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Running until I feel my lungs are about to explode, I pass the gates, only to see the van leaving. But I won’t fucking give up. I rush after them, sprinting across the busy road, slamming on hoods to make the passing traffic stop for me, until I seriously get behind on the van. “Son of a bitch,” I pant, my hands flat against my bent knees, head between my legs. Fuck, my chest is heaving and I’ve got no clue where they’re headed. A black SUV comes up behind me and honks. Slowly turning, my eyes shoot daggers. “Get out of the car and fight me like a man,” I growl. Instead the window opens and I stare at the face of my cousin. “Ro,” my voice breaks. “They’ve got him.”
“Get in the car!” With screeching tires he pushes off the curb and we launch off into the NY traffic. I’m on the phone before I realize, though my mind and lungs are still trying to catch up with whatever just happened.
“Owen, I need backup. We’re following All Saints, but I don’t know where they’re headed. They’ve taken a hostage. Get someone out here asap. We’re heading northwest from the Green Wood cemetery. As soon as your guys are in the car, have them call me and I’ll share my location.” I look outside. I hang up, facing Ro for the first time since I got in. “What were you doing here? Where’s D.?”
He gives me a pointed look. “First of all, I don’t always need D. by my side. I can very well drive myself.” He returns his gaze back ahead of him. “And yeah, I was here.” His voice is softer. “Why do you think?”
“I don’t know? You weren’t going to the cemetery, were you?” Ro snorts at that.
“Sometimes you’re such an idiot. You know, you’re not the only one protecting your brothers. I’ve been shadowing you shadowing Phoenix for quite a bit now.”
“What?” He flashes a smile.
“Why are you so surprised? Are you the only one who’s entitled to love your family like crazy?” Traffic’s a bitch, and the white van’s changing lanes constantly, passing taxis and buses. Ro follows him, swinging over the double lane, ignoring the honking cars around us.
“Where the fuck are they going?” I mutter, when we turn left onto Hamilton Avenue. Ro’s words echo through my mind. I can’t believe that he shadowed me, and at the same time, it’s the most normal, fucking thing in the world. It warms my heart.
“I don’t know, but I guess we’ll figure it out soon. Hold on tight.” He skips a light, and with cars coming from left and right I hold my breath as he runs the intersection at maximum speed. We make it to the other side, but the squealing brakes are just sharp enough not to let us bump into the bus that suddenly stops in front of us.
“Fuck me, dude, I should go car racing with you sometime,” I mutter.
“Maybe you should,” he grins. “Or maybe with your new friend?”
“Yeah.” I kinda feel like saying something completely different, like giving him some cheap-ass denial, but I guess we have passed that stage. After all, we’re risking getting the cops on our asses because of said friend.
Ro lets out a chuckle. “That’s all you’ve got to say? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so speechless.” He swings past the bus and a passing truck honks as it passes from the left, the passenger opening his window to show us the finger. Ro returns the courtesy, then turns to me, a soft smile on his face. “It’s a good thing,” he mutters, leaving me baffled. When he sees me staring, he shrugs, but I don’t miss the twinkle in his eyes. “Situations, people… we’re allowed to change.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Fuck!” The car makes a ripping U-turn that nearly makes me drop the phone. Banging my head against the window, Ro swears something unintelligible.
“What the hell’s going on?”
“Fucker’s changed direction. Hang on.” Ro speeds up as he follows the white van on its tail further south, until we pass the cemetery again, then head further south, past Sunset Park. It’s busy here around this time of day. When we end up one more time right behind some truck, I’ve had enough of it. “Let me get out and run after them, I’ll be faster.”
“Hang on.” Ro grabs my arm as we make a turn, now passing the hospital. “Traffic’s picking up. Can’t afford to lose you now.” In front of us, the road becomes two-lane. He’s right.
I don’t want to think of Phoenix now. Can’t think of the way they might—“Do you think they’ll hurt him?” It’s a stupid thing to ask, and judging by Ro’s surprised gaze, he’s unsure of what to say. “Well?”
“I think you don’t want to know that answer, Kai.”
“But—”
“Don’t, brother. Don’t go there. We’ll get him out.”
I check my phone. “And where the fuck is security when you need them? Where the hell are we going anyway?” I look outside, annoyed with myself and the entire, fucking world. We’re heading toward a large bridge.
“Staten Island apparently.”
“Staten… What the hell’s over there?”
Ro turns my way. “Apart from half a million inhabitants?” He smirks, then points his hand across the glistening water from the Narrow. “See that? That’s Elizabeth Port.”
“I don’t like this one bit.” I dial Owen, phone tucked to my ear, eyes darting outside and onto the river. “Fucker doesn’t pick up. What the hell’s going on?” Images of a kidnapped Mason are suddenly too busy making their way inside my mind. “Fuck, they better not put Phoenix on a boat. Can we go faster?”
“I’m doing all I can, hang in there.”
“I have to get there in time.” I rub my hand over my forehead. “And listen to me blabbering, man. I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t recognize myself. I h—”
