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“We don’t know,” was Phantom’s rapid reply. “Jace didn’t give us a last name. I’ve been doing what I can, but there’s not really much I can dig up when I’m limited to just a first name.”
“I don’t know who this Smoke guy is, but Lena Montgomery—it’s her, it has to be.” Finn cursed again, squeezing his eyes closed as he shook his head. His breaths came in harder, sharper, sending the monitors back into a frenzy.
“Griffin—”
“You don’t understand.” Finn’s eyes shot open, locking directly on Xavier first before jumping between me, Isaac, Rhett,and Phantom. It was all he could do to mask his pain the harder and deeper his chest heaved.
“Lena is one of the most poisonous snakes you could ever come across in human form. Back when he was alive, she used to work for Damien’s old man. She was responsible for bringing in new recruits for the Outlaws. Ginger was eighteen and living on the street when Lena found her. She manipulated Ginger, gained her trust, and when her guard was down, she struck. Lena is the reason Ginger’s lived the last ten years of her life enslaved to the Outlaws.”
My lips parted as anger began broiling within my gut.
I…
Fuck.
I was so livid I didn’t even know what to say.
“She never told you, did she?”
It fell silent, and at first I hadn’t comprehended Finn was speaking to me directly, until I looked up and met his swollen eyes, a frown on his face.
“No,” was my all but calm and tender retort, my jaw tight. “She didn’t.”
“Don’t hold it against her. It was a long time ago, and Ginger isn’t particularly fond of talking about her past. Given our own individual history, that’s one thingeveryonein this room should understand.”
Finn was right. I didn’t like admitting it, but it was an unfortunate truth neither of us could really argue with and so, we didn’t.
“How long has it been since Jace called with the news?” Finn asked after a brief pause.
“A week,” Isaac retorted.
Finn turned to me then, worry on his face. “And you still haven’t heard from her?”
I sadly shook my head. “No, I haven’t. Which is a big part of the problem because until I do hear from her, we can’t fully strategize a successful rescue.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Finn blinked outrageously between me and the guys, Xaiver the last. “Why the fuck not?”
It was too much to explain and I honestly didn’t know where to start, but thankfully, Phantom cleared his throat and took the lead so I wouldn’t have to. Finn sat back and listened as he went into thorough detail on how fucked things have been. He told Finn how we searched the address Damien had given me and discovered not only was it an immaculate and humongous fucking mansion, but after spending over a week risking our lives by crossing over into enemy territory to scope out the place, it was formidably armed to its teeth with thugs—way too fucking many for a four-man team to face off against. If it was that dangerous on the outside, then God only knew how many extra bodies were manning the inside, or if there were any other innocents like Ginger trapped there. Standing by for all this time doing nothing internally gutted me but without that info, we couldn’t act. I mean, wecould, but the odds of our survival were depressingly slim.
“Okay,” was all Finn said. He was light years beyond pissed and we all knew it.
“And what about Jace?” Xavier asked, finally inputting himself into the conversation. “Aside from Ginger’s predicament, have any of you heard from him again since then?”
“It’s been a few days,” I answered, frowning. “He’s scared, but he’s okay. He’s doing the best he can.” I was so worried about him, scared half to death I’d wake up to a phone call saying he was dead and hand-delivered to Xavier’s front porch in nothing but a bag full of his dismembered limbs. I had no fucking idea ifDamien really did order Jace’s execution or not, but if so, then time was running out for him. I could feel it.
If only there was something I could do to help. To save him.
I loved Jace.
I didn’t want to lose him.
What fucking good am I if I can’t even protect the people I love?
“He’s gonna be okay, Samara,” Finn whispered. He reached for my hand, squeezing it at the same time Xavier asked to speak privately with my guys. They disappeared, leaving me and Finn alone in the room.
“How can you be so sure?” I asked him.
“Because I just am.” He smiled at me like he knew something I didn’t. “So, I think you and I are overdue for a little… chat. Don’t you think so,Cuz?”
