Chapter Twenty-Eight
O’Connor
Page after page fills me with rage. They don’t want Avery so that they can relive the life they didn’t get with their deceased daughter.
No, they want Avery so they can experiment on her.
They want to replicate Avery’s DNA to bring their daughter back to life, and use her organs to piece her together.
Scientific studies and failed experiments. One thing after another, documenting all of their intentions. All of their experimentation up until this point was for research purposes before they can do it to Linden’s Avery.
My Avery.
Selling organs on the black market only funds their research and gives them contacts to purchase their equipment without going through legal channels. What they are doing is beyond evil.
I have to tell Linden.
Fuck Project Obsidian. Fuck my op. I’m telling Linden everything as soon as they get home.
I should have done it sooner, but I didn’t know how far their depravity went.
Using their granddaughter as a lab rat… All the horrible things I’ve seen in my career wouldn’t have prepared me for that.
I check the surveillance screens again, but there haven’t been any changes since the last time I looked.
I stand up from my chair and brace my hands over my head. I’ve been staring at the computer for hours.
I know every horrid detail of the Scotts’ plans.
I know everything they did to get this far.
I’m getting Linden and Avery out tonight. Even if it’s kicking and screaming. She can hate me all she wants, but at least they’ll be safe.
A screen on the far end of my desk lights up, and I know it’s the audio sensors picking up on a disturbance out towards the Scott mansion.
It’s not odd. Sometimes a cow roams too far in the field and moos until it’s found.
Sometimes the sensors pick up on coyotes and heat lightning…
But I’m already on edge, and something about these flashes of noise draws me closer to my screens.
My surveillance cameras pointed out past my backyard don’t have a far scope; they can only pick up on so much, but I scan them anyway.
Something… Something moving in the farthest corner draws me in even closer until I’m leaning over the desk, nearly nose to screen.
Is that?
“Avery!” My hand swipes across the tabletop as I sprint at full speed out of the room. I’m out my back door and flying across my yard before I can get my gun holstered, clearing the back fence in one swift hurdle.
I’ve never run full force into the unknown quicker in my entire life. I’ve never been so fucking terrified. Why is she out here alone?
Where’s Linden?
My labored breaths burst out of my mouth in rapid succession, keeping pace with my legs, as I shove my com piece into my ear.
“CODE RED! CODE RED! I NEED HELP. NOW!” I shout, knowing my com will pick up my distress, even if the words aren’t clear. My message will be.
Code Red means shit has hit the fan, and the op is no longer the priority mission. Survival is.
Finally, I see her in the flesh, stumbling through the tall grass in her princess dress as sobs shake her tiny shoulders.
“Avery! Baby, what are you doing out here?” I slide to my knees in front of her and wrap her in my arms. Her entire body is trembling, and her tears soak my cheek.
“Mommy! Mommy, gone!” She cries uncontrollably.
Every mechanism in my body grinds to a roaring halt. “What?” I gasp.
“Down there!” She flings her arm out, pointing to nothing, but telling me everything.
If she sent Avery up here alone, that means she physically couldn’t keep going. She’d never leave her little girl alone if she had a choice. I only hope that doesn’t mean… No.
Fuck.
I scoop her into my arms, taking one last regretful look down the hill, and sprint back to my house. “Hold on, sweetie, just keep holding onto me.”
I can’t go down there, deeper into an unknown environment with Avery. I can’t leave her out here alone either.
Her arms cling to my neck, and I can feel the shivers racking her body. Pure fear is coursing through her, and it’s destroying me.
I’ve never been this rattled in my entire life.
Linden can’t be gone.
I jump the fence a little stiffer this time and go straight back into my wide-open back door and to my room. “I know you’re scared, Avery, but tell me what happened. Tell me everything,” I murmur as calmly as I can, dropping her onto my bed and wrapping her in blankets.
Her tiny body trembles even after I wrap the quilt around her and keep her tucked close to me. This little girl cannot lose her only real parent.
“Mommy stuckk– I scared,” she cries, and I hold her against my chest.
That means she might be alive. She could be okay.
“I know, you’re so brave. But I’m going to get her. Okay? I’m going to get your mommy back.”
“O-Otay,” she sniffles, laying her head on the pillow as she shakes.
Fuck, I don’t want to leave her, but I don’t want her to lose her mom either if there’s still a chance to save her.
I will save her.
“Baby bird is in the nest,” I speak into my com, flipping the TV to Barney as if Avery cares, but trying to give her some semblance of comfort. “I’m going back into unknown conditions.”
“En route, Eagle-One. ETA twelve minutes,” a voice in my ear chirps.
I step out of the room and holster two more handguns before slinging my rifle strap over my chest.
I glance back into my room at the little bundle of blankets shivering on my bed, and take a staggering breath, cupping my hand over my ear so my voice comes in loud and clear. “No one scares the girl. If one hair is out of place when I get back, someone will die.”
I step to the bed and cup Avery’s trembling cheek. “I’ll be right back, sweetie.”
“Otay, Mr. Jack.”
I kiss her head, and as soon as I lock her into my room. I’m sprinting out the door again, and this time, deeper into the unknown.
On a normal op, I’d go slow and calculate each step, but this isn’t normal, and I am way more emotionally invested than I’ve ever been in my life.
I’d walk straight through hell to get to Linden. And I’d do it unarmed.
But luckily, that’s not the case tonight. I have a lot of firepower, and I’m going to make sure every bullet is spent.