“And you told him?” Santiago asked.
Joshua shook his head. “No. I did at the beginning, but I quickly caught on to his behavior change. Austin gets horrible anger spells. He can lash out at any moment. I thought he’d gotten it under control. I haven't seen him angry in years. I learned growing up that you shouldn’t tell Austin anything important when he’s angry. When I wouldn’t tell him anything, he started to get mad. He went off on a tirade. So, I made up some stuff.”
“You swear you didn’t tell him anything that could hurt New Haven?” Dante asked.
“I swear I didn’t,” Joshua said. “At least, not that I’m aware of. This last month I’ve been very careful and conscientious of everything I say. But before that, I can’t be certain. But I don’t remember talking about anything important like this. It was more talking about how our families were doing and the weather.” He looked at me. “Emmie, I’m sorry. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you, but I just didn’t know how.”
“You’re still communicating with him?” Maya asked.
Joshua nodded. “Yes. But I kept my communicator back at home. I don’t have it with me now.”
“Did you tell him we were coming here?” Eric asked.
“No,” Joshua said. “I never mentioned it. We only talk once a week, so I figured it was safe to leave for a few days without him noticing.”
“We might be able to use this to our advantage,” Maya said. We all turned to her. “If Austin’s still talking with Joshua, and he thinks that Joshua’s on his side, then we can use it against him at some point.”
“Are you on his side?” Dante asked Joshua.
“No!” Joshua said. “I believe in New Haven. I believe in everyone here. I would never betray New Haven on purpose.” He looked at me. “I’m not like our father and I’m not like Austin. I promise.”
I just stared at him. I had no idea what to believe anymore. I had trusted Austin with all my heart, and it turned out I shouldn’t have. How could I be certain I could trust Joshua? What if he was working with Austin?
“Emmie, please say you believe me,” Joshua said. Fresh tears were falling down his face. “Please, Emmie. I can’t lose you. I love you, and I would never, ever betray you. You have to believe me.”
I looked away from him. I didn’t have an answer for him. Taking hold of Eric’s arm, I walked back to the couch and sat down.
“Emmie?” Derek’s voice came through the communicator.
I picked it up. “Yes.”
“There’s one more thing,” Derek said. “And it’s bad.”
A small laugh escaped my mouth. “How could it be worse than Austin still being alive, Whit being killed by Austin, the city split in two, and our mom leading the other side?”
“Amber and Dean Johnson also showed up,” Derek said. “They came with a couple of other people and broke into our house in the middle of the night.”
My whole body cringed at the sound of Amber's name. “What? Why?”
“They wanted you,” Derek said. “They came on Austin’s orders to kidnap you.”
I looked at Joshua who was staring at me with pleading eyes. So at least he was telling the truth that he didn’t tell Austin we were going to Kingsland. Pulling my eyes away from Joshua, my gaze settled on the floor. “So, do you have them in your custody?”
“No,” Derek said, choked up. “They got away. But they were angry that you weren’t there, so they took someone else instead.”
“Who did they take?” I asked.
I closed my eyes and covered them with my hand. From the sound of Derek’s voice, it was someone dear to him and us.
Derek sniffed like he was crying. It took him a while to get the words out, but he finally did. “Emmie, they took Rosie.”
The vase shattered into hundreds of pieces as it smashed against the wall. Amber had run out screaming after I had pushed everything off my table and thrown my chair at the window. But it still wasn’t enough. Rage still boiled inside.
How could Emmie have been gone when they went there? Joshua never told me they were leaving. I couldn’t go off the assumption that he’d forgotten. He wouldn’t forget something big like going to invade Kingsland. Somehow, they’d turned him. Or they’d caught onto him. I hadn’t heard from him in almost a week. Maybe they found his communication device and took it away.
How was it possible that I had no one I could trust? Everything was slipping farther and farther away from me.
Someone pounded on the door and then came barging in. Dean slammed the door behind him. “What’s wrong with you? You have my daughter scared out of her wits!”
“I don’t care!” I yelled. “You blew the mission!”
“It’s not our fault Emmie wasn’t there,” Dean said. “It was your intel. You should’ve known she wouldn’t be there.”
I went to him, putting my finger in his face. “You brought back a child with you!”
“I didn’t want to waste a trip.” Dean paused for a moment. “I figured they’d be willing to negotiate with us if we had someone they cared about.”
“How do you know they care about this little girl?” I asked. “Who is she?”
Dean shook his head. “I’m not sure. She won’t speak to us. We don’t even know her name.”
I shoved him in the chest and walked away. “You idiot. We can’t get information from a child. If you really wanted to take someone, you should have taken an adult. A weak one who would break easily. Derek would have worked. But not a child. You should know better!”
Dean stared at the ground, shifting uncomfortably. That was when it hit me. I laughed as I leaned against my desk. “It was Amber who took her, wasn’t it? You’re just covering for the stupid move your daughter made.”
“Leave her out of this.” The veins on his head popped out.
“Oh, she’s already too far into this,” I said. “And now she’s made the worst mistake.”
“That’s not true,” Dean said. “I’m sure they wouldn’t want something happening to a child. They’ll come for her.”
“You better hope they do,” I said. “I’m holding you personally responsible for this. If it doesn’t work in our favor, you’re a dead man, you understand?”
Dean took me by my collar. “Do not threaten me. I could kill you right here and now with my bare hands.”
“But you won’t.” I kept my gaze on him firm and steady. I would never let him see fear in my eyes. “Now put me down.” Dean hesitated, but he finally did. I smoothed out my shirt and straightened my tie. “Where did you put the girl?”
“She’s in a holding cell under Headquarters,” Dean said.
“Bring her to me,” I said. “I want to talk to her.”
Dean shook his head. “You need to go to her. We can’t give her an opportunity to escape.”
“She’s only around ten years old! How could she possibly escape?”
“She’s feisty.” Dean folded his arms. “She put up quite a fight when we first took her. She tried to escape multiple times. She even jumped out of the moving jeep. She’s lucky she’s still alive.”
“Was she injured from the jump?”
“Broken arm,” Dean said. “We already had a nurse attend to her. She’ll be fine.”
Standing up, I went to him. “You’ll bring her to me now.”
“Fine.” He stormed out of the room, slamming the door on the way out.
I yelled out as I slammed my fist against the window. A few cracks ran through it from where I had thrown my chair. They spider-webbed out even more from my punch. I looked over at my ruined chair and sighed. I needed to calm down if I intended to question the little girl. She wouldn’t trust me if I was rude or showed I was mad. I needed to get on her good side.
Five minutes later the door opened, and Dean walked in. He held the little girl in his arms, her hands and feet bound. I was about to ask why, but she squirmed in Dean’s arms and screamed at him to put her down. I smiled on the inside. I like
d her already.
“Dean, be a good man and set this poor girl down,” I said, using the nicest voice I could. It was one my father used to use, and it worked like a charm.
Dean clenched his jaw, probably to stop himself from lashing out at me.
“You heard the man!” the little girl yelled out. “Put me down!”
Dean sat her in the unbroken chair on the other side of my desk. She kicked him in the shin and then tried to bite him. I couldn’t help but laugh.
I slapped Dean on the shoulder. “Thank you, Dean. That will be all.” I smiled at him until he finally grunted and left the room. Taking a knife from my pocket, I freed her hands and feet.
She rubbed the wrist on her good arm and then pulled her arm in a sling close to her. She looked up at me, swinging her legs back and forth. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I leaned against my desk next to her chair. She was a beautiful young girl with long brown hair. Her large brown eyes were warm and inviting. She was still in her pajamas from the night before. There were some scrapes on her cheeks and legs, probably from jumping out of the jeep.
Crossing her legs, she clasped her good hand underneath her sling. She sat up tall and looked me right in the eye. “Now, would you please tell me why I was taken here and have been so rudely treated? I have done nothing wrong.”
I folded my arms and gave her a warm smile, making sure it reached my eyes. “I really am sorry about all of this. I did not give them permission to take you or to bring you back here.”
“Why did you send them in the first place?” she asked. I opened my mouth, but she cut me off. “And don’t try telling me that you didn’t send them, because I know you did, Austin.”
Her comment surprised me. I raised my eyebrows. “How old are you?”
“How old are you?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in return.
I laughed. “Yes, I know a young lady would never reveal her age. Well, I sent them to talk to Emmie, if you must know.”
She furrowed her eyebrows. “In the middle of the night?”
“I’ll admit the timing was off,” I said. She was quite difficult to work with. I wasn’t sure how I would be able to get information from her. She was smart.
“You could’ve used a communication device,” she said. “You didn’t need to send people.”
I sighed. “It was a sticky situation.”
She stuck her head up in the air. “Oh, you mean a sticky situation where you made our city believe you were dead, when in fact you were actually alive? Yes, I could see how that would be sticky.”
Oh, she was good. I really liked her. “What’s your name?”
She sat back in her chair, getting as comfortable as possible. “Now, why would I want to tell you my name?”
“You know mine,” I said. “It only seems fair.”
That caused her to laugh. “Fair?” She snorted. “Please. You lied to us, kidnapped me, and now you want to bring up the word fair? Boys.”
“Emmie has been a family friend for years.” I tried to think of a way to work it in my favor, but she was too quick. “I felt I owed it to her to talk in person.”
The little girl stood, walking over to look at the pictures on the wall. “Only you didn’t go yourself.”
“I had to stay here and lead my city. A leader can’t just leave at any moment. I wanted them to bring her back to me.”
Fury flashed in her eyes. “So, you wanted to kidnap her, not me?”
Anger crossed my face just briefly, but I reined it in. “That’s not true.”
She went to the picture of my father and studied it for a minute. Then she turned back to me and put her good hand on her hip. “You wanted to kidnap Emmie, it’s so obvious. Otherwise, you would have contacted her yourself and asked her to come on her own terms. Not send her most hated enemy and her stupid, bald father to take her in the middle of the night.” She tsked at me. “Your father would be so disappointed in you, Austin.”
“He would not!” I swore to myself for snapping at her. Closing my eyes, I took a few breaths.
“I’m not sure what you want with me, but you won’t get it. I’m not telling you anything. You’re a liar and a bully. I don’t like men like you. Do what you want with me, but my lips are sealed.” She kept her hand on her hip, tapping her foot on the floor.
I took the deepest breath I could before I spoke, trying to keep my voice calm and even. “I don’t want to hurt you. I just need to talk with Emmie.”
“Then take your communication device and talk to her, dummy.”
“She still has the one I gave her?” I asked, surprised. I thought she would have gotten rid of it since so much time had passed.
“I’m sure she does. Try it.” She went back and sat in the chair. “I’m starving. I need some food, please.” Crossing her legs, she looked up at me expectantly.
The smile came back to my face. She was quite charming, even though she loathed me. I adjusted my tie. “I’ll see that some food is brought to you.”
“Good.” She pointed to her pajamas. “And since you claim you don’t want to hurt me and didn’t want me brought here in the first place, I would like a change of clothes and a change of rooms. That concrete room in the basement isn’t going to work. I’d like something nicer and with a bed.”
“As you wish.”
Before I could speak into my communication device to give orders, the girl spoke. “Oh, and I don’t want to see that evil brat Amber ever again. Keep her away from me. She’s mean.” She sniffed. “Also, keep her father away from me. He’s like a meaner, uglier version of Mack. He kind of scares me.”
I laughed. “I’ll keep them away. I can’t stand them either.”
She eyed me for a moment. “Do you mean that? Or are you lying to me again?”
“Oh, trust me. I’m not lying. I can’t stand either of them.”
“Well, at least you don’t have horrible judgment in people then. Just horrible judgment in choices.” She turned to the picture of my father. “It’s not too late, you know.”
“What do you mean?”
She looked back at me. “To fix what you’ve done wrong. My father used to tell me that no matter what mistakes I made in life, it was never too late to fix them. I would always be given a second chance.”
Staring at the floor, I rubbed my eyes. I’d had the hardest time sleeping. “I think I’ve already blown my second chance.”
“Then there’s always the third and fourth chance.” She stood and touched me on the arm, startling me. “There are as many chances as you need. Just fix it. Make your dad proud. You owe it to him and Emmie. And to me. I’m still mad, you know. I don’t like my sleep interrupted, and Amber and Dean are two of the noisiest people in the world. Next time if you want a mission to succeed, send someone who knows what they’re doing. I’d still be at home if they hadn’t woken me and piqued my curiosity.” She tapped her lips. “Is that the right word? Piqued? I never know if I’m using that word right. I’m still getting used to it. Limited vocabulary sucks sometimes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, that’s right. I really wish you’d tell me your name. I’m rather fond of you.”
She sat back down. “Well, you’ll just have to earn it.” She patted her stomach. “Food?”
“Yes,” I said. “Food.”
She may have not revealed anything about New Haven, but she did reveal one thing. She was far too valuable for anyone to just let her go. They would be coming for her.
I dropped the communication device. It bounced off my lap and fell to the floor. It rolled a few times until it was underneath the table. I watched it tumble, trying to hold back the sobs.
Santiago dove for the communicator. He scrambled around under the table until he finally got a firm hold on it and then pulled it up to his mouth. “Derek, please tell me there’s some mistake.”
Derek’s cry was painful to hear. “I’m so sorry, Santiago. When I ran out of my room to see what was going
on, I saw Amber and Dean trashing the place. Dean came to me and threw me up against the wall, demanding to know where Emmie was. I wouldn’t tell him. He hit me a few times and then dropped me.”
It took Derek a while to speak again, he was crying so hard. “Rosie must have heard the commotion because the next thing I knew, she was in the front room. Amber picked her up and carried her out. I ran after them, but Dean stopped me. I fought so hard, but Dean’s too strong. He finally had to shoot me just so he could leave.”
I jumped, screaming out from the sudden movement, but still went to Santiago and grabbed the communicator. “He shot you? Are you okay?”
“I’m alive,” Derek said. “Besides, that doesn’t matter. They have Rosie. They got away with her. I couldn’t stop them!”
Santiago took the communication device from my hands. “You can’t blame yourself, Derek. You couldn’t have stopped them without a weapon.” Tears formed in Santiago’s eyes and shoved the communicator into my chest. He sat down on one of the chairs, putting his head down as he cried. He’d lost his father and brother just the year before and now his little sister had been kidnapped. I couldn’t imagine what he was feeling.
Eric steered me back toward the couch and sat me down. He took the communicator from me. “Derek, did they take anything else or leave some type of message?”
“No,” Derek said. I barely heard his voice, it was so quiet. “I think taking Rosie was a rash decision on Amber’s part. I don’t think it was planned. They wanted Emmie.”
“Then we need to trade,” I said. “Me for Rosie.”
“No,” Eric said. “We’re not doing that.”
Tears fell down my cheeks. “We have to, Eric. She’s only ten!”
“Eric’s right,” Dante said. “We need to come up with a plan. They’d never allow a simple trade like that.”
“We don’t know that,” I said. “They might.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Santiago said through his tears. He looked up at me. “We’re not trading. We’ll come up with a rescue mission. We’ll save my sister, but we’re not giving you to them.”
Rise (New Haven Book 3) Page 14