Page 67 of Unraveling Connections

“Alright, let’s get you both back to headquarters, Mr R is waiting for you and I’m sure that you’re both exhausted.” Trick says and then adds gently, “He can’t walk very well, he’s too weak, do you want me to carry him back to the truck?”

Emmerson shakes her head, “No, it’s okay. I’ve got him.”

We all watch, seriously impressed as she stands with Joe in her arms still, and determination fills her eyes.

Ever

Iam honestly so impressed; Luc said that she had cracked ribs, at the very least, and yet she is determined to carry her brother.

“Just let me know if you want me to take over,” I say to her quietly, my side no longer numb.

She nods and smiles but replies, “Thank you. I’ve got him. I don’t think I will ever let go of him again.”

“I don’t blame you,” I reply. “He told me about you and your mom.”

Emmerson glances at me as the guys push through the door, and we follow into the cold and very, very early morning.

“He did?”

I nod, “Yeah, he mentioned he had lost you, and then after we got the chip out, and before he fell asleep, he was telling Luc, Pete, and me all about you and your mom; I can’t believe that we didn’t put two and two together.”

Emmerson smiles, glancing down at her brother, who is still clinging to her tightly, “Well, I don’t blame you. It is a situation that shouldn’t have been possible, and yet here he is, and alive. All of the regrets I had about coming out here have gone; I can't regret something that got me reunited with my little brother.”

“I get that, and I’d feel the same, but you’re not going to do it again, right?” I have to ask because this is a night that is going to play on my mind for a long, long time, and I have no desire to relive it ever again.

“I promise, I won’t do something like this again,” she says, her arms tighten around Joe, “I can’t do that to him, he’s already been through too much.”

“Thank fuck for that,” I reply.

We pause our conversation as we get in the cars, and we are relatively sure that we are all going to be going to headquarters together, at least. I hope we are. I don’t know about the guys, but I really don’t want to be separated from them right now.

Once we are seated and on the way, Emmerson turns to me, her eyes widen as panic begins to set in and she asks, “Mr R will let him stay with me, won’t he? He’s not going to send him away?”

I would worry that her panic is going to rub off on Joe and cause him unnecessary distress, but he is once again fast asleep, this time curled up against his sister and gripping onto the bottom of her shirt tightly.

I shake my head, “There is no way that he is going to make you guys split up, he will find a way to make sure that you both stay together. At the moment the safest place for the both of you is at headquarters, you are both an interest to Hunt and we don’t want him getting his hands on either of you.”

Atlas interrupts from the front seat, “No matter what happens, he will never split you two up.”

Her shoulders slump in relief, as the panic leaves and she settles back down next to her brother, it’s not long until she is fast asleep too and I'm really glad that they’ve both been able to get some rest. The quiet of the car is threatening to send me to sleep, and that is the last thing that I want to do right now.

Don’t get me wrong, I am fucking exhausted, but I know that I'm most likely going to have nightmares when I finally get some sleep, and that means I don’t want to sleep anywhere but in the safety of my own home and surrounded by my men.

Peter yawns next to me and then leans forward, “Can we get some coffee? I know we want to get to headquarters, but I need something to keep me awake, or I am not going to make it.”

I hear the undercurrent in his voice, and I squeeze his hand; I know my best friend, and I’m reasonably sure that he doesn’t want to go to sleep now for the same reason that I don’t want to go to sleep right now.

Trick nods as he glances back at us, “Yeah, I could probably do with some to help keep me up for the rest of the drive anyway.”

There is not that long left, and I am fairly certain that he is just said it for Pete’s benefit.

“I’ll message the other cars and let them know that we’re pulling in at the next coffee place,” Atlas says.

I frown, “How many cars are we in?”

Atlas chuckles, “Three, we borrowed one from another team, since they were hanging around for a while longer and we needed the extra space because we had two more people in our cars.”

I raise my eyebrows, “Oh, I completely missed that.”

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