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“There’s no more,” Mal says, moving to stand on one side of the guy while Mason stands on the other side of him, ready to escort him back to the SUV and take him down if he decides to fight. Although, that doesn’t seem likely since he’s been so forthcoming with information so far and seems almost relieved that he’s been caught, even if it means he dies. Not that I’m going to let that happen but he doesn’t know that.
“Let’s go,” Rome orders.
Rip starts off immediately, with Rome, Mason, Mal, and Fredrick following behind them, with Ace and I the last ones to follow. This ensures that Fredrick is completely surrounded and lessens his chance of escape.
Ace’s hand on my arm makes me slow my pace slightly as he leans in and lowers his voice, “As soon as I realised that this wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, I started to record what he was saying, I’ve distorted his voice just in case Mona gets an idea of who it is before we’ve retrieved Rylie and sent that recording to Mona in the hopes that she will be lenient. I have also found his sister and paid her care for the next ten years at least.”
I am literally in awe of him right now, “You are fucking amazing, and I don’t know how I ever got so lucky to have you in my life.”
By the end of my quietly spoken speech, his eyes are wide and lit up with happiness, and instead of replying to me, he quickly kisses me while still walking, which is also an impressive thing to do, especially when he catches my elbow to stop me from hitting the floor because, of course, I’m not capable of kissing and walking at the same time.
We’re approaching the parking lot now, so he mutters quietly, “We’re the lucky ones Blue.”
I don’t have time to reply, but my heart sores momentarily before I remember that I really do need to be paying attention to what is going on around me. I’m not usually this unprofessional, but that whole Rip being twenty-one and the no birthday thing threw me, not to mention Freddy’s reaction to absolutely everything, was weird and threw me off. Not an excuse, just a reason.
Thankfully, we manage to get Fredrick into the car without incident and without anyone paying attention to us at all, mainly because there’s, thankfully, no one else around. It makes this whole thing a hell of a lot easier. We even get through the guards without being stopped.
“Do you see what I mean? What kind of security protocol is that? Yesterday when they let me through, even though I stopped to talk to them, I could kind of understand why they just let me through. I mean, they know me; we’ve hung out a few times. But you, even though you’re here at Mona’s request, they don’t know you. They should be checking your vehicle as you enter and as you leave. It’s actually a wonder that no one has really tried to steal information from us; it wouldn’t be that fucking hard.” Fredrick rants.
It's silent for a beat before Mase can’t seem to help himself and asks, “It sounds like you’ve got some pretty good ideas about how to make this place run better. Why haven’t you ever brought it up before?”
I’m distracted from Fredrick’s reply when my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out to see a message from Mona flash up on the screen.
Mona: I wouldn’t usually do this, but I trust your opinion and your insight on things like this, so I am asking you what you would do with the man that you caught, if you were in my position.
And that right there is why I respect Mona so much as a leader. She understandably must be absolutely spitting mad right now, but she is trying to remain calm and do what’s best.
Me: Honestly, after listening to him and hearing what has been going on, he is showing no signs of deception, and he was genuinely upset and sorry. I believe him, and as far as I can tell, all of his earnings go towards his care for his sister, so much so that he’s living out of his car, and I know for a fact that you pay well. We’ve taken care of the hospital costs. All of your information is safe, Rylie will be safe very shortly, and he has a lot of good information and ideas about how to make this place safer.
Mona: I see. You’d let it slide?
Me: Absolutely not. He needs to be punished, but not as harshly as I know you were initially thinking. I think he deserves a second chance and could really benefit you if you let him.
Mona: Thank you.
There’s no way of knowing exactly what she’s going to do but I do know that she is a reasonable woman and I can only hope that she listens to my advice. I suppose it really does depend on the condition that Rylie is in. If she is relatively unscathed, then I would imagine that Mona will be more inclined to be lenient with him.
“It’s just up on the left through these trees,” Fredrick directs Rome, and I put my phone away.
“They didn’t check out here?” Ace asks curiously, and I can understand where his confusion is coming from, we may be outside of the security fencing and gates, but we are still very much on the property owned by Mona.
“No, maybe they thought that no one would be stupid enough to stay on the grounds,” Fredrick replies, clearly disapproving of the whole situation.
“That’s fucking stupid,” I mutter.
“I know,” he agrees.
“Alright, let’s go find Rylie. Jynx, you had better go in first, just in case she has an adverse effect to this whole situation, and seeing five strange men entering the building makes her lose her shit. If she’s as well trained as Mona said and we witnessed, then it could become dangerous, and the last thing we want to do is have to restrain her. That won’t help her trauma or fight or flight response at all.” Rome orders.
“Got it,” I agree, getting out of the car.
Once we’re all out, Mason and Mal stay on either side of Fredrick as he leads us further into the woods. It’s not long at all, maybe only five minutes of walking down an only slightly overgrown path, until we get to a run-down and tiny cabin—one small room and only a single story.
“Do you want one of us to come in with you?” Mal asks, sounding concerned.
I shake my head with a grin, “Nope, I’ve got this. Besides, if she’s not in the condition that Fredrick here described, then I’m going to need you guys to make sure he doesn’t escape while I beat him to a bloody pulp.”
My threat hits the mark because Fredrick pales and the guys all chuckle. Since my work out here is done for the time being, I stride up the small rickety steps and open the door that isn’t that well locked, which means he’s managed to secure her to something in the little cabin. There is always the chance that she has managed to escape. As soon as I walk through the door, I duck as something is launched from the opposite side of the single room and smashes against the door frame.
