Page 43 of Finding Haven
Understandably, she’s scared. I can’t give her too many details, but she knows this involves my other job.
“Please, Sugar. I need to know you’re safe. I won’t be able to focus if your safety is in question,” I tell her honestly. It’s bad enough that I’m about to head to the hotel to do what I can to track down Ace’s girl; I don’t need to be worried about something happening to Quinn as well.
Her eyes brimming with tears. “Promise me you’ll be safe, Zack. You have to come back to me.”
Stepping towards her, I grasp her chin between my fingers and tilt her head back, bringing her gaze to mine. “I will do everything within my power to return to you, baby.” Leaning down, I press my lips to hers as my other hand wraps around her waist, pulling her against me.
I can’t promise what condition I’ll be in when I return, but Iwillcome back to her. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to hunt down someone at the last minute, and it certainly won’t be the last. It is, however, the first time I’ve had to find someone I have personal ties to.
Thankfully, this isn’t completely out of the blue. We knew that this guy would be making a move against Chelsea one way or another.
Quinn gathers the front of my shirt in a tight fist as she drags me impossibly closer, ensuring no space remains between us as she fuses her body to mine. My tongue swipes at the seam of her lips and slips between them to glide along hers. She elicits a soft moan, and I swallow it down, dropping my hands to her waist as I gently guide her body a step back from mine to break the kiss. “Being with you gives me a reason to come home, Sugar. I will walk through fire to make it back to you,” I tell her, a slight smile tilting at the corner of my lips.
Before we can get too carried away, I show her how to make sure the house is secured and tell her to make herself at home. I meant it when I said I didn’t know how long I would be gone. There’s no way I’ll be calling it a night before we find Chelsea and take care of the sadistic fuck who has targeted her.
By the time I make it to the Elysian, I find Ace waiting for me in my office, aggravatingly pacing the floor as he repeatedly flips a steel blade between his fingers. “He took her,” he growls through gritted teeth.
“I’ll find them,” I assure him, walking past him and dropping into the chair behind my desk.
It takes a few minutes to get everything fired up and running, and he’s hovering over my shoulder the second my fingers are flying across the keyboard. I’ve got facial recognition running on Chelsea and her ex, accessing every security camera within Haven Beach city limits. As I’m working, Ace informs me that Hailey is on her way back from scoping out Chelsea’s last known location, where she found her phone discarded in the street of a rundown neighborhood.
“It’s really hard to focus when you’re hovering over my shoulder like that,” I snap as my attention flies across the multiple screens, desperately searching for any sign of the gray sedan in question.
“I can’t fucking lose her,” he growls, spinning to swing his fist into the wall behind my desk. His fury motivates me to work faster. This isn’t just another victim we’re trying to rescue; it’s the love of his life. I know that if the tables were turned, I would be acting the same way.
I haven’t been directly involved in any cases since leaving the Hartridge Police Department. I haven’t had the desire to be involved in any capacity aside from tracking down targets and providing intel for members. For years, I’ve remained behind the scenes in the cold, distant comfort of my office. Keeping my distance has been a much-needed defense mechanism. One I didn’t realize was actually a hindrance until I met Quinn and she completely changed the course of my life.
My eyes catch on a familiar gray vehicle as it maneuvers down various side streets, heading out of Haven Beach towards Rivercrest. I watch for a moment, speeding up the video footage and quickly pulling up the security footage for cameras throughout the next city over.
This motherfucker.
“I’ve got her,” I shout, bringing the camera feed up onto the main screen and enlarging the video, optimizing it to be as clear as possible. The car was last recorded making its way into Sutton Ridge, a small mountain town. I recognize a few of the road names from one of Ace’s latest assignments, rattling them off to him as I turn to face him.
His hands are clenched into fists at his side, his chest heaving with weighted breaths. “I know where he’s taking her.”
33
Quinn
Ihaven’tgivenmuchthought to what it would be like having Zack actively working on something for his job with the organization. Now that he has asked me to stay here in his home while he’sworking, I hate it. My stomach has been a twisted mess of knots, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t taken a full breath since he left.
“He wouldn’t have left you at his house if he didn’t plan on coming home,” Becca says through the phone. I lasted all of thirty minutes before my stomach was so queasy I couldn’t take it anymore and called her to distract me. I won’t break Zack’s trust by telling her about hisotherjob. I just needed to be able to vent to my best friend a little bit.
“I know that, but it just feels weird to be here without him. Like, we haven’t known each other all that long, and he just… wants me to wait for him here while he’s busy working?” I feel like I’ve been talking in circles since the moment she picked up the phone, but I’m desperately trying to distract myself from the dark path my mind keeps going down. I have no idea what kind of assignment he’s working on, how many people are involved, or what exactly the threat is.
Could he be in danger? How will I know if he gets hurt? Would he even think to tell someone that I’m here waiting for him, or will I justend up stuck here by myself for a few days, wondering what’s happened to him while he lies in a hospital bed fighting for his life?
Nope. Stop it. Don’t go there.
“I think it’s sweet,” Becca chimes, her face filling my screen as she grabs her phone from where she had propped it against something on the kitchen counter. “He wants to come home to you. How cute is that?”
A blush coats my cheeks as I tug my bottom lip between my teeth. “Is it too soon for this? It feels too soon.” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my lips, quickly covering my face with one hand.
“Maybe? But who cares! There’s no timeline on love. It’s not like there’s a rule book somewhere that says you have to do things at a certain rate.” The screen brightens as she flips on the bathroom light and props her phone up on the counter. I can see the few different bottles of semi-permanent hair dye lined up from where she’s placed her phone.
Changing the subject, I say, “What color are you going with this time?”
“Neverland,” she says, holding up a bottle of mint-green dye. “Or Cotton Candy Dream?” She holds up a bottle of bright, electric-blue dye.
