Chapter 79
seventy-nine
JO
“It’s not Patrick!” I shout at Harrison.
I understand and appreciate his concern for me.
But I can’t keep listening to him lecture me about online predators while I’m trying to get Ezra and Noelle out of a fucking bunker.
We can go over the whole Noelle being alive thing as well as who this person is who knew that and how to break open this stupid door.
“Patrick wouldn’t tell me how to break out his prisoners. That doesn’t even make sense.”
The metal squeals and protests as I do as I was instructed, not having taken kindly to the elements. I get to the last half-spin and hear a click. The door must be unlocked, but pushing and pulling on it is doing nothing.
Me: Now what?
Midnightmare5650: Slide to the left.
Kai is next to me, practically breathing down my neck while he waits to get to his brother.
It’s clear by his clenched fists and wide, panicked eyes that he’s holding back and letting me try this before trying to dig through the frozen dirt with his bare hands.
It’s the only reason I haven’t snapped at him yet.
“Grab on and pull,” I tell him. The door has grooved indentations, giving it a wavy look that’s just enough for me to get my fingers into.
Kai grunts and pulls along with me. The metal groans and scrapes, but the door moves.
Declan rushes down the stairs to help and, with the three of us, it still takes too long to get it wide enough to fit a person.
“Ezra!” Kai shouts, shoving himself sideways into the open space as he pushes on the door and Declan and I keep pulling. Judging from the amount of dirt falling on Kai’s head and the grinding sound, I think the bulldozer may have knocked dirt and rocks onto the door’s track.
“Get the medic down here! She’s not waking up!
” Ezra yells. Everything happens quickly after that.
Declan and I move out of the way so the medics can take Noelle from Kai.
I know what she should look like. I’ve seen pictures of her with Gianna.
Studied them. The raven hair that was so smooth and shiny in those photos is now matted and covered in dirt.
Her skin is a sickly gray color, and her cheeks are hollow.
She doesn’t move as the medics get her up the stairs and onto a stretcher.
Her breathing is ragged and wet. I can see why Ezra was so insistent on getting her out of there.
I hear him before I see him. A hiss of pain as his brother crushes him in his arms. The desire to run to him, throw my arms around him, and never let him out of my sight again surges through my body like an electric shock.
I don’t, though. That’s not my role in his life.
Not who I am to him. It’s something I need to be better at remembering.
I check him over with my eyes. He’s covered in dirt but seems unharmed.
His jeans have seen better days, and his dark blue Henley is more brown than blue.
I feel my whole body stiffen when I get to his feet.
He’s wearing Maverick’s boots. He must have just grabbed whatever pair was closest to the door when he went out to speak to Jasper on the phone that morning.
I’m grateful, because there’s no way we would have found him without that tracker, but now we have no lead on Maverick.
Fuck.