Chapter 46 Spencer
Forty minutes easily stretches to an hour. Every minute that passes increases the tension, and while none of us leave, I know we all want to. I can see it on each of their faces, and I’m sure I’m not much better.
Nobody even attempts to approach us anymore, and I can’t say I blame them. We stand off to the side in a group that I’m sure looks wholly out of place, but also dangerous with how tightly wound we all are.
We don’t even talk to one another; each of us is too lost in our own thoughts.
My gaze volleys from my watch to the clock that hangs high above the stage and back to the doorway every couple of minutes.
Where the fuck is Zan?
How long do we have to wait before we can leave?
Is she okay?
The last thought catches me off guard, but isn’t any less valid, and I don’t even have the energy to be upset with myself about it.
Just because we constantly bump heads doesn’t mean I think she deserves this, and it doesn’t mean I don’t want her safe. Despite what she might think, I don’t hate her, mostly.
It’s Kratos who finally breaks the silence.
“Let’s find Zander and get out of here.” His voice is low and strained, and when I look up at him, I can see that this is waging war on him, one that I can’t even pretend to understand.
He heads toward the exit without waiting for anyone's reply, but he doesn’t have to. We follow him without question, more than ready to leave.
Kratos disappears out the door a few paces ahead of us, and as we exit, a swirl of gold and blonde catches my eye a moment before it all but slams into him.
His arms snap out to stop the person from crashing to the ground, and it only takes me a moment to realize it’s Hazel.
Trent said she had gone off to explore the museum earlier, and being the bookworm that she was, none of us had given it much thought.
This type of thing had never been her style either, but she loves the museum.
Shit, she loves anything that lets her learn.
Right now, she doesn’t look like she loved it, though. I watch as Kratos steadies her, noticing her hair’s a bit out of place, her breathing labored and shallow. Not to mention the way she all but barreled into Kratos. It’s not like he’s exactly easy to miss.
“Hazel!” Trent's voice pulls her attention, and her head toward him. I doubt I’m the only one who can see the fear in her eyes.
“Trent,” she gasps his name as she pulls herself from Kratos and all but lunges for her brother. He pushes past me to get to her, and I don’t even have it in me to glare at him for it. Clearly, something is wrong.
“You have to… Zander… Randall.”
Hazel’s words are a jumbled mess that don’t make any sense.
“Shhh. Slow down. Take a breath. I can’t understand you, Haze,” he says calmly, rubbing his hands down her arms in a soothing motion, and we all watch as she closes her eyes and takes a few deep breaths.
When she opens them again, she is only slightly less panicked, but her breathing isn’t as erratic.
“I was looking at some of the new fossils when these two guys came out of nowhere and grabbed me.” Hazel takes a shuddered breath and shakes her head, her bottom lip wobbling, telling me she’s on the verge of tears.
Trent’s face falls, all signs of emotion bleeding away, and it’s almost like I’m staring at the old Trent, the one who battled his anger the same way Rick does.
Not that I can blame him, but it’s still strange to see.
Somehow, I had convinced myself that version of Trent wasn’t around anymore, that he had dealt with his anger.
It would seem that he just got better at hiding and controlling it.
“They took me down to the aquatic area, and Randall was there and…and…” Her words cut off as she sucks in a breath, but I have a feeling we all already know where this is going. I can see it on Trent’s face as his anger morphs into sadness.
We haven’t told Hazel anything about Jade’s past other than what everyone knew. She hadn’t asked, and it didn’t feel necessary. But now, watching her freak out over the idea of Randall taking her best friend, I wonder if that was a mistake.
“He said I was his insurance to make sure Jade listened.” She finally forces the words out, but whatever reaction she was hoping for is missing.
I’m sure she wants us to help her, wants to save Jade.
We all do, but that's not how this is going to go, and the longer she looks up at her brother, who I’m sure she expected to rush to Jade’s aid, the more I think she sees that, too.
“Trent?” His name comes out like a question as she takes a step back before looking around at each of us.
When her eyes land on me, I look away as shame makes my stomach turn.
Hazel was once like a sister to me, and seeing her look at me with such disappointment affects me more than I’d care to admit.
“Hazel,” Trent says, his voice quiet so as not to draw any more possible attention, but when he reaches for her, she pulls away.
I’ve never seen her look at anyone the way she’s looking at him right now.
She’s always been far too gentle, loving, and kind.
She looks up to Trent despite the way they often bicker, but right now she looks like she’s about to punch him.
“Don’t you care?” she yells, and while she’s looking at him, I know her question is for all of us.
“Of course, we care,” Rick says, and when she whips around to look at him, her gaze is just as harsh as it was when she was staring down her brother. Over the last week, she’d slowly been warming up to Rick, Zan, and me again, but right now, it’s as if she never had any fear of us to begin with.
“Then why aren’t you going after him? Why aren’t you going after Jade?” Hazel demands, her voice on the edge of hysteria.
“Hazel,” Trent tries again, but she shakes her head, backing away further. “You don’t understand,” he says, and I’m sure it’s meant to pacify her, but all it seems to do is piss her off further.
“You're right. I don’t. How can you pretend to care for her and then be so willing to turn your back on her?” Her voice wobbles.
“None of you deserve her,” she says, wiping at her cheek with the back of her hand. I don’t need to see her face to know she’s crying.
Fuck, I hate when girls cry.
She spins around and heads back in the direction she came, but Trent grabs her wrist before she gets far, pulling her back into him. She thrashes around in his arms, but he doesn’t let go.
“Let me go. I have to help her. I have to help Zander,” she says as she tries to break free, and those words send my stomach rolling for a whole new reason.
Zander shouldn’t be anywhere near Randall.
“Why do you need to help Zander?” Rick asks before I can.
Hazel turns her venomous glare at him. “Oh, now you care?” she huffs. “Zander came up and knocked out one of the guys and helped me get away. He told me to run,” she says as another tear slides down her cheek.
“He saved me.”
Shit.
Hazel will probably hate us for the rest of her life at this point, but we leave Trent to handle her.
Rick, Kratos, and I head down to the aquatic area, but by the time we get there, it’s deserted.
There are signs of a fight, but not much more, and we have no choice but to check the rest of the museum.
Fuck Zander, you couldn’t just stick with the plan.
Not that I’m surprised. I knew this was a long shot from the start. They're all so tied up with her. It’s a miracle we got this far.
We’ve searched most of the west side, but there's no sign of Randall, Zander, or Jade. I suggest splitting up to cover more ground, but depending on what we encounter, that might leave us at a disadvantage.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I’m not sure what makes me reach for it.
I have much more important things to be doing, but something nags at me.
What if it’s Zander? I fish it out of my pocket.
The number on the screen is a local area code, but not one I’m familiar with.
I stop following the guys and press down on the screen to answer.
“Hello?”
“Careful, Pet,” a muffled voice warns, but I don’t think it’s the caller. They sound too distant, and I hear breathing down the line. It’s labored, and at first, I thought it was my own from running, but the nickname rings a bell, and as the seconds stretch on, I know.
It’s Jade.
“He’s in the parking lot,” she says, her voice meek, sounding nothing like the girl who whooped my ass on the mat and fights with me nearly daily. Her breath hitches, and I know she’s crying. The image of her crying weeks ago in the back of Rick’s truck assaults me.
“Please help him,” she pleads. The sound is so foreign that I’m shocked into silence for a moment.
“Demon?” I ask. “What’s going on? Help who? What’s wrong?” I shoot off question after question, unable to stop myself, but she doesn’t answer.
“Please,” she says again, her voice muffled.
“That’s enough,” someone says from further away again, and this time I know it’s Randall.
“Jade!” I shout before the line goes dead, and I’m left staring at my phone like an idiot.
I look up to find Rick and Kratos both standing a few feet in front of me, the question clear on their faces, but I don’t really have an answer for them. She didn’t really make a lot of sense.
“What did she say?” Kratos demands.
I open my mouth to answer, but Rick’s phone rings, and he quickly pulls it out. I see the disappointment on his face when he checks the screen, and I know without asking that it’s not Jade.
Why had she chosen me to call out of everyone?
“Mother, I’ll have to call you back. I’m in the middle of….” Rick’s words trail off, pulling me from my silent musing, and I look over at him in time to watch his face go pale.
“We’re coming,” he says in a rush. He’s moving before the words are even out of his mouth, leaving Kratos and me no choice but to follow him or be left behind.
“What is it, Rick?” I shout as I follow him down the stairs, back toward the front of the building.
I expect him to head back to the hall where the auction took place, but instead, he heads for the main doors.
He doesn’t answer me. Makes no indication that he even heard me as he pushes the doors open wide and continues down the stairs without so much as a pause.
The first thing I see when we exit is a growing crowd off to the far left of the building, quickly followed by an ambulance that's pulling into the lot.
The lot is huge, and the ambulance makes it to the crowd before we do.
By the time we reach the crowd, I’m out of breath and on high alert.
Rick makes his way through, elbowing and pushing people out of the way without regard, and I follow close behind him.
It’s not until we reach the front that I understand why he didn’t answer, why he was in such a hurry.
Zander lies on a stretcher. His shirt is pulled open to expose his chest, and there’s blood…
everywhere. There's also a large puddle of it on the ground, where I suspect they moved him from. Try as I might, I can’t see if his chest is moving from this far away.
The world tilts as I realize what happened here.
Zander’s been shot.
And Jade’s gone.