate without a warrant and probable cause. Since Emma messaged to say where she was going and that she was fine, there’s little else they can do for now without more evidence.

Feeling dejected, I return to the waiting room, hoping that the others have had more luck than me.

One look at their expressions tells me that we’re shit out of luck.

“I take it you didn’t find anything either?” I ask.

“Well, the good news is, she’s not in a hospital and I take it from your question that there haven’t been any major incidents reported to the police. But the bad news is we have no idea where she is and without knowing which way she went, it’s going to be damn hard to find her,” Mason states.

“So what do we do? I can’t sit around waiting for news,” Jaxon says in a strangled voice.

“We could just drive in a different direction each and try to find her?” Mason suggests half-heartedly, knowing that would be futile.

“I say we wait to hear from Bess, she might have found something out. If not, perhaps she can pull some strings to try to locate the car,” I suggest.

With few other options, the others agree.

Just when I think I can’t handle waiting any longer, Bess finally returns.

“Well?” Mason asks eagerly as we all jump up from our seats. “Did he confess?”

“He’s adamant he didn’t take Max—”

“Fuck!” Jax curses, punching the wall in frustration.

“Where is he? If he won’t admit to it, I’ll get the fucker to confess myself,” Mason threatens.

I try to remain calm, one of us needs to try to remain clearheaded, but I wouldn’t mind lashing out either.

Bess shoots Mason a warning look telling him to control his temper, “Would you calm down for a second and let me finish?” she says exasperatedly. “Kane says he didn’t take Max. However, he admitted to sending his men to watch Max and Emma occasionally, including the time that they were nearly run off the road by an SUV.”

This surprises me. Why would he admit to anything at all if he says he didn’t take Max?

When Bess continues to explain, answering my unanswered question, we’re left completely dumbfounded.

My brain takes a moment to process the news, it was so unexpected.

None of us could have predicted what Kane said.