Page 28 of With Love

Lock

After Alison helped me figure out where Branch was, I had her apply for a job as a transporter at the rehab center. That was the best way for us to be able to keep tabs on him. You can imagine my surprise when I get a frantic telephone call from her at 10:00 this morning telling me that he’s being released at 11.

“What the fuck do you mean he is being released in an hour?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ve been trying to gather all of the information that I can for you. I’ve given you everything that I found out about him. Apparently this information wasn’t released until late last night,” she cries.

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me about it late last night then?”

“I didn’t work the late shift last night, sir. I just found out about it and called you right away.”

“When you first got the job there, I told you that I wanted you on top of it all. You were to use whateverresourcesyou possess in order to obtain information about Branch. I’m sure you didn’t have a hard time finding someone to fuck for answers. Whores like you always know how to play their cards right.

“You better pray that we get ahold of him. Because if we don’t, you’re in for quite an unpleasant experience. You better make sure you’re the one who is assigned to escort him out of the building. I don’t give a fuck what you have to do to make it happen, just fucking do it. If you’re not there when we get there, your sister will be the one to pay for your mistakes.”

After I hung up on her, I had one of my men track down her twin sister and bring her to the lab. Whether we get Branch or not, Alison will be nothing more than a lab rat for the rest of her life. I’m not sure if her sister will join her there or if I’ll take her home with me and have some fun.

* * *

The rage that is swirling inside of me is close to what I felt when I saw Lana leaving the hospital with Trent. Nearly 40 minutes later, we pass a large black SUV on our way into the parking lot of the facility. Branch is so close, I can practically feel him. There is a loop that runs in front of the building where patients are dropped off or picked up. We park at the beginning of that loop and wait for Alison and Branch to make an appearance.

We aren’t sitting there for 30 seconds when I see Alison step outside of the doors. Just when I am about to breathe a sigh of relief that she did something right, I realize that she’s crying and arguing with a doctor about something.

Fuck.

“Drive up there, now!”

When we get closer, I jump out of the car and approach Alison and the doctor.

“Where the fuck is he?!” I question as I grab her by the arm.

“Who the fuck are you?” The doctor shouts at me.

I throw a punch, hitting him square in the face and knocking him on his ass. Then, I drag Alison, kicking and screaming, into the backseat of the car.

“Where theFUCKis he?!”

“He left just before I got to the lobby!” She sobs.

I turn my head and see the SUV stopped at the red-light out by the main street.

“Follow that fucking car!” I shout to Mack in the driver’s seat.

“Lock, I’m so sorry! I tried everything that I could! I swear!” Alison cries.

I pull the gun out from behind my back and point it right between her eyes.

“Shut your dirty fucking mouth or I’m going to shoot you and then I’m going to cut your sister open from limb to limb!”

That shut her up real quick. Then, I point the gun at Mack.

“If you value your life, you won’t lose track of that car.”

Pulling my cell phone out, I call Reese and make sure he sees what’s happening.

“Don’t fucking lose sight of him! I want him brought to the labto-fucking-day!”

It wasn’t long until Travis caught on that we were following them. He gets onto the highway, only to get back off at the next exit and tries to lose us by weaving through the city.

We chase them through multiple city blocks before we manage to lose sight of him. Mack found his way around the city block and started driving straight up Green St. We look left and right, down each side street for them. Finally, we manage to catch the tail end of their car before they make a right onto Queen St. and up onto the on ramp, headed toward the highway again. Both vehicles weave in and out of traffic as we chase them down the interstate. I shoot at their back window but missed because Mack has to break and swerve just in time to miss the car that pulls out in front of us. I point my gun down at their tire and pull the trigger, then watch as the driver loses control, flies off the road and lands into a ditch. It slows us down a little bit, but we’re back behind Travis and Branch them in no time. For the next 30 miles we fly between the slower traffic north on interstate 376. Finally, we hit a drag where there aren’t very many cars and Mack speeds up so we’re right next to them. I’m so close I can see the whites of Travis’ eyes. I roll my window down, point my gun at his window, and fire.

It bounces off of the window like a fucking nerf bullet.

I fire again and it’s the same. I keep firing over and over again until Mack loses control of our car and slams on the breaks to keep us from crashing into the jersey wall separating the two sides of the highway. Once my head stops spinning and I get my bearings straight, Travis is gone.

---