Chapter 29 Zander #5
“I’m going to need you to take a breath and calm the fuck down,” I tell him seriously. I need him to understand that while I haven't hit him yet, that doesn’t mean I won’t. If he wants any hope of this not going there, I need answers.
Now.
He takes a shaky breath before yanking his arm from my grasp. He’s still angry as fuck, but at least he doesn't look like he’s about to charge me anymore. That's probably a good call on his part, though, because no matter how much Jade might like him, next time, I'll drop him.
“Explain,” I demand.
The look he gives me lets me know the last thing he wants to do is take orders from me. Too bad Trent knows me. I’m sure he can see what a fine line he’s walking right now.
“You guys act like you care, but you don’t care enough to put simple shit behind you.
” He combs a hand through his hair and turns away, taking a few steps before turning back to face me again.
“Jade likes school, and she wants to do well. She's trying, and she fucking deserves the chance to succeed,” he tells me like he’s trying to convince me of something.
I nod because I don’t disagree with anything that’s come out of his mouth so far.
Shit, I’ve seen just how hard she’s working, and it’s only been a week.
Not to mention, Trent only knows a small piece of her past. I’m well aware of just how much she deserves this piece of normalcy, the freedom she's been denied for so long.
Some of the anger bleeds from his face when I don’t protest.
This is the second time today I’ve been part of a conversation that makes zero sense to me, and I can’t say I’m a fan.
“So, if you can see that, why are you guys trying to fuck it up for her?” He throws his hands up in defeat, getting worked up all over again.
“I know we don’t all get along anymore, and that’s fine.
I’m fucking trying.” He gestures to the bike behind me as if to prove his words, even though it’s not necessary.
“So why can't you guys do the same? I don't need us to be friends again. I know that ship has sailed, and that's shitty, but I get it. But please don’t punish her because of me. If you don’t want me around, call me, tell me. I won’t pretend I’m okay with it, but if I have to stay away so she can get what she needs, I will.
” He drops his arms and sighs as his shoulders drop.
All the fight leaves him with that one breath. “Fuck. I will, man, okay?”
He sounds so defeated, and the sudden change in emotions would usually be enough to pull me from my thoughts, but something isn’t adding up. I can’t put my finger on it, but I know it’s not good.
My stomach knots the more I think over his words, and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Before I even make a conscious choice, I’m moving.
My fingers dig into his shirt as I grip him up, pulling him toward me.
It’s not easy. Trent’s taller than I am, just like Rick and Spencer.
I've always been the smallest of us. The only reason I manage it is because I’ve caught him off guard, or it might be from the pure adrenaline running through my veins as my panic rises with each passing second.
I’m missing something important here. But I’m done with questions. I need answers, and he’s going to give them to me.
Right now.
His head whips up to look at me, but I don’t give him a chance to do anything else.
“Nobody is punishing her. We’ve been doing everything we can to keep her happy and safe.” Well, minus Spencer, but that doesn’t matter right now.
“So tell me exactly what the fuck you’re going on about right now.” I shove him back a step to stop myself from doing something stupid.
He staggers but manages to catch himself, and when he meets my gaze again, I can see the concern that shines in his eyes.
“She never showed,” he says, his voice low and suddenly less sure than he had been a moment ago.
He might as well have screamed them at me, though, as they hit me like a ton of bricks.
FUCK!
My phone is in my hand without me even remembering pulling it from my pocket.
I press Rick’s contact and throw it on speaker as it rings.
I can feel Trent looking at me, his eyes on my face, looking for answers, but he knows me well enough not to push right now.
I can’t bring myself to look at him while I wait for the call to connect, and my mind goes wild with possibilities.
Fuck, Rick, answer your damn phone. I mentally plead as my panic continues to rise by the second.
I knew something wasn’t right, but this is really bad.
The call connects, and I'm talking before Rick can so much as say hello. I don’t care if it’s rude or annoys him. This is important.
“You told me you dropped Jade off at the school to go to the library.” I don’t even try to mask the accusation in my tone as I try to put a lid on my panic and get to the bottom of this.
“Yes, I did, Zander,” he huffs as if I’m being ridiculous, and fuck if I don't hope I am.
I hear Trent’s breath hitch from where he stands beside me as he comes to realize the same thing I did a moment ago.
“Then why is Trent in the garage with me right now telling me she never showed up!?” My voice goes up an octave as panic takes hold of me, and I slam my fist down on my workbench, needing an outlet.
“Calm down for a second, Zander. Let's not jump to any conclusions here,” Rick says in his usual measured tone.
He uses it with me when he knows I'm about to lose it.
I've heard it hundreds of times; sometimes, it even helps.
But it won't this time. No, there's only one way to calm me right now, and I’m almost positive he can't tell me where she is.
“Is Trent there with you?” Rick asks, but I can’t find the words to answer him. Thankfully, I don’t have to.
“Yeah, I’m here, Rick,” Trent answers, grabbing the phone out of my hand.
I don’t even try to fight him to keep it. I don’t have anything to say as my panic turns to rage. One of them alone is enough to be a problem, but the two together, fuck, I can't remember the last time I felt like this.
“When was the last time you talked to her? What did she say?”
“Um, earlier. She messaged me and said you guys were headed to the library from the market,” Trent tells him, fishing his phone from his pocket as he talks. “That was just after noon,” he says, reading off the timestamp. This time, it’s Rick’s turn to curse.
“Fuck.” His deep voice vibrates through the phone. I hear him moving around the house and the unmistakable sound of keys jingling, but he doesn’t say anything else. Other sounds come through the phone, but I can't place what they are as my mind repeats the same thing over and over.
We failed her.
I work my hands into my hair and tug in hopes of centering myself. We might have failed her, but we can still save her. We can’t let her go back to that shit.
We can’t!
“Rick, tell me you have a plan.” I hear the desperation in my voice, but I don’t care. The only thing that matters right now is how we fix this.
“I’m working on it, Zander!” he shouts back to me. I look up and meet Trent's gaze as we both hear the unmistakable sound of panic in his voice. It’s so unlike him that I’m sure my face looks just as shocked as Trent's right now.
“Where the fuck is Spencer?” Rick yells, pulling our attention back to the phone and out of our momentary shock.
I think about it for a second before I realize I haven’t seen him all day. I tell Rick as much, and he confirms that he hasn’t either.
That sinking feeling is back, but I’m worried I know exactly what it’s trying to tell me this time.
“Rick?” The question rings in my voice, and I know he understands even if I don’t say it.
“Don’t!” he says, but he doesn’t need to. Even though I’m almost positive I know exactly what is happening here, I can’t bring myself to say it out loud.
“I’m going to call Kratos. Meet me at Hoppers as soon as you fucking can,” he says, and the line goes dead.
So much about all of this is fucked, but I don’t have time to linger on it.
All that matters now is getting to Hoppers so we can find Jade. Without a word, Trent and I take off. We barely stop to throw the garage door closed before we’re both running to my car, moving like the devil’s on our heels.
Trent knows just as well as I do that the laws don’t apply to us like everyone else, and while he’s bitched about it in the past, I can see that he's more than happy to break all of those laws right now.
Some part of me knows I should leave Trent behind.
But he would never go for that, and I don’t have time to argue with him.
I tell myself that's the only reason, but I know it’s a lie.
I saw the panic on his face when he realized Jade was missing.
Shit, I felt it for myself, and I couldn’t stomach leaving him hanging.
Friends or not, we have a lot of history.
It’s been bad lately, but once upon a time, we were best friends, and I let that sway me for better or worse at this moment.
As long as we get Jade back, the rest doesn’t matter.
I just hope we haven’t failed her in more than one way today.