Page 11 of Hunting for Redemption

CHAPTER FIVE

JEFF

“Hello?”

“Hey,” I breathe out, finding that my voice is caught in my throat. The amount of relief I feel from hearing Ronny’s voice is unexplainable. “Ronny?”

“Oh my gods,” Ronny blurts out, “Jeff? Is that you? Fuck, where are you, bossman? We can be on our way right now.”

“No, no,” I say right away, a prickling sensation gathering behind my eyes. Fuck. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to hear my teams’ voices until right now. All of my emotions are heightened, threatening to choke me. I tuck my nose into Axel’s hoodie, breathing him in and letting his scent calm me down. “You can’t come. But I’m--” I stop myself from saying alive. Because really, that would be a lie. Kinda? Fuck. Why does vampirism have to be so goddamn confusing? “I’m okay,” I say instead.

“You don’t sound so good,” Ronny says, his voice filled with suspicion. Not that I blame him. I would be suspicious if our roles were reversed. “If you’re being held against your will, say a sentence with peanut butter in it.”

“Ronny,” I say slowly, needing him to hear my sincerity. “I’m safe. I’m somewhere safe at the moment being taken care of. I promise you.”

“Good enough for me. I have your location based on the cell phone you’re using.”

“I told you not to come here!”

“But, bossman!”

“No buts, Ronny. It’s not safe,” I tell him, trying to ignore the way my voice is growing pitchier with worry. I don’t know if I can control myself around my team. What if I do something to hurt them? What if I’m driven to bite them? What if the thirst becomes too much. No, I won’t put them in harm's way.

“You said you were safe but now you’re not in a safe place? Make it make sense, Jeff.”

I let out a long sigh, rubbing tiredly at my eyes. “Okay. So here’s the thing.”

A long moment passes. And then another. When I still don’t say anything, Ronny jumps back in. “Go on, Jeff. Spell it out for me.”

“Can’t you just trust me?”

“I can. And do. Very much so. With my life even. But right now you’re being suspicious as hell. Maybe you’re some sort of shapeshifter who’s stolen Jeff’s voice and using it as leverage to get me to fall into your trap.”

That finally makes me crack the tiniest smile. I’ve trained my team well and Ronny knows his stuff, even if he goes about it in the cheesiest ways at times.

“Alright. I can prove I’m not a shapeshifter by reminding you of that case we took in Vegas last year--”

“And I think I’ve heard enough!” I chuckle, fondness making my chest warm. “You’re definitely the real Jeff.” I hear some shuffling from the other line before someone else is taking the phone.

“Hey, Jeff. It’s Cooper. What do you need from us?”

My chest loosens. I knew they would have my back, even if it meant a little bit of interrogation before we got to work. I smile as I sit back in my seat.

“Glad to hear your voice, Cooper.”

“Yours too.”

“I need a delivery to the address Ronny was tracking me at. But I need you to leave the box at the door.”

“Okay,” Cooper says, his voice sounding slightly unsure. I hear him ask Ronny about talking to me about a code word and hear Ronny yell about being competent despite being a computer nerd. “What sorta delivery do you need?”

“I would love everything you have about baby vampires. How they’re made, how they’re fed. Any sort of information you have about the connection sires have on the vampires they create. Just anything like that.”

There’s a long pause that makes my stomach sink. I wait for disapproval or hate or disgust.

“Oh, Jeff.”

I push my fingers against my closed eyes so hard I begin to see spots, trying to fight against the onslaught of emotion barreling through me. I let out a shaky breath.

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