Page 125 of Tied to You
“What about Beats and the others?” Rocco asks.
I look up, signalling Dean to come over as I place Rocco on loudspeaker. “You get hold of him?”
Dean comes to a stop. “Beats said no one’s there to take out.”
“What the fuck is going on?” Rocco says, more to himself rather than asking us.
“The locations must have been bullshit,” I say, my eyes finding Dean’s.
He pulls on the back of his neck. “No, can’t be. We checked them all out. Each one was fully operational six hours ago.”
“So what’s happened in the past six hours to spook them all?”
Dean’s eyes widen, his head jerking in my direction.
“What?” I ask.
“Not what. Who.”
“What the fuck do you mean?” Rocco shouts from down the phone.
“Sparky,” is all he says.
“What about him?”
My guts somersault. “Don’t fucking say it.”
“Say what?” Rocco asks.
“He’s the only one who knows the location.”
Rocco shouts down the phone, forcing Dean and I to unlock our gazes as we try to work this out. “One of you fucking speak, now.”
“Sparky met us at the tunnels,” Dean says.
“Why’s that a fucking problem? We know Sparky.”
Dean swallows. “He was off. Didn’t feel right.”
“Off? Was there a backup?” Rocco questions, his words harsh.
Dean answers him, looking down at his phone as it starts vibrating. “I sent Chopper there, asked him to call if there was a problem.”
Judging by the dark shadows taring Dean’s face, I don’t need to ask my question. “Is that him?”
He nods, picking up. “Chop?” I watch his face drop, his glazed eyes chargewith red.
“Dean?”
“We need to get to the tunnels,” he says coldly.
Every fibre in my body can tell it’s all gone wrong. Our plan to wipe out their facilities was fruitless. “Rocco?” I say, still holding my phone in my hand.
“Get there. Now. I’ll call the others. Go.”
And we move.
Leaving the nomads to clean up, the four of us get back to the tunnels as quick as we fucking can. My hands are white knuckling, the grip on my bars tight. The screaming in my ears is amplified by the rhythm of my heart. It booms. The blood banging so fucking loud in my head, I see a darkness creeping in again.
