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They both shake their heads, and we leave after a quick search of the house.
“Now what the fuck do we do?” I seethe to the others since Presley’s weak ass fucking parents were no help besides proving that they are worthless. I would die before I left my child in a situation like that.
Vance and Rage look at each other before Rage glances at me. “There’s one more place we can check out tonight.”
“Where?”
“Presley’s apartment.”
“You think he would be stupid enough to fucking hide there?” I furrow my brows, staring at Rage and Vance.
Rage shrugs. “I wouldn’t put it past him, but also, Presley made a comment that I thought about, and Vance brought up when we talked earlier. When he met with her, she said something about Ben talking to her. We already know that wasn’t through the phone since she blocked his number, so he could’ve left her notes.”
“She would have told us.”
“Would she?” Vance raises a brow. “She seems… naïve. And she seemed pretty in love with him prior to this. I never met her personally back then, but I saw her with him a few times. She was very taken with him.”
I let out a growl, my hand twitching towards the knife on my thigh, wanting to take it and jab it into his fucking neck for talking about Ben and Presley together.
Stone steps into my line of sight. “Let’s just go check. It hurts nothing. Standing here isn’t doing anything helpful.”
I force myself to take a deep breath and nod.
By the time we get back to Jacksonville, it is four in the morning, so we all head straight to the apartment to get this over with. Blade steps in front of everyone and easily picks the lock since we don’t have the keys.
Rage, Stone, Blade, and I, along with Vance and two of his men, come inside and make sure no one is here before looking around. It feels intrusive, and I feel bad for going through her things, which causes me to be much snappier than I mean to be towards everyone.
“Axe!” Rage yells from the kitchen.
I walk out of her bedroom where I just checked her nightstands and find Rage and Vance at the counter with a drawer open and piles of notes and envelopes in front of them. I stop at the end of the hallway and stare at the papers they hold, along with the ones scattered on the counter, before meeting Rage’s eyes.
His grim eyes and deep frown are all the confirmation I need. I turn and slam my fist into the wall. “Motherfucker! Why the fuck didn’t she say anything?”
“It could be embarrassment. Or she thought they didn’t mean anything. It looks like they started off somewhat kind and remorseful, almost. Then, as time went on, he got more aggressive in the notes. It also looks like he may have left gifts too based on what these say,” Vance says, emotionless. All business.
I can’t fucking believe she didn’t fucking say anything. How could she think they meant nothing? How could she risk her life and her baby’s life by not taking any threat seriously?
“We might have something from these, though,” Vance adds as his eyes scan two notes he holds in his hands. “It looks like they had some other home. He says a few times he will take her to the cabin if he needs to. But when we looked for their properties, they only had three. We checked them all. None were a cabin, so we need to ask Presley about this place. It could be where he’s hiding.”
Rage scans a few more notes in his hands. “These also mention a flash drive. We need to know what that is.” He looks up at me before glancing at Vance. “We’ll go back and talk to her and then get a hold of you with a plan.”
Vance turns to gaze at his two other men before he agrees. A few minutes later, I have all the notes gripped in my fist as we leave.
When we finally return to the compound, it’s 6 a.m., so I give the notes to Rage and head upstairs. When I get to our room, I just numbly stand there, staring at Presley. I want to shake her awake and demand answers out of her right now, but she needs to sleep, and I need to take a few minutes to calm down.
After a long shower, I perch on the chair in the corner and wait. Probably a horrible idea to just sit here because every bad thought surfaces, and all it does is enrage me even more than before.
Chapter Twelve
Presley
Iwakeupslowly,my eyes adjusting to the sun shining through the window. It would feel nice if I didn’t feel so cold. The air feels tight. Like something is wrong and my anxiety immediately skyrockets when I run my hand across the mattress to find the other side of the bed empty. I know he was going to see Ben’s parents last night, but he should’ve been back by now. I let him keep me distracted last night so I wouldn’t think about everything but now with him not back yet I can’t help but start to worry. The pit in my stomach grows as I think about all the things Ben’s parents could have said. Or how wrong things could have went. I need to just take a breath and find Jackson.Don’t overthink yet, Presley.I sit up, planning to grab my phone, but before I can, my heart freezes in my chest as I take in Jackson.
He sits in the armchair that is in the corner of the room by the dresser, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His head is dropped forward as he stares at the ground. His hair is messy and slightly wet, like he showered not that long ago and hasn’t combed it yet. My skin breaks out in goosebumps and I can feel my hands start to shake.
Anxiety is awful and I hate dealing with it, but I guess one thing that I have always noticed is I can easily tell when something is off. Mostly because my brain will take off with any tiny little thing and blow it way out of proportion.
“Jackson?” I whisper as I slide my legs out of the bed so I am sitting on the edge. His head snaps up as I glance at his hands that are clenched into the tight fists. I’m not scared of Jackson. I know he would never hurt me. But seeing him like this, the unmistakable fury in his eyes and the tightness in his body as he stares at me sets me on edge.
