Page 30 of Justice
“I-if she’s there?” I stared at Talon.
“Scarlet, we don’t know what they might pull,” he said.
“But what if she isn’t there?” I asked in a bit of panic and this horrible possibility.
Talon sighed and said, “If you arrive and someone shows up without her, you yell out of the car window and tell them you are leaving if they do not show her to you.”
“And if they don’t show her?” I asked.
“I will come out of the trunk,” Justice said. “And aim my weapon at them as will Liberty, so you can drive out of there.”
“B-but what about Belle?” I asked desperately.
“If they don’t bring her, you cannot stay,” Talon replied. “It only means they wanted to capture you, not make an exchange. So, you can’t help her that way.”
“This could go any number of ways,” Liv spoke up again. “If she is there, try to make this exchange. If they do not show her for sure, get out of there. Like Talon said, yell out to them and demand they bring her, or they won’t get their money.”
“Look,” Logan said as he stepped up to our group. “They think they are in charge and they are to a certain degree. But you have to be in charge too. Because this is your life at stake here. If you allow them to take you and the money and she isn’t there…” He took a deep breath. “We all lose. So as soon as you pull up and see anyone at all, you have to demand that they show her to you.Right away. If they don’t and you see that they aren’t going to, drive out as fast as you can.”
I nodded my head. This could end up to be a real mess. The scenarios they ran by me, scared the hell out of me. I never dreamed it could go all those different ways. I lowered my head. “I might not get to bring her home today.”
“Maybe, and maybe not,” Talon said with sympathy in his voice. “But if they play the game of not showing her, you have no choice. You have to save your own life.”
“But,” Liv jumped in. “We will have the bead on them.”
I raised my head up to look at her.
“We will follow whomever it is,” she clarified. “There is no way, they will leave without being followed. So don’t give up hope if you don’t see her, ok? We can still get her back. All we care about for the present is that you remain alive and that you do not get taken.”
Moving to my side, Justice took my hand. “That’s why Liberty and I have to be there. If this goes south, we will get you out alive. If it goes smoothly, we will still get you out and Belle as well.”
I swallowed heavily. “I get that, but I have to admit I’ve been stupid about this. Thinking they would just take the money and give her to me. With what all of you are saying… That might not happen at all.”
“You cannot trust these people, Scarlet,” Liberty finally spoke up. “For one, they are perhaps not who they claim they are. For two, why would drug dealers tell the truth about anything? They could have planned this to have the money and both of you girls. In fact, I bet they hope for just that outcome. They will win at any cost.”
I was trembling now, I tried hard not to show my fear in front of these soldiers and badass bikers. But I failed.
“Okay, I am going to take her for a little walk,” Justice stated with gritted teeth. “We have scared her enough.” He turned me toward the door without waiting for any kind of response.
When we got outside, I could see it was early morning. “Justice, we have to leave soon.”
“We have an hour, Scarlet. Just walk with me.” He led me around the back of the house and to the patio.
We sat down and it then happened, I burst into tears.
Gathering me up, he gently smoothed my hair with his hand. “That’s what you need to do. Cry it out. You can’t just keep all that in. You need to clear your head before we face this. They ganged up on you in there.”
I shook my head as I tried to stop the tears. “They were being honest with me, Justice. I never thought of any of those things happening!” I cried on his shoulder.
“I get it. I do, but they threw it at you all at once, damnit.”
“What other way is there?” I asked. “I mean I know they have all faced some hard shit in their lives. They have been battling O and Deacon for a while. Most of them have been in war too. They see it as survival. They wanted me to be prepared.”
He rocked me a bit and tried to soothe me, “Just breathe, baby. You can do this. Just breathe.”
I tried to ease up on the panic. I did as he said I calmed down and took easy slow breaths. “I am praying that I’m not stupid,” I admitted.
Justice shook his head. “That’s a harsh prayer, Scarlet.”
