Page 8 of Then and Now (The Edge of Retaliation 3)
I sit, only because I know he’ll refuse to tell me anything if I don’t, and I don’t want to be left out of any of this. I won’t sleep until I know Jo is safe, and she’s going to be okay. I’ll rest, but there is no way I’m stopping until she’s home again.
Ethan enters the room, glancing at Tanner and me before announcing, “I’ve got the exact location, searched it on Google Earth. If it’s recent, which I’m praying it is, then we’ll be able to go in from a side road that seems to be still present. From there, it looks like we’ll be able to approach the place on foot. It’s well hidden, we’re talking hundreds of thousands of acres of bushland around it. Perfect for the type of crimes they’re running.”
I glance at Tanner, who is studying Ethan. After a minute, he nods. “Sounds good to me. How long will it take us to get there?”
“Three hours from here.”
“We’ll leave in the afternoon, right before the sun sets. We want it to be as dark as possible, it’ll make it harder for them to see us approaching, and it’ll make it easier to hide when we get our hands on the others, if they’re …”
Tanner’s eyes swing to me, and I clench my teeth. “They’re still alive, Tanner. Don’t talk like that.”
“Gotta prepare yourself for the fact that they might not be,” Ethan says, not protecting my feelings at all.
I turn my attention to him. “Ethan,” I say, in a soft, scalding voice.
“Look, Callie, you’ve been through a lot, you’ve seen a lot, which means you’re not stupid. You’re smart, and you know what we did was dangerous. It made the wrong people angry and, because of that, they might very well hurt Jo because of it.”
My heart twists and I glance down at my hands, because I know he’s right. Deep down, I know it, I’ve just been avoiding having the conversation.
“Prayin’ they have them as a way of gettin’ to me, considerin’ I started this,” Tanner says, “but we can’t go in there until we have thought of everythin’ we might face, that includes finding our friends gone …”
“Dead,” I mutter. “You can say it, Tanner. Dead. We could find them dead. Because of you and your stupidity. Because you went after them. I’m going for a shower.”
I stand very slowly, with a wince, and walk into the large bathroom. I close the door and press my back to it, exhaling. I feel bad for saying that, for making this entirely his fault when I know it isn’t. After he found out what happened to Celia, of course he was going to seek out his revenge. Why the hell wouldn’t he? Those men are the reason she’s gone.
I stay pressed against the wall until a knock sounds out and Tanner’s voice comes through the door, “Open up.”
I do as he asks, stepping away from the door. He opens it and steps inside a minute later, closing it behind him. “Ethan has gone to get everything we need, I’m goin’ to meet him out soon. First, wanted to talk to you …”
“Look, I know I shouldn’t have said what I just did. It isn’t your fault this is happening. In the end, I guess everything comes back to them and what they did to Celia. I’m just …”
“You’re scared,” he says, taking a step closer, his eyes intense as they slowly travel the length of my body. “Know that feeling all too well.”
I swallow as he takes another step, pressing his body into mine, his hand travelling up my side so slowly it makes my skin prickle. “I thought you were meant to be meeting Ethan,” I whisper, my voice hitching.
“In a minute,” he murmurs, bringing his face down closer to mine, pressing his forehead against my clammy one. He closes his eyes and exhales, and I can smell his masculine breath tickle my face. It makes my entire body tremble. “First I just need to stand here and pretend none of this is fuckin’ happenin’.”
“Are you scared too, Tanner?” I ask, my voice soft as his hand travels up beneath my shirt, running up my back.
“Fuckin’ terrified, but of what is what scares me more. Part of me wishes they’d sort Chase out for me, so I don’t have to fuckin’ listen to him tell the story, the other part of me wants to get them all out alive, because I can’t deal with any more death, and the other part hopes they walk through that front door right now so I don’t have deal with that gang and all the hell they’re going to bring into our lives.”
Wow.
That was a lot.
He opens his eyes, his forehead still against mine, and I hold his gaze. “I get what you’re saying,” I tell him. “I’ve felt all the same things.”
