Page 13 of Infinite
“Go?” Gretchen shrieks. “Go where?”
“I want to go with them!” I say and then turn back to Mark. “Please, I won’t get out of the car, but I have to be there. If you find him . . . I can’t . . . I have to see him.”
Their eyes meet and something passes between them. “Red, I’d love to say yes, but it’s not . . .”
“No! She can’t go. Jesus, Ashton, you had major surgery! The only reason you’re not still in the hospital is because you bullied your way out of there.”
I pin her with a stare so mean I would incinerate her if looks could kill. “I’m going, Gretchen. You can say whatever you want, but this isn’t your call.” I turn back to Mark. “So help me God, Dixon, if you don’t take me to that site where the man I love could be, I’ll kill you myself.”
He sighs deeply. “Let’s see if Jackson got what we need, and you can try to convince him.”
In the living room, we find Jackson, Ben, Liam, and two guys I’ve never seen before moving around and barking orders at each other. As soon as they see me, they stop. Jackson heads toward me.
“Did Mark tell you?”
“He did.”
“And she wants to go with us,” Mark tosses in before I can say anything. “I already explained that it wasn’t my call.”
“So it’s mine?”
“No, it’s mine.” I cross my arms. “I would like to know what information you have first.”
Jackson sighs. “I’m waiting on a text . . .” he trails off when his phone dings. I see the flash of surprise in his eyes before he recovers. Then he extends the phone to Mark.
“This can’t be.” Mark sounds almost afraid.
“I don’t understand how.”
How? How what? It’s a text. “What does it say?” I watch the two of them try to make sense of whatever is on his phone. “Hello!” I say as impatience wears me down.
They share a look, and Mark heads to the other side of the room, phone to his ear.
“The photo we just got.” Jackson hesitates. “It’s . . . we know the person who has him. If this image hasn’t been doctored, which I don’t believe it has been, then we have to adjust our plan.”
None of this makes sense. Whoever took Quinn has rattled them both. “Adjust it why?”
Gretchen’s hands wrap around my shoulders. “Jackson, please tell her why this changes anything before she passes out.”
Jackson’s jaw clenches as his hands clench into a tight fist. “Because it’s Aaron.”
5
Quinn
“Want to tell me what we’re doing here?” I ask Aaron. Aaron, the guy who has me tied up after another lovely round of drugs.
Maybe he didn’t actually take me. Maybe this is him saving me from the idiot who did because Aaron being the one who abducted me...doesn’t make a goddamn lick of sense. In fact, I’m wondering if this is all some hazing game that Jackson and Mark have created.
It would be more plausible than this.
“No, I don’t think it matters what we’re doing, just that we’re doing it.”
“Okay.” I keep my voice even. “Where are we then?”
He shakes his head. “Do you ever wonder how it is that we get ourselves in these messes?” Aaron’s eyes dart to the left. “We get out of the navy, go to work for our friends, and end up more fucked up than when we were active duty. It’s really interesting how that works out for us. I have all these things that . . . they’re crazy, right?”
The only thing crazy right now is him. He’s talking to me, but he’s looking all around as though focusing isn’t working.
