Page 41 of Exhale
“Yeah, I’ll do that.”
Cody took Weston by the hand and turned toward the door, but Billy’s words stopped him cold.
“Leave Weston here.”
“Ok. I’ll be back, buddy, I promise,” he told Weston.
“Don’t go.” Weston gazed at Billy with fear in his eyes. The last time he’d seen his mommy had been with Billy. “I want to go with Cody.”
“Don’t you want to see your mom?” Billy said.
“Where is mommy?” he asked.
“I’ll take you to her,” Billy promised.
Cody released Weston’s hand and walked out with Billy’s lies ringing in his ears.
Now, he just had to find Elliot.
And somehow get both boys away from Billy.
Because he was sure Billy had sinister plans.
At least his own plan was to sell them for money, not use them in drug trades.
Elliot was cold, tired, and hungry, and he just wanted to find where Cody and Weston were. He shouldn’t have let go of Cody’s hand, but he wanted his mommy.
He wished he knew where his daddy lived. He’d seen the picture on the wall in the hall and asked his mommy. She had given them another photo of daddy to share.
Elliot kept that one beneath his pillow. Weston said it was okay because he remembered daddy’s face better than he did. Elliot found himself gazing at it often.
In the picture, his daddy had caught a big fish and was holding it with a smile.
He wanted to learn how to fish. The tears started, but he didn’t make a sound. Mommy didn’t like it when he cried.
It was dark, and he tripped over a bump in the sidewalk. Stumbling, he kept walking down the street, staying on the sidewalk because that was important, mommy said.
When strangers tried to talk to him, he kept going, not stopping.
He wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers.
So, he ran.
Early the next morning…
Alight knock sounded on the door, pulling Owen from sleep in the early morning. Early meaning not even daylight yet. Owen grabbed his watch from the nightstand, snapped it on, and it read 5:20 AM.
Untangling himself from Jordan, he pulled on his jeans and cracked open the door to find Tom already dressed.
Owen stepped out into the hallway and eased the door closed.
Tom jerked his head and walked down the hallway and into a room that was clearly an office.
“I found out where Danner’s at.”
“Where?”
“It won’t be easy, but he owns an old abandoned factory in the warehouse district just outside of the Phoenix city limits. It’s his headquarters.” Tom pulled open a laptop, typed on it for a few moments, and then flipped the screen around to him.
