Page 59 of On The Run

The fucker was actually waterboarding me. All rational thought left, and all that mattered was surviving. Water was seeping in through the mask and into my mouth and nose, leaving me sputtering and coughing as I thrashed underneath it. This was it. This was how I was going to die.

I wished I could say I relaxed then and let death take me with dignity. It would be a damn lie though. I wrenched painfully on the chains, desperate to get away from the constant onslaught of water.

My lungs were filling up quickly and I was losing all sense of time and reason. A wave of regrets rushed toward me, and the biggest one of all was wasting any time with Max. I never got to tell him how I felt about him. I never even had a chance to try a relationship with him. I always knew we’d be doomed before we started, but how I wished I didn’t give into fear. Because in the end, what did it matter that I resisted for months? I still fell in love with him. My only hope was that his feelings weren’t as strong as mine were and he’d move on. I regretted how badly this would hurt Gray, but he was a tough kid. He’d get through it. And maybe one day, Max would meet someone else, someone Gray also loved and who would be an excellent parent for him. Then they’d get to experience all the things I wished I were able to have but never could. It would be enough though. Knowing that Max and Gray were happy, it would be enough.

I had no hope of being found, not in time anyway. It was a desperate extra measure when I created that second playlist for Max. I was hoping he’d never have to use it, but I wanted to give him something, anything for him to realize I didn’t just skip town on him. Who knew if he discovered it, and even if he did, the guys from RAM wouldn’t find me in time. I must only have seconds left.

I didn’t want to waste any of them, and in my last moments, I saw Max. He was wearing those stupid khaki pants he always had on and my favorite navy-blue sweater. He was looking down at something on his phone, but it was like he sensed me and turned toward me. No matter what happened next, I would always remember that smile and the warm look full of love. It didn’t matter if it was a hallucination because right now, seeing Max one last time was everything.

I love you, Max. I’m sorry I never told you.

And then it was done. The water stopped and the hood was peeled off the bottom half of my face. He must have unchained my head because I fell forward as mouthfuls of water were coughed out of my mouth. I vomited right there, next to my fucking legs, and I had a moment to be grateful that I didn’t hit myself because I knew Giovani Santino wasn’t gonna clean it up.

I vomited one more time before I started to feel human again. My stomach was queasy, but it was better than the gnawing hunger I’d felt the last day or so.

The hood was still covering my eyes, but I knew Giovani must have squatted down next to me because I could feel his breath on my cheek. I was glad I was already shivering so he didn’t notice my reaction to him. “You took the first part of your punishment well. I think a little bit of time for reflection on your behavior will do you well.”

I didn’t have time to ask what the fuck he meant, even if I had the strength to do so, because the fucker folded the hood down over the bottom half of my face again. The water wasn’t streaming, and, thankfully, he removed the collar, but the hood was still drenched, making it extremely uncomfortable and once again hard to breathe.

I couldn’t hear Giovani leave, but I instinctually knew when I was alone again. I didn’t have enough in me to cry, so I fell back against the pillar, giving in, at least for a little bit. I’d fight again when he came back, but for now, I was going to close my eyes and rest, just for a while.

Chapter26

Max

It would typically bea five-and-a-half-hour drive to the Wyoming border, but in a private jet, we made it there in a little over an hour. Manny was found by ranchers, his unconscious body dumped right outside the outer fence of their property. We were told he’d been lucky he was spotted so quickly, that typically they weren’t over on that side of the ranch that late, but some of the cattle had broken through their fence and were still being wrangled back. Typically, it might have been days before he was discovered, and there was no way he would have survived that.

Throughout the flight, Kai and Aspen continued to work nonstop. It was both impressive and intimidating. It also cemented the fact that I absolutely didn’t want a career like this. I needed some kind of separation from my work, time to just be, and it was very clear Kai and Aspen didn’t get that very often.

One of the things Kai was figuring out was getting Manny transferred to one of the facilities that RAM had influence in. While their main locations were in New York and California, they had resources throughout the country—and the world—and apparently, there was a hospital in Denver that they had close ties to. As soon as Manny was stable, he was being transferred there. In the meantime, Kai set up security to watch his room.

While Kai pulled strings left and right, Aspen was hacking into the security cameras around the ranch. I knew very little about ranching, but from my crash course on the hour flight, I learned that a lot of them were not up to date on modern technology. Since this was a smaller ranch, it was easy to assume that Giovani thought they wouldn’t have cameras. This particular one had been recently taken over by a son and nephew, two mid-twenties Gen-Zers who went to college in Cheyenne and were looking to take the ranch into the 21stcentury. And the two young men were so freaked out by the whole thing, they were extremely cooperative and willingly sent all their footage to Aspen within minutes. Not that he wasn’t capable of hacking into it, but I felt a little better knowing there was one less law broken, as silly as it sounded.

It took no time at all for Aspen to find it, even if he had to go back three days. At 9 pm, a beat-up SUV pulled up on the dusty road and stopped right by the fence. A man got out of the front seat. He had his head down and a baseball cap on, making it impossible to identify him. He then walked to the back seat, opened the door, and dragged Manny’s limp body out of the car. He left him right there in the dirt, got back in, and drove away. There was no sign of Aiden at all.

Aspen was able to track the SUV about ten miles, but once he was completely off the property, there was no other camera in sight and he lost sight of him. Still, unless Giovani backtracked, we had a direction, and Aspen was busy working his magic to find out something.

When we arrived on the small military airstrip, Aspen and Sage chose to stay in the plane: Aspen to work and Sage, I thought, to keep him company. I knew he was in medical school so I would have liked his opinion, but I understood his reasoning for not wanting to leave his brother alone.

Bronx, Kai, and I made our way into the small county hospital. It was the size of most urgent care centers around home, and I couldn’t imagine they had the capabilities to truly care for Manny. I was glad Kai arranged for him to be moved to Denver. I knew Aiden would appreciate it as well.

As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by a woman in her early fifties wearing dark-green scrubs with a white jacket over them. She had a badge hooked to the pocket of the jacket, and her graying brown hair was pulled back in a braid. Her eyes were assessing us as soon as we walked in, and even though the three of us towered over her, I could tell she didn’t give a fuck. This woman was a boss. She reminded me of my mom, and she hadn’t even opened her mouth yet.

Her gaze stopped at Kai. “Mr. Rinaldi, I take it?” Kai nodded. The woman stuck out her hand. “I’m Dr. Lawrence. I was told to expect you.” I could tell by her tone she wasn’t thrilled by that, but she was remaining professional and friendly.

“Yes, I really appreciate you accommodating us so quickly.”

Dr. Lawrence cocked an eyebrow up. “I was under the impression I didn’t have much of a choice.”

Kai didn’t blink. It didn’t faze him at all. “Yes, well, I do apologize for the urgency. But it’s imperative that we see your John Doe and transfer him as soon as possible.”

“Yes, I am aware. Though I wasn’t told any reason as to why.”

“Unfortunately, it’s confidential, Dr. Lawrence, and part of an ongoing investigation.”

I watched in amazement as Kai and this 5-foot nothing woman had a stare down. If the circumstances were different, I would have enjoyed the show all day, but the urgency to see Manny and maybe get a clue as to where Aiden was overrode that. I cleared my throat.

Dr. Lawrence broke first. “Right. I’ll bring you to him. The patient woke up a little while ago but he’s still very groggy and a little confused. He also wasn’t talking to us, but maybe you’ll have more luck.”

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