Page 107 of Redemption
And I wanted to break right there in the middle of the hallway. Race after those guys and demand they release him. How? I’m not even sure. Pretty positive they would’ve taken me down with him if I did. But he was there. His eyes pleading with me.
We can’t lose him.
Ican’t lose him.
My hands cling to Dare’s shirt, drawing his attention. I try to tell him to stop them, but my throat is dry and the words escape me as an emotional tsunami breaks my mind.
I’m elated we found him. Relieved he’s still alive. But terrified as to what they’ve done and what they’re about to do to him.
My mind spins, trying to latch onto something tangible, when Dare’s face fills my vision, instantly calming the storm.
“Al... What’s wrong? Speak to me.” He grasps my shoulders beneath his palms, anchoring me to the here and now. The weight of his guidance allows me to finally draw a breath and shake myself from my stupor.
“It was him.” I swallow, still coming to terms with the fact that the barely conscious man in their arms was Hawk. “One of them, anyways.” I point a shaky finger down the way they went. “The man who was being carried down the hallway. That’s Hawk.”
Surprise fills Darius’ eyes as he lifts his gaze to follow their path before turning back to mine. “You’re sure?”
“Definitely, that was him. I’d know him anywhere.”
“Ok. It’ll be ok.” He looks around the medical ward, noting the entire space has been emptied—even the guard securing Hawk’s room left with them—before returning his gaze to mine. “I would rather not leave you here alone, though. I trust a few of them, but there are too many deceitful people working here, too. I just have to find Stitch to watch over you while I’m gone, and then I’ll go after Hawk.”
“No. You don’t understand. You have to go follow them. Now! We can’t lose him again,” I beg Darius, pleading with him to not argue with me on this for the sake of my sanity. “He’s hurt.Please.” I try to push him in the direction of the door, to where Hawk is, but he won’t budge. “Please, Dare... You go, and I’ll stay. You’ll be able to track them, find out where they’re leading him, and save him if you can. I’ll stay here. You’ll know where I am. If someone else finds me, I’ll just say I’m here for the physical or whatever David said. That should keep me safe and out of trouble for a while.”
His gaze lifts, hovering over my head as his jaw clenches with indecision, but I can’t have him second-guessing this when we have such little time. “We planned for something like this, Darius. There were dozens of scenarios we mapped out. Each one more intricate than the last. I trusted you to come up with ideas that would work, that would keep us alive so we could save them. Now you have to trust me to see those plans through to the end.”
Pulling his focus back down, I force him to look me in my eyes. To see what’s at stake here. To show him that, regardless of the person I once was all those years ago, I’m different now. I can do this.
Thankfully, he sees my stubborn determination and reluctantly starts to nod. “Fucking hell. Fine. I’m not sure who’s on tonight, but Stitch is a decent guy. You can trust him. But if anyone else happens to come in through those doors, you make sure to be on your guard. In the meantime, maybe you could try to check the files.” He points to the empty desk and the wall of filing cabinets at the end of the hallway. “They keep records on every single person that gets lured into this town. That’s why they wanted you to come to the Infirmary first: to complete your entrance application as well as undergo medical testing. Once they get all your information and test results, they keep a file of it here as well as any job assignments. If we’re lucky, you might beable to find out where they’re keeping the other two guys before I get back.”
Filled with purpose, I follow him as he leads me back to the desk, indicating which filing cabinets their information might be in. I go to turn around, to get started on finding my guys as soon as possible, but he stops me with a hand on my wrist.
“Alessandra...”
I turn back to him and see the pain of leaving me once again filling his entire body. The mental torture he’ll have to put himself through to do my bidding. I know, after everything, he doesn’t want to leave me here. Especially not by myself in the epicenter of their culty bullshit. But, if it means reuniting with Hawk, Cole, and Jax sooner rather than later, I’ll do what I must. As will he.
Dare pulls me into his arms, and I go willingly, his lips a hair’s breath away from my ear as he whispers, “Be safe. Trust no one. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He stays there, basking in our embrace as his lips meet my forehead, pressing every bit of regret and love into the kiss. “I love you.” The words are a soft caress across my face, the warmth of his breath gone all too soon as he places my pack on the floor at my feet before turning and racing out the door after Hawk.
I take a stabilizing breath and get to work, grabbing a flashlight off the desk and practically diving to the cabinets before flinging open a drawer to thumb through the files. While Darius indicated that this particular cabinet holds the newest members, there must be hundreds of folders, all filled with information on the residents of Phoenix Rising. Darius was right; if there was any place to start looking for information, it’s right here.
The first one in the line-up is for a guy named Lazarus, formerly Casey Jones. Not recognizing the former name, I skip it and head for the next. The second file is strangely labeled “Mr. E”and isabout double the size of some of the others, filled to the brim with test results and what looks to be injury updates. My heart skips a beat as I scan through the notes, worry and terror filling my veins as I instantly hope and pray this file doesn’t belong to one of my guys. Unfortunately, without any further information, I can’t be positive.
Unwilling to be dragged down by what-ifs, I take a calming breath and replace the folder back with the first before lifting another and scanning the label.
Name:Meat, formerly Jackson Rhodes.
Jax.
Here he is.
I gasp a shaky breath as I rip the file open and see that he’s been here, in the Infirmary, but has been relocated to his... home? There’s no address, no indication of where home is, so I flip to the next page.
“Signed out and taken into custody by Tank....”
My brain suddenly stops midsentence. Holy shit! Could that be the same Tank from earlier? I mean... seriously, who else on this God forsaken planet would be named Tank? If it’s the same guy, we just need to find him again and stalk his ass until he leads us right to Jax!
I place Jax’s file down on the desk and search for the new name, finding it a few minutes later in the third drawer down.
Name:Tank, formerly Eugene Phillips
