Page 126 of Single Teddy
“He’s here?” I asked.
“On…on the island,” he said.
“But notherehere?” I pointed to the ground, and Zach shook his head.
I relaxed a little and took his hand.
I didn’t know what the story was, and I didn’t have time to find out. Not when Wesley was in literal danger of dying.
“Where are you going? What are you doing?”
“I…I don’t know,” he stuttered.
“Okay, Zach. Listen. I really, really want to find out what’s going on and be there for you, but Wesley has been abducted, and I need to find him before it’s too late. Are you okay on your own or do you need me to call someone?”
“No.” He shook his head and blinked as if finally coming to his senses. “I’ll be okay. Is Wesley—what happened?”
“No time. Go home, Zach. Go home and lock yourself up, and when all this is over, I’ll come to you and we can…figure this out. Okay?”
“O-okay,” he said. “I’m…I’m sorry for freaking you out.”
He looked around. We had started to get some curious looks from passersby. A driver glared down at us as he overtook us, which was justified. We had stopped in the middle of the road.
“I’m okay now. I think.”
I knew that was far from the truth, but he did look a tiny bit morewithit than before, so I had to trust in him and let him go, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Slow down and be careful,” I said and got back to my feet.
I gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder and closed his door, then walked back to my car, but not without looking back to see him drive away.
God. I kept leaving people I cared about behind today. First Bear, now Zach. But I cared about Wesley too. I loved him. And I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do everything in my power to save him.
“Everything okay?” Slade asked.
“I don’t know, but I guess so for now.” I started the car and set off for The Outpost, where Wyatt and the rest of the team were waiting for us.
As I parked on the side of the building, Slade hummed something incomprehensible, and I turned to him. His eyes were narrowed, and his brows were knotted in confusion.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He was holding two phones in his hands, but only one was unlocked and lit up. He didn’t say anything. Not until I nudged him.
“I think I know where Wesley and the kids are,” he said.
“What? Where? How?” I asked, and he put the phone in my hands.
I looked down at the white messaging screen and read the text in blue.
Barnes:
All set. We’re in position.
Underneath that was another blue message, this one with a location pin.
It pointed to a place on the east coast of the island.
“Who did he message?” I asked. “Do we know?”
