Consequence (Reckless Killers Book 2)

by V. Hunter

  “Get everyone here now.”

  Tomas glanced up at the sky and shook his head. “It’s going to be dark soon. If we start sending everyone out on foot—”

  “Just do it,” I growled.

  “Give me your phone.” He held his hand out.

  I turned it over to him without question. He tapped out a message and then surprised me by setting the phone on the ground.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “It’s gonna take probably thirty minutes for the team to move to this location. I know there’s no way in hell you’re planning to stand here waiting for that long. Leaving a phone here is the best way for my team to track where they’re going until they see our car. After that, they’ll be able to use my phone to track our exact location inside.

  “What if you and I needed to split up?” I asked, thinking we might cover more ground that way.

  “If you try to split up in there, I will tase you,” Tomas said in a way that brokered no argument. “It’s too dangerous to be solo while it’s getting dark. And we can’t really be sure who else might be out here with them.”

  I hadn’t considered that.

  Tomas headed into the woods in front with me following close behind. I was lucky to have him because while my head whipped wildly around searching for clues, Tomas patiently took the time to actually examine the ground. He led us straight into the woods for a while before veering sharply off to the left.

  Night was closing in on us quickly. Tomas whipped out his phone and used the flashlight to guide our path but it still offered only limited visibility.

  In the distance, I heard the moment the rest of the team joined us. Shortly after, two guys fell in with us. I didn't recognize them, but Tomas greeted them with a formality I knew he reserved for guys he knew from before. I was glad they showed up. I knew enough to know those guys were probably more equipped for a search like this than the regular security team.

  We moved together as a group, Tomas and one of the new guys speaking quietly in the front as we took another sharp turn through the woods.

  "Jairo," Tomas called quietly to me.

  I stepped around the other guys to join him where he stopped in front of a massive rock. Tomas moved his flashlight down, and it was then I saw that it wasn't a rock, but a short cave. Both of us bent down to try to look inside, but his light didn't shine far enough back.

  "Here," one of the other guys said, handing us his more powerful spotlight.

  Tomas pointed it towards the back—where we could see two sets of feet

  "Sofia! Brooke!" I called.

  There was no response.

  I sank down to my knees, fully prepared to crawl into the tight space myself, but then the feet stirred.

  "It's me," I called to them again, unsure how clearly they could hear who was speaking. "It's me, Jairo. Tomas is here, too, and some of his friends. It's safe. You can come out now."

  I could hear Sofia start to sniffle as Brooke spoke to her in a low voice. I couldn't hear the words, but much to my relief Sofia crawled out from around the blind corner and slid across the muddy ground until she could launch herself at me. She sobbed in my arms as I held her close.

  "It's okay, sweetheart. Everything is going to be okay. Let's get Brooke out, too, okay?" I said.

  Sofia nodded and let go of me to go to Tomas. She eyed the two other men nervously as she clung to his leg. Tomas must have noticed her discomfort because he waved his guys off. They stayed within view but got far enough away that Sofia marginally relaxed.

  "Brooke, come on, babe. We've got to get you out of here." It worried me that she hadn't moved yet, but I knew Sofia would have mentioned it if she thought something was wrong other than the obvious.

  I wanted nothing more than to crawl in and drag Brooke out of there myself, but I knew it wasn't likely I would be able to squeeze all the way back to reach her. After what felt like far too long of a weight, she slowly started to scoot out of the hiding spot. I kept a close eye on her, noting that her arm looked banged up pretty bad and she was going out of her way not to use it.

  "Almost there," I encouraged as Brooke finally started to reach the opening of the cave.

  She was breathing heavily as she dragged her body out into the open. It was like she couldn't get enough air as she squinted up at me with confusion clouding her eyes. She opened her mouth like she was going to speak but when she moved her lips, no sound came out.

  "Hey, it's okay," I tried to reassure her as I offered her my hand. I knew she had to be in shock from the day's trauma. Whatever she thought she needed to say could wait. I was just glad to have found her before the situation had a chance to get any worse.

  Brooke took my hand with her good arm but her grip was weak. As I carefully started to help her up, all the strength seemed to get zapped right out of her. Her eyes fluttered for a moment before falling closed as her body dropped like dead weight, crumpling to the ground.

  "Brooke!" Sofia screamed.

  25

  Brooke

  My head pounded as I struggled to open my eyes. As I struggled to get out from under the covers holding me down, a wave of déjà vu hit me. I started to panic as my eyes flew open and I looked around wildly for the man I expected to see.

  "Hey, hey, Brooke, you're okay," a female voice said. "You're in the hospital."

  I blinked hard and tried to get my bearings. The lights in the room were dimmed but eventually I was able to make out Bridget standing next to the bed, hovering over me with concern. I managed to turn my head to the other side and found my parents sitting in chairs by the bed. Both of them were leaned forward, wearing the same concerned expressions.

  "Sofia. Is Sofia okay?" I asked, my voice raising several octaves.

  "She's with her uncle," my dad answered. "I think she's okay, but no one would really tell us much."

  Everyone started to try asking me questions at once, but it was too much for my muddled brain. I tuned them all out as I stared down at myself. My arm was in a sling which I hoped meant I hadn't actually broken it after all since it wasn’t in a cast. The rest of me seemed okay. I could feel all my limbs and everything on my body seemed to be in their right places.

  The only thing unaccounted for was Jairo.

  "Where's Jairo?" I interrupted.

  My parents exchanged a quick look between them.

  "What?" I asked. "Why are you looking at each other like that?"

  Bridget was the one who answered, "He's with his niece. The huge dude outside the door has been texting him updates I think."

  "Is it Tomas?" I asked hopefully.

  Bridget made a face and shrugged. My parents didn't seem to know either. I was starting to get annoyed with the lack of information. I needed to see Jairo. I also needed to see Sofia and see that she was okay with my own eyes. Even though I hadn't been with them long, they felt like my family too, and I'd gotten used to having at least one of them around at all times.

  "I'm sorry," I apologized to my family. "I'm glad to see you all. But right now I really want to see Jairo. Do you think you could just—"

  "That man almost got you killed!" Mom blurted out.

  Dad reached out as if to comfort her but she shook him off. I could tell she was upset from the way her face turned red. Bridget's hand snuck under the covers to hold my uninjured one. She squeezed reassuringly despite the growing tension in the room. That was the Bridget I knew and loved, the one that was always ready to be on my side of things. The one I'd missed the last couple months.

  I squeezed back.

  "Where's Alex?" I asked her, ignoring my mom's dramatics.

  "He's at the hotel," she answered with a shortness I wouldn't expect from a bride-to-be.

  I swallowed my pride to tell her, "He should really be here with everyone else, Bridget. I promise, I'm not going to give you a hard time anymore. I, uh, understand now that we don't really have control over who we fall in love with. Even if no one else understands it."


  I shot my mom a pointed look. Her face pinched up and she looked away quickly. She didn't like my insinuation, but I needed her to understand that Jairo meant so much to me regardless of how she felt about it. Out of anyone, she should understand that, considering how quick she'd been to defend Bridget's choice in relationships.

  Love. It was hard to believe it, but I could feel it down to my core. Even though it happened so fast, I knew it was real. I loved Jairo more than I ever had Alex. Which was all the more reason to show my sister some support now. She didn't seem all that relieved as it turned out.

  "He's not welcome here right now," Bridget said, sniffling.

  "What? Why?" I was already getting really tired of feeling like I didn't know what was going on with anyone or anything. I hoped the feeling would pass soon.

  "Because Alex's dad is the reason all this happened to you," she explained.

  That confirmed my suspicions about Cooke and the watch, then. I hoped Jairo would explain things better for me later. It appeared he told my family what happened to me, but I was sure he hadn't risked giving them all the details. I really wanted to understand how any of this had happened. And I wanted to make sure I knew how to help make sure nothing like it ever happened again.

  There's nothing like being kidnapped to help a person figure out what's important to them.

  Speaking of which...

  "Bridget," I said, "Alex has nothing to do with that. He doesn't even like his dad. He should be here with the rest of us; he's family." Her face softened so I knew I did the right thing. "Go call him," I urged her.

  "Are you sure?" she asked.

  "Yes. Go!" I let go of her hand and jokingly gave her a gentle push towards the door.

  "Wait, Bridget? Can you ask Tomas to get Jairo for me?" I knew he would be with Sofia but I hoped he could step away at least for a couple minutes to come see me. I needed to see him and tell him how grateful I was that he found us. I also thought it might be nice to tell him how I was feeling.

  "Sure thing." Bridget smiled.

  I strained my neck to look out into the hallway when she opened the door. A large man was stationed right outside the door. I watched curiously at Bridget stopped to talk to him, gesturing into the room. She noticed me watching and shot me a quick thumbs up.

  That's not Tomas.

  My mother cleared her throat with obvious annoyance while my dad nervously tapped his feet on the tile flooring. I turned my attention to them as the door to the room shut, cutting off my view of the strange man outside.

  "Brooke, I don't understand what got into you," my mother clucked at me like a worried hen. "You run off to some strange place, then you stopped answering your phone, and the next thing we know some strange man is calling to tell us you were kidnapped, found, and now in the hospital. What were you thinking?"

  "I was thinking," I began loudly so she was forced to stop talking, "that I needed a break. It wasn't fair of either of you to try to make me accept Bridget's relationship with Alex before I was ready. Or to expect me to sit by and watch them spending all their time together right in front of my face. I spent six years with that man. I needed to work things out in my own time, and neither of you were willing to give me space to do that."

  Mom huffed. "Well, clearly you've come to terms with it now. So that all worked out." She genuinely didn't seem to understand that she was wrong. I shook my head, knowing we would never see eye-to-eye.

  "Thanks to Jairo, no thanks to either of you," I pointed out. "But... that's not really important right now, is it? What is important to me, is that you both stop making faces every time I mention Jairo. He's a good man and I... care for him and his niece very much. Now I need you to show me the same support that you showed Bridget."

  They exchanged guilty looks.

  Before they could respond, the door opened, and I pushed myself up higher in the bed the best I could as Jairo stepped into the doorway. He closed the door behind him, but then stood near it rather than coming close. He looked impatient, like he was ready to get away from me already. It felt like my heart was stuttering in my chest. I was surprised the feeling wasn't reflected on my heart monitor, which stayed surprisingly steady.

  My parents stood up, said a polite hello, and then made up an excuse about being on their way out to get coffee. I was relieved we wouldn't have an audience—and that they were willing to show their support by letting me be alone with him. Things felt off between Jairo and me and all he'd done was enter the room.

  I didn't say anything until the door shut squarely behind my parents.

  “Jairo?”

  “Yeah?"

  “You should have known there was something weird about having a cook named Cooke,” I joked despite the new nervous fluttering in my stomach. He laughed but I could tell there was no feeling behind it.

  "Matt said you were asking for me," he said.

  "Is that the scary guy outside my door?" I asked.

  "Yeah, he's one of Tomas' personal friends. We're sending him and one other guy home with you to keep an eye on things until we're sure the danger has cleared," Jairo explained.

  I frowned, unsure what he meant. "Why do I need that? Where will you and Tomas be?"

  Jairo didn't answer. In fact, he averted his gaze and made a point of not answering. I didn't understand. It didn't make sense to hire two dedicated guards just for me when I was sure security would already be getting ramped up at the house.

  Understanding dawned on me.

  "I'm not going home with you, am I?" I forced myself to ask.

  "I think under the circumstances..." He swallowed hard. "It's better for you to go home with your family."

  All that time, all he wanted was for me to agree to stay. Now he was saying that wasn't an option.

  I spent hours in that cave daydreaming about what life with Jairo could be like. I pictured it so clearly that I started to believe he would have to rescue us to fulfill them. And then he had. He showed up playing a dark version of a white knight and I was certain everything would be okay. But now, I was waking up confused in a hospital bed and he wouldn't even get close to me.

  I bit back a whimper as I tried not to start crying. The tears would be inevitable, I was sure of it, but I needed to not fall apart in front of him. My heart rate was no longer unfazed. Jairo glanced at my machine and winced when he saw the spike in my reaction written plainly on the screen.

  "Is this because I left with him? Because, it all happened so fast. As soon as I remembered what you said I—"

  He cut me off with a solid, "No. Absolutely not." He took a step closer but then seemed to remember himself and stepped back again. "You were brave, Brooke. You did everything right and because of you, my niece is safe. I can't imagine I would have been half as clear-headed in your situation."

  "Then why?" I asked, uninterested in hearing his gratitude at the moment.

  "Because—" He looked pained for a moment but quickly smoothed his expression. "I can't offer you any kind of life here. Even with one danger taken care of, another will pop up in its place. Sofia had the misfortune of being born into this world, but you still have a chance to get out. So that's what you're going to do. You're going to go home and go back to your real life."

  The words sounded so final and it made me instantly angry. There I was thinking we would have a happy little reunion where I could tell him I loved him, and all he wanted to do was get rid of me as soon as possible.

  "So that's it? I don't even get a say?" I asked.

  I could feel my heart breaking as he stared at me with a blank expression. He wasn't going to change his mind, I could see it in the stiff, resolute set of his jaw. It was the same expression I saw him wear before he left to handle business problems—as if he wanted to get things over with as quickly and quietly as possible. Like he didn't want to deal with it at all.

  Now, I was the problem.

  "You should leave," I said, wincing when my voice cracked.

  I shifted on the bed so I cou
ld lay sideways and face the wall. I couldn't look at him any longer. I didn't know what to say. If he wasn't willing to change his mind, then I would only be wasting my breath anyway. The room was silent for several long, agonizing minutes. Finally, Jairo's footsteps retreated. I finally let my tears fall as the door clicked quietly closed behind him with a hint of finality that I hadn't been prepared for.

  I loved him, but now it was clear he didn't love me.

  26

  Brooke

  Three months.

  That was how long it had been since I last saw Jairo. It was three months and a day since I'd seen Sofia, since I never even got to say goodbye to her. After the hospital discharged me, my two bodyguards managed to get me and my family home at super speed. I still couldn't help but feel guilty that I never got to see Sofia one last time before I left. I should've insisted, but hindsight was twenty-twenty.

  Now, everything seemed backwards.

  Instead of trying to get away from Bridget and Alex, I'd moved in with them. When they decided to move to Georgia together a few weeks earlier, I panicked and begged to go, too. They'd just tied the knot in a quickie wedding ceremony before they moved—but no, Bridget wasn't pregnant. I asked. They just really loved each other in a big, stupid, sloppy way that I envied.

  I knew it wasn't all that awesome of me to live with two newlyweds, so I did try to make myself scarce as much as possible. Mae gave me my job back. "This is only temporary while you get yourself sorted out," she'd said. I think she was worried I would settle in and never leave if given the choice. She probably wasn't wrong.

  Even when I wasn't working, I managed to spend almost all my free time there. Mae's Smokehouse was the one place where I felt calm enough to breathe. It was the whole reason I wanted to come back to Georgia with Bridget and Alex in the first place.

  As I sat thinking about how much time had passed, I stared out at the trees surrounding Mae's restaurant. The tree line wasn't nearly as thick as what surrounded Jairo's house, but it was enough to keep those memories simmering near the surface. Somehow, I didn't associate them with hiding in the woods, but rather with everything that came before. I looked at the trees and thought of all the good things that I still so desperately missed.