Page 81 of Her Faithful Protector

“Everything will be okay, baby. Don’t cry, please don’t cry.” I caress his cheek. “I’ll find Mommy. But first, we’ve got to get out of here.”

Although I’m eager to locate Ava, my gut feeling warns me that I’m deep within a dangerous territory. I scream north to Helena as fast as I can with a baby and an injured canine on board.

I call my brother. “Ava’s gone!” I pant. “It’s that motherfucker, Sam!”

“Don’t fuck with me, Jack!” Sam growls in anger. “Where are you? Where’s Quinton?”

“Quinton is with me, and I’m on my way to Red Mark. Are you there?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you arrange for a vet? Elmo is badly injured,” I request.

“I’ll get a vet. Don’t worry about that. Just get your butt over here.”

The stretch of road ahead is desolate, with only a few scattered cars passing by. The surrounding landscape is dominated by dense clusters of trees and bushes, creating countless potential hiding spots. Eventually, I arrive at Red Mark without any complications.

Sam is already there, accompanied by Huxley and a lady I assume is the vet. As I prepare to carry Quinton, Huxley and the vet take Elmo inside.

“Are you both okay?” Sam inspects me and Quinton.

I huff out a ‘yes’ as Sam hands me a bottle of water.

“Let’s go inside,” he says.

In the lobby, Elmo lies motionless on the floor as the vet examines him. His eyes remain open and occasionally blink weakly.

I lower myself and gently stroke the top of his head. “How is he, doc?” I ask.

She replies, “He has a broken leg, which could be complicated by his skeletal dysplasia. I will need to take him to the hospital for emergency surgery. My team and I will do everything we can, I promise.”

I whisper, “Good dog, Elmo. Hang in there,” while Quinton stretches himself to pet his loyal friend.

Sam leads me to one of the dayrooms upstairs. These rooms are regularly used by Red Mark agents when they have to stay overnight. I realize it’s the same room Ava was taken to the first afternoon she was here after Quinton was taken from her.

We sit together in silence. In the past, dealing with a fucked-up situation like this, I would have hit the gym and vented my emotions on a punching bag. But I’m a different man now. Just like I advised Ava that evening, I’m now following the same principle and using Quinton as my guide in any decision I make. I cannot allow my emotions to overpower me.

Soon, Huxley enters the room, holding Quinton’s filled bottle. “Sweet tea for you, baby bear,” he offers Quinton and then suggests, “I can take care of him. You two can talk outside. We don’t want to stress out Quinton. He can sense it.”

We agree, knowing that Quinton will be in good hands with his ‘Uncle Comet.’ Sam leads me into his office.

“Willem has information about my abduction,” I admit, rousing uneasiness in Sam. “You know, during your search, you never discovered the location of that man’s base in Florida.”

“No, I never did. Once I found you, it became irrelevant,” he responds, narrowing his suspicious gaze. “Why are you trusting him?”

“Willem sent me a photo of a basement,” I explain.

My brother shakes his head. “It could be any basement, right?”

“Not this one. The photo looked exactly like the space that appears in my nightmares.” I rub my face in frustration, growling to myself. “He offered it to me, but I told him to go to hell. He didn’t specify what he wanted in return, but we both know who he’s after.”

Sam nods, his concern evident, but he’s showing no trace of blame on his face. “Now he has one of them.”

I feel the burden pressing down, but his calm demeanor soothes my frayed nerves. I tell him, “I was changing Quinton with the music playing. I didn’t hear anything from outside. She was gone, just like that. I didn’t have the luxury of exploring. I couldn’t risk Quinton’s safety. But from just scanning around, it was clean, as if there was nothing.”

Sam nods understandingly. “My guess is that Willem gained access to information about you from the DOJ database his company was responsible for managing.”

“His access won’t last for long. It might already be too late. I don’t know. I don’t care. I need to get to Ava!”

---