Marcus spared a fleeting moment of sympathy for whoever these ‘friends’ were. They had no idea what was coming for them.
***
“Jace might be able to lead us to him,” Connor argued, pacing the room.
“He’s a good place to start,” Jake offered.
“If he knows anything. Do we really believe he knows where Marcus is?”
“He probably has an idea.” Wade grimaced as he spoke and Addie saw the cuts on his arms.
“Wade!” She yanked his hand up to see glass embedded in his forearms where he’d crawled across the room to get to Carly. “We need to clean this.” She tugged him toward the table in the breakroom and pointed to a chair. “Sit. We’ll get you cleaned up and then we need to go to the hospital.” A distressed expression flickered across her face as she remembered Carly’s pale face as they loaded her on the ambulance. Only the knowledge that Danny was with her kept her focused on the task at hand. “We need to get the glass out so it doesn’t get infected.”
Wade studied her, his instinctive refusal dying as he saw her hands shake slightly. He sat down and bent his arms so she could easily pick out the glass. Jake and Connor crowded close, hovering protectively next to Addie as she snapped open the first aid kit. She stared into it helplessly and Wade prompted, “Tweezers.”
She nodded and picked them up as she turned back to him. “God, they’re so big,” she said, the tweezers hovering over a particularly large piece of glass. Wade purposely misunderstood her, flexing his arms.
“Why, thank you.”
He was gifted with a faint smile and her hands steadied as she plucked the glass out. For a while, there was only the sound of glass tinkling into a cup as she slowly removed all the pieces from his arms. She finally leaned back with a sigh and set down the tweezers.
“I think I got it all.”
Wade rotated his arms, the raw skin burning, but he couldn’t feel any glass.
“I’ll wash off the blood and you can bandage it,” he offered, standing. She nodded, the night’s events catching up to her as she took a breath.
“We need to call her mom and dad,” Addie said, her voice tiny. Connor cupped her shoulder, squeezing lightly.
“A unit was sent to their house to talk to them.”
“No,” Addie stood abruptly, “I should be the one. She’s my best friend. They shouldn’t hear about it from a stranger.”
“Addie, you’re too close,” Jake told her and the anger she’d been suppressing roared to life.
“You were the one to call Connor’s parents when he was shot. Don’t tell me about how close I am. They deserve better than an uncaring cop!”
“Addie,” he responded, pained. “I know that. But I also know how hard that call is to make when you don’t know if the person will be okay.” Remembered pain flared in his eyes and Addie bit her lip. She remembered that night just as clearly, the sight of Connor’s parents huddled by the doors waiting for any word from the doctor. “We’ll meet them at the hospital. First, take care of Wade.” Addie swallowed back an instinctive urge to argue, knowing he was right. They needed to be there for Danny, but she knew none of the guys would leave her at the moment, not if they thought for a second that she was the intended target.
“You knew it was going to happen.” Wade had returned, his arm clean except for a few deeper cuts that continued to seep blood.
“I saw it when you asked the question” She shook her head in frustration. “It just wasn’t fast enough,” she paused and continued in a voice too low to hear, “I wasn’t fast enough.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Wade countered and Addie lurched, the gauze in her hand smearing blood over his arm. He gave her a knowing smile. “Guilt and regret are all over your aura at the moment.”
She dabbed at the oozing blood, less gently this time, and he winced but let her continue. She dabbed on some antibiotic cream and did her best to cover the cuts with bandages.
“It’s not great,” she admitted, eyeing her handiwork critically. “But you won’t bleed all over the place either.”
Connor cleaned up the mess she’d left as she closed the first aid kit. She swayed when she stood up and Jake caught her arm to steady her.
“You okay?” In his concern, he posed it as a question and she gripped his arm as a wave of fear washed over her – a fear that didn’t belong to her. It was Jake’s. The fear was knotted up with worry and the bittersweet taste of relief – an overwhelming relief that this time it wasn’t Addie on the way to the hospital.
“I’m okay,” she answered, pushing through the paralyzing fear he had been fighting back ever since the gunshots had started. Wade glanced at her in sympathy and she realized he must have already seen Jake’s emotions, but now he’d probably felt them through her. “What a tangled web we weave,” she murmured to herself. She cleared her throat, speaking up, “We need to go to the hospital and make sure Carly is okay,” she paused, sending up a prayer that Carly really would be okay, “Then we find Jace and beat the location of Marcus out of him.”
“Or we could just ask you were Marcus is,” Connor mentioned, glancing between them.
“I’d like to avoid any more questions tonight,” Jake said firmly, his gaze on Addie.
“I really just want to beat the shit out of Jace,” Addie said baldly. “We can move to round two of questioning after that.” Connor lifted his eyebrows admiringly, and even Wade flashed a grin.
“Let me go get a clean shirt and we’ll go,” Wade said, heading for the stairs to the apartment. He lingered for a second to take in the destruction and Jake spoke up.
“A unit will be stationed in the back to make sure this place is secured. We’ll get the windows replaced in the morning.” Wade nodded, his back still to them, and headed up the stairs.
“I know I’m not the one with the special psychic abilities, but I don’t really have a good feeling about this.” Connor gazed around the room, his normally carefree expression hard.
“We’re close,” Addie paused, shaking her head in frustration, “To something, but I don’t know what.”
“Something that wants to hurt you,” Jake muttered angrily, “But they won’t get a chance.” His jaw locked as he stared at her, his expression implacable.
“Damn straight,” Connor seconded, a hint of his normal effervesce coming through.
“You called Jules?” Jake asked absently, his hand stroking over Addie’s back as she leaned into him.
“Not yet,” Connor said guiltily and Addie shook her head at him.
“Go home. She needs you,” Addie told him, a shadow of sadness around her. Connor blinked in an attempt to clear his vision. It was almost like there had been two Addies, one superimposed over the other.
“She’s okay,” he forced himself to keep any inflection from his voice and she nodded.
“She’s sad,” was all Addie offered, but it was enough.
“Call if you need me.” Connor didn’t wait for a response as he headed out the door, anxiety trailing behind him.
“Connor left?” Wade asked, coming down the stairs. He tugged a shirt over his head, leaving a set of washboard abs exposed and Jake covered Addie’s eyes, forcing a startled squeak out of her.
“I wasn’t looking!”
“Yeah, right.”
“Uh huh, you know you can’t resist,” Wade chimed in as she sputtered.
“Y’all think way too much of yourselves,” Addie denied, shaking her head adamantly.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks,” Wade caroled to Addie’s disbelief. Jake nodded along with him and she rolled her eyes.
“I’m afraid I’ve become immune, but I’m sure Carly will appreciate a show to aid in her recovery,” Addie said blithely, stopping them in their tracks. She smiled, amused at their sudden silence. “That’s what I thought.” She bounced lightly on her heels, “Now, let’s go catch a killer.”
***
When they arrived at the hospital, they fo
und Carly’s parents sitting anxiously in the waiting room. As soon as they saw Addie, they rushed over.
“Oh sweetie, are you alright? The officer said you were there when it happened.” Addie took their hands reassuringly.
“I’m fine. I promise,” she added when they gazed at her doubtfully. “I’m more worried about Carly, to be honest. Tell me what’s happening.”
“She’s in surgery, but the doctors are optimistic.” Carly’s mom nodded with a hopeful smile. “The bullet went in her abdomen, but luckily someone was there to make sure she didn’t bleed out. They saved her life,” she stopped, too choked up to continue and her husband wrapped his arm around her, his own gaze hollow.
“You can thank Wade for that,” Addie mentioned, her own smile tremulous as she gestured to Wade, who stood next to her.
Carly’s mom stared up at him in amazement. “Thank you!” She threw herself at him and he rocked from the force of her embrace but managed to bring his arms up. He awkwardly patted her shoulder as his eyes shot daggers at Addie.
“You’re welcome,” Wade murmured, unsuccessfully trying to extract himself from her grip. After this went on for a few minutes, and Wade started to look a little desperate, Addie relented and eased Carly’s mom back by saying, “I’m so glad to hear Carly will be okay.”
She ignored the tiny voice that argued she’d said no such thing, instead focusing on the positive. She couldn’t function if she thought for one moment that Carly might not be okay. She scanned the waiting room for Danny, but didn’t see him. Her forehead wrinkled as a cold sense of forbidding came over her. She forced her lips up in a caricature of a smile and asked, “Where’s Danny?”
Wade went still next to her and Addie hoped Carly’s mom was about to tell her he’d went to get coffee. Wade’s fingers curled around her arm tightly and she felt the guys exchange a glance above her.
“That nice boy who always looks constipated?” Carly’s mom questioned and Addie nodded in confirmation, filing the description away for a later time when she could laugh about it. “He was here. Pacing the room like a caged animal when we arrived. But he got a message on his phone. Just a little while ago,” she added, obviously spotting Addie’s sudden panic. “He told us he had to go,” she shook her head, “He looked so torn, like he didn’t want to go, but he had to.” Carly’s mom gazed at Addie in concern. “Is he okay?”
“We need to go,” Addie said frantically as she backed away from Carly’s parents. “I’m so sorry. We need to check on him. Please, please call or text me when Carly comes out of surgery. We’ll be back as soon as we can,” she called behind her as they quickly moved toward the door.
“Take care,” Carly’s mom shouted back, her eyes worried.
“Where?” Addie demanded as they barreled out of the hospital. When no one answered she stopped, jerking Wade to a stop with her. “Where, Wade?” He stared at her for a brief second and her eyes narrowed. “We’ll talk about it later. Where is he?”
“A crack house. Waters Street,” he answered, and they started moving, jogging toward the truck parked in the garage. “Tell me what you saw,” he commanded, his deep voice steady, as if whatever Addie had just figured out meant nothing.
“Jace, Danny was upset. There was a gun.” The words came out in spurts as Addie picked up the pace, gasping, “We need to hurry.”
Jake yanked open the back door and thrust Addie in, slamming the door as he jumped in the truck, Wade next to him. He flicked on the police lights, backing out too fast, but the urgency on their faces convinced him to move.
“I didn’t know you had flashing lights on your truck,” Addie admitted, clinging to her seatbelt as he careened out of the hospital parking lot.
“Never know when they might come in handy with this gang,” Jake answered, his hands clenched around the steering wheel as he zoomed through lights. “We’re not close,” Jake confessed in a low voice and Wade acknowledged him with a nod.
“We’ll make it,” Wade said, not bothering to add the, “We have too,” at the end. They all knew they had to, either to stop Danny from doing something reckless or to stop him from being – Wade cut the thought off, unable to consider the idea of them losing Danny and, possibly, Carly in one night. He knew Addie believed Carly would be fine, but she hadn’t seen what Wade had.
Danny had jokingly asked if Wade saw dead people’s auras and he’d said, “No,” but he hadn’t explained it was because dead people didn’t have auras, because dead bodies no longer contain souls. The aura faded when the soul left the body, and tonight Wade had watched Carly’s flicker and fade. It hadn’t extinguished completely though and he clung to the knowledge, hoping she survived, because if she didn’t….Wade didn’t want to complete the thought but he forced himself to, Danny would be right behind her.
The minutes ticked by, achingly slow, and a couple of times Wade saw Jake’s hand reach for the police radio to dispatch an officer to the scene, no doubt hoping they would get there faster than them. He never did though, his eyes always flickering to the rearview mirror and Addie as he pulled his hand back.
They weren’t sure what they would find; both of them knew Addie’s knowledge wasn’t precise. If Danny had killed Jace or hurt him, they would try to protect Danny. If it was the other way around…. Well, Wade cracked his knuckles silently, his gaze going cold as he stared out in the night, that was something else entirely.
Chapter Seventeen
Smack, crunch.
The steady sound of fists hitting flesh permeated the air until a low moan of surrender penetrated Daniel’s haze.
“You ready to give me what’s mine?” Daniel released the guy with a grunt of disgust, unsure if it was geared toward the guy or himself. He’d never signed up for this, any of this, and it was getting harder to control the rage roiling inside of him.
“Uh,” the guy was practically incoherent and Daniel sighed.
“Speak up. I can’t understand you.” He paused. “And we don’t want any misunderstandings.”
Splat.
A glob of bloody spit landed at his feet, and what Daniel assumed was a piece of tooth skittered under a chair.
“The money’s in my backpack.” The words were slurred and Daniel grimaced at the reminder that the guy he’d just beat the shit out of was still in high school. He was only a couple of years younger than Daniel but today it felt like a lifetime.
He jerked open the backpack, shoving a chemistry textbook aside and finding a wad of twenties buried at the bottom.
“Not the most secure place,” Daniel noted, thumbing the bills to make sure it was all there. If he came back short, what he’d just done to the kid would look like a walk in the park compared to what would happen to him.
“I want out,” the kid’s words were so low Daniel barely heard them, but he did. He gave a split second’s thought of ignoring them, but a dormant sense of sympathy prodded him. He had been this kid at one time, and something in him wanted, no needed, to warn him what was to come.
“Too late,” Daniel turned and faced the mess he’d made of the kid’s face. He winced when he saw the angle of his nose and the cut above his eye. He’d done more damage than he’d intended. “You’re gonna want to get that eye stitched and your nose straightened.”
“No shit,” the kid muttered, impotent rage radiating from him.
“I’m gonna ignore the attitude.” Daniel crouched in front of the kid, pretending he didn’t notice him flinch back. “You want out?” He waited until the kid nodded. “There’s one way out.” A flash of interest told Daniel he had the kid’s attention. “It’s a bullet in the back.” Daniel didn’t move an inch as the kid shoved himself away from him, fear and panic now gleaming from his eyes.
“I’m telling you this because I’ve seen it. I’m warning you because they’ll hurt someone you love before they come for you.” Daniel’s gaze was steady, any sympathy long gone as the kid swallowed, refusing to met his eyes. "You made your choices. Don't make someone else
pay for them.”
Daniel stood up, shoving the wad of bills in his pocket as he walked toward the door, pausing for second to say, “Get that eye checked out.”
***
“Addie,” Jake began.
“If you’re about to follow that with, stay in the truck, you’ll want to rethink,” Addie suggested, anxiety coursing through her as they approached the house. Wade had indicated it was up ahead and the closer they got, the worse her feeling of dread became.
“I’m not that much of an idiot,” Jake retorted and Wade snorted. Jake shot him a glare to which Wade responded with a haphazard shrug, his gaze still focused on the house up ahead. “What I was going to say,” he stressed, “Is that Addie needs to keep behind one of us. We don’t know what we’re about to walk into. We know you’re at risk. For all we know this is a trap.”
“He’s right,” Wade tossed back and Addie glared at the backs of both their heads. “My gut tells me it’s you they’re after.”
“I’m glad we’re pinning all of our plans on your gut now,” Addie grumbled under her breath, speaking up at her next words. “I’m fine with staying behind you guys, just so long as I’m not forced to stay behind.”
“I have a feeling that would only happen if we handcuffed you to the truck and truthfully I don’t want to deal with the Captain when he found out,” Jake answered, pulling over before they came to the house Wade had indicated.
“I’m not sure how I feel about that,” Addie said contemplatively. “You’re more afraid of the Captain than me.”
“It’s not fear, sweetheart, it’s the form of punishment. The Captain would probably put me back on desk duty.” Jake met her eyes in the rearview mirror, a glint in his eyes which caused Addie to narrow her own. “You, however, might find you enjoy handcuffs.”
“Okay, enough,” Wade broke in, an expression of disgust on his face. “Let’s go get our guy before you two start delving into the kinky shit.”
Hidden Betrayals (The Hidden Series Book 4) Page 17
