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“I’ll explain what I can when you get here.”
“No. You can explain now. I’m already on my way.”
I hear the door to our apartment shut behind him, and a very unhappy girl grumbling in the background.
I lean back into the chair I’m sitting in and cover my eyes with my hand. I explain to him that Zoey wasn’t on the plane and that Maddox called me from her phone being very cryptic. “Do you think Maddox did something?” Zane asks tightly.
I think about his question. Whatever has happened in bad. I know it in my gut, and dread and fear threaten to consume me. But whatever it is, Maddox didn’t do it.
It would be easy to assume and blame him. His past with Zoey makes him the perfect scapegoat for blame. But it’s not him this time. “No. He is just there.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling, Jay.”
I don’t respond, but my stomach rolls with panic. “I’m going to call Coach, and tell him we won’t be at practice tomorrow,” I say calmly. “Maybe you should call your parents.”
“No. I’m not calling them until we find out what’s wrong. I love our parents, and I know they’d want to know but I can’t call them without answers.”
I don’t say anything. I just end the call. Then I quickly call our coach. We’re the rookies this year so I hope this doesn’t make us look bad. Honestly, though, I don’t give a shit. Zoey is my priority. Always will be.
Thirty minutes later, Zane walks in the area of the airport where I'm sitting, but he’s not alone. “What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Getting us to your girl,” he replies with grim determination. “I’ve got my pilot and plane ready. It’s waiting on us now.”
I grab him by the shoulder to pull him into a hug. “Thank you,” I reply trying to keep my emotions under control.
He returns my embrace. “I love her too, little brother,” he says with a choked voice.
“It’s bad, Rory.”
He shakes his head and begins walking in another direction, gesturing for us to follow. “You don’t know that, Jax.”
I don’t say anything, but I do know. Deep in my soul, I feel it. Something very bad has happened. I glance at Zane for a second. His face reflects my thoughts. He knows too. What we find is going to change everything.
Wemake our way out of the plane five hours later directly on the runway. Maddox and a girl that looks vaguely familiar are waiting on us. “Come on,” he says brusquely but Zane stops him before he can enter the SUV.
“What’s going on with my sister, Masters? What did you do?” he asks.
The girl is quick to jump to his defense. “He didn’t do anything but try to help Zoey.”
Zane glares at the girl. Rory places a hand to his shoulder. “We can do this later,” he says authoritatively. “Right now, we get to Zoey.”
I don’t acknowledge anyone. I climb into the vehicle silently demanding we get the hell on the road.
Once, we’re on the road, Maddox clear his throat a little nervously before speaking. The action sends more nerves through me. I’m doing everything I can not to lose my shit. I’m trying to focus on getting to Zoey. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult to tamp down my stress which threatens to bubble over in the form of pure rage. “I don’t know exactly what happened,” he says nervously. “Zoey text me when she left her hotel for the restaurant we were meeting at. She was walking because it was only a few blocks away.”
My anger bubbles and grows as a knowing dread fills me. My fists are clenched at my side as I look out the window of the moving vehicle. “She should’ve been there before us, but she wasn’t. When she was thirty minutes late, I stepped out to call her. For some reason I can’t explain, I decided to walk a little in the opposite direction of her hotel. I heard a phone ringing, and, at first thought it was just a random person’s phone that passed by. When I called again, I decided to follow the sound.”
He turns around in his seat drawing my attention to him. He looks me dead in the face. The seriousness and sadness in his expression nearly sends me over the edge I’ve been teetering for hours now. “I don’t know what happen, and the doctors wouldn’t tell me anything because I am not family, but you need to be prepared for what you see. It’s bad Jax. Really bad.”
Once again, I don’t speak. I can't. It’s taking every bit of self-control I have not to explode.
“What’s bad?” I hear Rory ask. “Prepare us for what we’re about to see and hear.”
“I told you, I can’t. The doctors wouldn’t tell me, and Zoey wasn’t talking.”
“Tell us what you think happened,” Zane says. He doesn’t turn his head at all. I can see him through the reflection of the window I'm staring out of to see his body language and actions mirror my own.
Everything in me wants Maddox to shut up. I don’t want to hear what he thinks happened. If I hear it, I’m going to lose it. I don’t want to hear my own thoughts voiced out loud. I’m also afraid that it is far worse than I’m imagining.
