Page 67 of No Mercy
I shoot him a look of pure disbelief as I stand up straight before turning to Mandy, silently pleading for her to help. She glances between me and Carter, biting her lip, clearly amused by his obliviousness.
“Carter, I think heknowsAxel left…” She says gently, her voice filled with patience.
Her voice is absolute perfection. It’s like it cuts through the chase in my head, grounding me for a moment from everything going on. As I watch her, the world seems to fade away until its just the two of us standing here. She tucks a strand of her brunette hair behind her ear, and all I can do is stand here captured by her beauty.
“Calling Ant… Hello? Are you with us?” Carter’s voice snaps me back to reality as he waves a hand in my face.
Huh? I blink at him, struggling to remember what we were talking about. Mandy smiles at me, and yeah.. She definitely caught me staring.
Pulling out my phone, I open the notes app and type:‘Axel. Where did he go?’
Carter leans over to read the screen, his face lighting up in realisation. “Oh! Erm… I don’t actually know. He told me to stay here and keep an eye on Eva while he sorted out Marco.”
My stomach sinks as I read back his words to myself.He knew and let him go alone?
“Oh fuck,” Carter murmurs, his face pale as if he’s just now understanding the situation. “He’s going tosort out Marco.”
I nod sharply, typing out another note:‘We need to move. Now.’
Carter straightens, his expression hardening. “You’re right. Let’s go.”
Mandy steps forward, placing a hand on my arm. “Wait, what about Eva? We can’t just leave her.”
I pause, meeting her worried gaze. She’s right,wecan’t leave her but she won’t. There is no way in hell that I will let her come with us.
Looking towards Carter, I nod in her direction before shaking my head, sending him the message that she is to stay here.
Sighing, he faces her, “You need to stay here, it’s not safe for you to come with us and you’re right. We can’t leave Eva and you’ll be protecting her better by staying.”
He turns and walks away before she has the chance to argue. I give her a sympathetic smile, my way of saying sorry before following Carter out the door.
“Where to?” Carter asks, unlocking the car.
I type another message: “Apartment, Axel said he will leave a note. Maybe we can catch him.”
He nods in response to my message, “Apartment it is, strap in. It’s about to be a bumpy ride.”
I shake my head, even in the most intense moments, you can always rely on Carter to crack out a movie quote.
We arrive at the apartment in record time but when we do, Axel’s bike is nowhere to be seen.
Fuck.
I slam my first against the dashboard causing a sharp pain to shoot up my arm.
Carter flinches from my sudden outburst, “Jesus, Ant. What?” his eyes dart, looking outside, trying to follow my gaze.
He hasn’t seen it yet.We missed him, we fucking missed him and now he’s gone.
I don’t wait for him to figure it out. Throwing the car door open, I bolt towards the apartment, slamming the front door against the wall as I enter. The sound echoes through the living room as I look around expecting to see him, but the only thing that greets me is silence.
My heart pounds as I try and listen closely, any sign that he might still be here. But deep down, I know he isn’t.
The letter.
I move towards my bedroom, my stomach twisting with every step I take. It doesn’t take me long to see it as it sits neatly on top of the pillow like a final goodbye.
I freeze in the doorway, my legs refusing to take another step. Just the sight of that folded piece of paper is enough to knock the wind out of me. If I pick it p, this becomes real.
