Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Sloane
Jonus hands me his phone and then leaves the room to give me privacy.
Lucy’s voice cracks through the speaker before I can even say hello. “Sloane. Oh my god, Sloane.”
“Hey, Luce.” My own voice comes out rough, scraped raw from disuse and emotion. “Sorry it took me awhile to call you. I was kind of a mess, literally, and now that I’ve had a shower and a bit of hospital lunch, I’m feeling a little more like a person and able to have actual conversations.”
This is when I realize my friend is crying and I feel my own eyes burn in response.
Lucy Rodriguez doesn’t cry. She’s the most unflappable person I know — the woman who once calmly talked me through a panic attack while simultaneously cataloging a collection of sixteenth-century maps. She doesn’t fall apart.
But she’s falling apart now, and it’s because of me.
“Twelve days,” she finally manages. “Twelve days of not knowing if you were alive or dead. Do you have any idea—” She stops, takes a shaky breath. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, this isn’t about me. Are you really okay? Aldar said you were at a hospital. What did the doctors say? Are you hurt? Did they—”
“I’m okay,” I repeat, more firmly this time. “Banged up. Dehydrated. My feet are a mess because I was running through the jungle barefoot. But I’m okay, Lucy. I promise. The guards did rough me up a bit, but I managed to escape any gang rape, so there’s that.”
“Oh geez…yes, I have to admit I was worried that was happening to you and I couldn’t handle the thought. Thank god,” she sighs, then her voice pitches higher. “Wait, what happened to your feet?”
“Long story. I’ll tell you everything later.” I shift on the hospital bed, wincing at the pull of bruised muscles. “First, what happened on your end? How did you even know I was in trouble?”
Lucy lets out a breath that’s half laugh, half sob. “Aldar called me. Well, technically Jonus called me first, but then Aldar took over the logistics. I told your parents and even called your editor at the Times.”
“Oh, thank you for that. Have you talked to—”
“I did not call Ryan,” she responds with a hard tone. “Sorry, but I refuse to call that man. You know how I’ve always felt about him. He hasn’t called me and as far as I know he hasn’t talked to your parents either. He might not know what happened.”
“Oh, he knows. Jonus said the State Department told him that Ryan said something about how we weren’t together anymore and this was none of his business.”
“Fucking bastard,” Lucy breathes.
“Yeah, obviously it’s over between us and I’m not wasting my time thinking about him right now. Hey, what about my parents? Do they know—”
“Yeah, I called your mom and let her know you were rescued and you’re back in the US, but not home yet.”
“Thank you so much.
“No worries. Aldar was a huge help too. He coordinated everything,” Lucy continues. “Flight paths, satellite imagery, cartel territory maps. I fed him everything I could find on the Reyes organization’s known locations. We were on the phone constantly.”
I decide to prod. “Oh yeah, I could tell that you two have become good friends. That’s nice.”
“Well…” she sputters. “He was…he was my primary contact for the rescue operation. Of course I talked to him a lot.”
“Uh huh.”
“Don’t ‘uh huh’ me. You were kidnapped by a cartel. This is not the time for your investigative journalist nonsense. God, Sloane. When they said you’d missed your check-in, I thought... I really thought...”
“I know.” I close my eyes. “I know, Luce. I’m so sorry I put you through that.”
“Don’t you dare apologize. This is not your fault.
Those cartel bastards are the ones who—” She stops, takes another breath.
“Okay. Okay, I’m pulling it together. Tell me what you need.
Do you need me to fly out there and bring you back to DC?
I can be on a plane tonight. I’ll call in sick, I have plenty of leave saved up, I can—”
“Not yet.” The words surprise me even as I say them.
“Jonus has offered to let me stay with him and his family in Truckee. It’s a mountain town a few hours away from here.
It’s hard for me to explain, but I just need to be with Jonus and the others.
I haven’t had a chance to fully bring this up with him yet, but I’m worried this isn’t all over yet.
The people who wanted me dead are still out there and they’ll be pissed when they discover I escaped.
I think for my safety and yours, and everyone else in my apartment building, it’s best if I stay here, amongst a group of badass orcs. ”
Lucy laughs. “That makes perfect sense. Those orcs are badass.” Then her voice softens.
“Aldar told me... well, he said Jonus hasn’t left your side since they found you.”
Something warm curls in my chest. “He hasn’t.”
“Good. That’s good.” A pause. “Sloane?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you’re back.”
“Me too, Luce. Me too.”
After we hang up — with promises to call tomorrow— I look over at Jonus as he enters the room.
He watches me with dark eyes, his expression careful. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I think I am. I’m even going to call my mom now.”
“Are you close with your parents?”
I wrinkle my nose. “Kind of? I’m their only child and they didn’t really mean to have kids.
Apparently, I was an accident. I wasn’t treated terribly or anything.
They hired amazing nannies and I had everything I needed growing up.
They even paid for college for me, to set me up in life.
But they were always kind of distant and not that involved.
And after I moved out to go to college, I haven’t seen them that much.
They don’t even make it a priority to spend holidays with me. ”
“You don’t have to call them,” Jonus grouses. “You only need to talk to humans you want to talk to.”
I smile at him. “I know. But I’m in a surprisingly good mood right now so I’m going to make an effort and call my mom.”
An hour later, my good mood continues, buoyed by the fact that I’m free of those fucking guards and that hellish pit and back in the States.
Safety and security are certainly good for the mind and body.
My parents were reasonably supportive on the phone, which was a nice surprise.
There is plenty of food here, no bugs, a soft place to sit and my feet are being tended.
And best of all, my painkillers are doing a great job and the last IV has finally runs its course.
Life is looking up. Well, there are still bad guys out there who want me dead and a story I still need to get out into the world so I can take down a fucking Billionaire who thinks he’s above the law but isn’t. But, that can wait for later.
I’ve called everyone who needed to be called right away. I’ll wait to call my editor tomorrow, or even the next day, when I’m more level-headed.
And I’m never, ever calling Ryan Kreychek ever again.
Soon after, when the doctor wants me to stay overnight for observation, I decline.
“Ms. Adams, you’re severely dehydrated, malnourished, and your feet—”
“Will heal just fine with the antibiotics you’re prescribing.” I keep my voice polite but firm. “I’ve spent twelve days somewhere I didn’t choose to be. I’m not spending another night like that.”
The doctor, a tired woman in her fifties who’s probably seen every kind of stubborn patient, sighs and reaches for the against-medical-advice paperwork. “At least let me give you a list of warning signs. If you experience any of these, you need to come back immediately.”
“I will. I promise.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but she hands me the discharge papers anyway.
Jonus appears in the doorway as I’m signing the last form.
He’s changed at some point — someone must have brought him clothes, and he looks slightly less like an orc who just spent thirty-six hours extracting a journalist from a Colombian jungle.
I realize he’d probably like the chance to take a shower too. Another reason for us to leave.
“Ready?” he asks.
A big smile widens across my face. “More than.”
He crosses to the bed and scoops me up without asking permission.
I should probably protest, I’m a grown woman, I can walk, even if my feet are bandaged, but the truth is I’m exhausted down to my bones, and his arms feel solid and safe, and I just..
. don’t want to. I love being that close to Jonus Irontree.
“Aldar’s got the car,” Jonus says as he carries me toward the elevator. “It’s about a two-hour drive to Truckee.”
Truckee. The town where his family lives. The place he’s taking me because I said I wanted to stay with him and he offered without hesitation.
I rest my head against his shoulder. “Okay.”
Aldar waits in the hospital’s pickup zone, behind the wheel of a black SUV that probably costs more than my annual salary. He nods when he sees us but doesn’t say anything, just opens the back door so Jonus can slide me inside.
It’s just the three of us now. Cole and Martinez left to go their separate ways back at the airfield — professionals who did their job and moved on to the next one.
Kelt flew back to Maine because he’s needed at the commune where he’s head of security.
It’s strange how quickly our group of six became three.
How intense bonds can form in crisis and then dissolve back into regular life.
But that’s how it works, I guess. The mission is over. Everyone goes home.
Everyone except me, who doesn’t really have a home to go back to.
I’m asleep before we hit the highway.
A sound wakes me. The turn signal clicking. The car slowing.
“Hungry?” Jonus’s voice, close. He’s in the back seat with me, and at some point I migrated in my sleep, my head now resting against his shoulder. I should probably move but I don’t. My stomach answers for me, a loud, embarrassing growl that echoes through the car.
Jonus doesn’t comment, just looks toward Aldar. “Pull into the drive-thru.”