Chapter 42
Forty-Two
Axel
I wiped my eyes as I gripped the steering wheel tighter and pressed the gas pedal to the floor, pushing my truck to get me to Charlie as quickly as possible.
She hadn’t responded to my text message, which left me with a sinking feeling that they had taken her phone or that something worse had happened.
I hadn’t thought twice about it when I got in my truck and peeled out of the parking lot, leaving Jo, Ashley, and Dr. Foster behind.
I knew that every second I stayed, they would continue to try to talk me out of going after Charlie.
While I understood how reckless and dangerous it was, I had no choice.
They took the two most important people in my life, and I would rather die than give them up.
Jo had been a mess when I left, and I knew how hard it was for her to step back into the world she’d left behind.
But unfortunately, there wasn’t a way out of it.
Charlie’s husband had fucked with the wrong people, and his decisions were now putting Charlie and Molly’s lives at stake.
It didn’t matter how dangerous their operation was because there was nothing that could stop me at that point.
I looked down at the map on my dashboard screen, checking the distance, when my phone rang. I glanced at it, seeing Jo’s name on the caller ID as I pressed the button to answer it.
“You’re not going to talk me out of this,” I said as the call picked up in the truck through the Bluetooth.
“I wasn’t planning on it,” she replied. “I’m sorry that I lost my shit earlier. I didn’t think things with my uncle’s organization would continue to have that effect on me, but it did.”
“You have nothing to apologize for. When I get in there, I’m going to kill everyone I can get my hands on and make them pay for what they did to you and for taking my girls.”
“You can’t just barge in there, Axel. Believe it or not, dead guys with bullets in their heads can’t fight for shit.”
I grinned, loving that her dry sense of humor was back.
“What do you suggest I do?”
I released my grip on the steering wheel, knowing I still had at least an hour before I would get close to the warehouse.
“There’s a back road that you can take. It won’t show up on the map because it’s not technically a road, but it will get you there without being seen.”
“Okay, how will I know where to find it?”
“Well, for starters, you can pull over and let Ashley catch up before her rage sends her into a tizzy. She will take the lead, and you can follow. Dr. Foster will fall in line behind you.”
I blew out a breath, thankful for the support as they showed up for Charlie and me, but frustrated because I didn’t want to put anyone’s lives at risk.
I knew that Jo had to expect things to go south if she had Dr. Foster come with us for medical support.
Not only that, but we would have three vehicles, which meant different getaway options.
Jo didn’t fuck around, and I was grateful that her head seemed to be back in the zone.
“Charlie sent me a few text messages,” I said, not sure why I was telling Jo.
“What did she say?”
My nose burned as a fresh wave of tears threatened to spill over as I slowed down so Ashley could catch up to where I was.
“Basically, goodbye.”
The words hurt more when I said them out loud than when I read them.
“We’re going to get her and Molly back,” Jo said firmly. “It’s not a goodbye. We’ve got this. I’ve already called in a favor.”
Before I could ask her what it was, she hung up. I didn’t have time to obsess over it because when I looked in my rearview mirror, I found Ashley’s truck right behind me.
I blew out a breath of relief and lifted my fingers from the steering wheel to wave as she went past and then pulled in front of me. Just as Jo said, I spotted Dr. Foster’s SUV as she got in line behind me.
The road had been quiet with very few cars on it, so when I saw a handful of vehicles behind Dr. Foster, I knew it wasn’t a coincidence. Jo had fucking activated the cavalry, which sent hope through me that we weren’t too late to save Charlie.