50. Talon
Talon
“They fucking took her,” I shout at Creed. Who’s been sitting on his ass for the last however many hours, she’s been gone staring at a computer.
Lori has been on the phone calling in whatever favors she can. And Mack has been calling in whoever is available to help. It’s been a shit show, to say the least.
After Griffin got me in the SUV, he drove like a bat straight from the depths of hell to bring me to Gran while I slipped in and out of consciousness. She deemed the wound a through and through with no real damage other than blood loss and stitched me up when we got home. I was given meds against my will to keep me asleep so they could transfuse me. I’ve been on a rampage ever since I woke up. Toby, Banks, and Henry have been trying to console Gemma. She’s been a wreck, but I honestly couldn’t give two shits.
Feeling Cin ripped from my hands as I blacked out was the worst moment of my life, and I swear I’ve never felt fear like I have today.
Ever.
“I’ve already told you,” Creed squares up with me, “we’re doing everything we can.”
“By sitting on your ass?”
“Tal,” Dad warns, “we’re going to get her, but we have to be smart. We don’t know what Serge’s plan is.”
“I know what his fucking plan is,” I scream. At this point, I’m ready to rip my hair out, “he’s going to kill her.”
“We don’t know that,” Dad wraps his arms around my neck and holds my head against his shoulder. I don’t register the tears until he releases me and I notice the wet spot on his shirt.
“We have to get her back,” my voice cracks, and I hang my head. “I love her,” admitting it out loud makes the ache in my chest feel like a cement house sits on it.
“I know, son,” Dad bends so he can see my face, “we’re going to get her.”
“Kid,” Diego speaks up, “she’s tough. Trust in her.”
His words spark hope in my stomach because he’s right. She is tough. She escaped them once. She can do it again. And I know she’ll be fighting just as hard to get back to me as I am for her.
I nod and leave the room. Finding Fern and Lori in the kitchen. Fern is rubbing Lori’s back, speaking in low tones. This has to be hard for Fern. Dredging up memories she’d rather keep locked away. I don’t know how she kept so calm when things went sideways.
“I’m sorry,” I speak into the otherwise quiet room.
Fern looks up from where she’s consoling Lori and gives me a small smile. “You have to believe she will do everything she can to fight her way out of this, she’s only been gone for four hours. There’s nothing you could’ve done, Tal. It isn’t your fault.”
I shake my head and her eyes widen a fraction, she knows what I mean and she crosses the island to wrap me up in a hug.
“Do you love my daughter?” Lori’s voice is like static, as if she’s been screaming for hours.
I nod, and Fern tilts her head, giving me a look that seems a lot like pride.
“Then I trust you will do anything you can to help bring her home,” Lori says, standing and exiting the kitchen.
Fern and I watch her leave, both of us unsure of what to say. I lean back against the island. The marble is cool even through the t-shirt I’m wearing.
“I don’t know what to do, Fern,” I admit, “she’s gone, and this waiting, what if he kills her before we can get there?”
“We have to have faith that he won’t,” she says, placing her hand on my cheek.
I scoff, “he’s a psychopath who thinks he’s God.” She shakes her head, and guilt assaults my stomach, “fuck, Fern, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she says, giving me a watery smile, “he can’t hurt me anymore.” The guy who held Creed and her brother, Manson, hostage so he could confess his undying love for her was a lot like Serge. He murdered too many good people in Gravity Hill. Seeing her face fall makes me feel like the biggest asshole.
“I’m fucking this all up,” I slam my fist into the counter.
“Hey,” Fern’s voice is soft, much softer than I deserve, “this is none of your doing. We thought we had everything covered.”
Creed walks into the room and kisses the side of Fern’s head.
“Giving the kid a pep talk?”
“Something like that,” she says, her hand slips from my face to rest on Creed’s hands where they lock around her waist. “She’s a fighter, and she’s got us. We’re going to get her.”
Everyone is so confident that she’ll be fine, but my muscles are coiled tight, and my head is going to explode with all the thoughts churning inside.
“We’re meeting when Conall gets here with Kel and Logan,” he tells me, “we’ll be rolling out before you know it, okay kid?”
I leave them in the kitchen, searching for the boys. I find them in the living room, the TV is off for a change, and they’re all sitting whispering.
Gemma looks up, her eyes are red and puffy. Gran had to give her a sedative when we got here. She took a bullet to the arm, it's wrapped in gauze, as she holds it predictably against her chest.
Red blooms on the fabric, brown on the edges. She's lucky the bullet grazed her, and Gran didn’t have to dig it out.
“Have they found her?” She asks, and even after being shot, her worrying about Cin amazes me.
“They think she’s at the lake where Cody visited some weekends. Her phone disconnected not far from there.”
The lake has spotty service anyway.
I argued that we should have gone back to Ravard to be closer to the lake house Cody frequents, but we have no equipment to do what we need there.
“When Conall gets here, Creed says we’re leaving,” I tell them, in case they want to join.
“Are you okay, Tal?” Toby asks, and everyone’s eyes slide my way.
“No,” I surprise myself by answering honestly, “I’m scared shitless that I’ll never see her again.”
Toby stands, gently moving Gemma to come wrap me in his arms. I lean into his support and let him hug me. “I can’t be responsible for another death.”
He leans back, looking at me sternly, “No, brother, her death wasn’t your fault, do you hear me? Our mother was wrong.”
Biting the inside of my cheek so I don’t cry, I nod. He eyes me as if he doesn’t believe me, and he’s right to do it too.
Mack comes into the room a while later and tells us it’s time. They’ll brief us on the way there.
Lori straps on her vest that proudly displays ‘FBI’, and I wonder if she finally got someone from the bureau to help her.