Page 42 of Victorious: Part I

Haven steps up to my side, gently wrapping her arm around my shoulder as my eyes scan the various cameras, desperate for a glimpse of my mother.

Praying she’s okay.

Then I spot her standing on the landing out the front of her cell.

Just standing.

Looking out over the cell block like she’s lonely.

The sight tears at my heart, making me want to reach through the screen and tell her that I’m here.

That I’m with her.

And that everything is going to be okay.

Haven leans in next to my ear, the movement startling me slightly. “She would do that every morning. You know, told me she would just look out over the block and pretend she was standing on the second story of an apartment, looking out over a huge parking lot, watching you ride your Harley. She’s soundeniablyproud of the man you’ve become, Montana.”

Flaring my nostrils, I try to fight back my emotion of watching the black and white fuzzy images, seeing my mother daydreaming of a life she will never have.

“I hate to break this up, but I can’t stay in this feed for long. So if you want me to search for something in particular, Haven, you better tell me what to look for,” Loki suggests.

Haven gently slaps my back, then edges closer to the screens. “I need to see these tattoos the women have. Any chance we can figure out who has them and then cross-reference what they’re of?”

Shaking off my emotions, I stand taller, focusing on the task at hand. “Mom said that they’re behind the ear. I’m trying to remember what she told me it was, but it was something real fucking weird.”

Haven’s head snaps to me, her eyes widening like I’ve said something triggering, but she says nothing. Loki begins typing, then a list of names descends down his screen. “From what I can tell in the new inmate logs, these women here have all come into the prison within the last month. So my guess is to start with them.”

Haven clears her throat, seeming to find her center. “Can you find one of them and see if we can zoom in on her?”

Loki continues to type, remaining silent for a moment, then the camera focuses on a particular cell. A lone woman sitting on the floor of her cell, her knees to her chest, and luckily for us, she’s in plain view of the outside camera. Haven draws in a long breath, leaning closer to the screen. “Loki, behind her ear, that black mark there. Zoom in.”

He does, and when it comes into focus, I immediately remember what Mom told me. “Dots in the shape of a V. Told you it was weird,” I reply.

Haven takes a couple of steps back, her face turning pale. Both Loki and I watch her as her breathing increases, almost to a panic. I reach out to grab her, but she continues to step back. “Hey, talk to us. What’s going on?”

Haven swallows hard, a fierceness now embracing her body. “Those aren’t dots, Montana,” she whispers.

I glance back at the screen to have another look, but it’s fuzzy, the grain making it impossible to tell. So, I turn back to her in confusion. “Then what is it? What are you seeing that we can’t, Haven?”

She closes her eyes briefly before sliding her hands up to her hair. Loki and I both furrow our brows in confusion as she spins her back to us, but then my heart leaps into my throat as I spot the same tattoo behind Haven’s ear.

The V-shaped tattoo.

It feels like my entire world freezes on the spot. Like nothing makes sense anymore. My eyes go wide as saucers as her somber eyes turn to look at me with nothing but sympathy. “They’re not dots, Montana.They’rebirds.”

Suddenly, everything hits me at once—like a freight train to the chest. My lungs seize, forcing out the breath I didn’t even realize I’d been holding. I double over, hands braced on my knees, but the air won’t come. It’s like breathing through a straw that keeps shrinking. My vision blurs, a high-pitched ringing screams in my ears, and my heart slams against my ribs, wild and erratic. The edges of the room tilt. My fingers go numb as I clench them so damn tight. Panic claws up my throat, tighter, sharper, louder than it ever has before, like it’s trying to tear its way out when a hand on my back jolts me from my anxiety.

“You’re Mom’s one of the strongest women—”

I snap my head up, my eyes flooded with rage as I glare at Haven. “Don’t!Don’t give me that shit! She’s in prison, on the wrong side of this. On the wrong side of the motherfucking Nest thatyouwere supposed to have disbanded. She’s in there with fucking assassins who work for the Cartel, Haven! The Cartel that just killed our president’s ex-wife and held you hostage.You!A fucking bird yourself. If they can do that to you, my mom has no fucking chance in a prison the Cartel is flooding with newly trained birds!” I throw my hands in the air and begin pacing like a maniac, terror almost overcoming me.

Haven glances at Loki. “Okay, I hear you. This isn’t ideal. But we need to figure out why the fuck Javier is putting these women in the prison system, to begin with—”

“Ideal?This isn’t ideal!We need to get herthe fuckout of there. Get Alpha to talk to the warden. You go in and help her, or we fucking break her out. I don’t give a damn, Haven.She’s in there with Cartel birds!”

Loki spins to face Haven, a grim expression crossing his features. “Normally, I’d be the voice of reason here, but the kid’s right, Haven. If this prison is compromised, and the Warden has donenothingto stop it, I mean, maybe Alpha’s buddy might be in on this whole damn thing. Intentionally or by force. Either way, if he doesn’t know his prison’s been infiltrated by now, there’s somethingverywrong.”

I spin to Haven, my eyes pleading with her to see sense.

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