Nate
I’d had an opportunity to tell Alissa I loved her, but I hadn’t done it. I’d chickened out. I’d never told anyone I loved them before, and trying to get those words past my lips was more difficult than I imagined. I did love her. I knew I did. So why was saying it so difficult? While it was true I was worried about Tony, I’d used that as an excuse to not talk about the future right now and not make myself vulnerable by telling her I loved her. A part of me still believed I didn’t deserve her and that I could never make her happy. A part of me was afraid she would leave. So I hadn’t told her how I felt, and now I worried she might leave because I hadn’t told her I loved her.
Three days later, I was up and about, though still sore from all the shrapnel damage. Tony had been right when he’d said I wasn’t a cat and didn’t have nine lives. I knew I was lucky to be alive, that if my dreg brothers hadn’t shown up when they had, Enrique’s men would have finished me off.
One of the advantages of being a dreg was that I healed faster than a normal man. I now had Luke’s and Logan’s blood running through my veins, thanks to the blood transfusion that had saved my life. I had Alissa to thank for that, as well. Logan had told me that he hadn’t felt comfortable enough to do a blood transfusion, and that if Alissa hadn’t been there to take charge, he feared I would have died.
As I headed for the workout room late that evening, ready for a good muscle burn after so long in bed, Tony’s misery suddenly spiraled into me, a fierce physical pain that knocked me backward momentarily. I halted, drawing in a deep breath, and tried to make sense of it.
And then it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen him since the day Alissa had brought him to my room to talk to me. He’d stormed out, stating he didn’t need me or anyone else, and I hadn’t seen him since. I had felt his emotional turmoil over the following days, but I had been helpless to do anything about it while I was bedridden. Where was he right now? What had happened to cause him physical pain? Was he intentionally hurting himself in some way?
I shoved open the door to the workout room. A quick scan of the room revealed that Noah was running on the treadmill, Luke was lifting weights with Ryan as his spotter, Logan was pounding on the punching bag, and Alissa was in the ring with Jacob, sparring, while Tracker played referee, offering encouragement to her and giving advice when needed. Jacob and Tracker had decided to stick around until we figured out what to do about the four shareholders.
Tony was nowhere to be seen.
Uneasiness settled into my gut. Where was Tony?
Alissa grunted and jabbed a sharp upper cut toward Jacob’s face. In typical Jacob style, Jacob easily danced out of the way.
“You’re doing really good,” Tracker told her. “Don’t be discouraged by Jacob’s phantom movements. None of us can hit him, either.”
She let out a soft chuckle. “I know. But I’d like to keep trying, just in case I somehow catch him off guard one day.”
Jacob smirked. “Not a chance, girl. But you can keep trying.”
I smiled at the easy banter between them. Alissa fit in well here, whether she wanted to believe it or not. All of the dregs liked her. She had come a long way in the short time since her abuse at the hands of the Spartans. The dreg way had helped her tremendously and I was so proud of her. She had spent a lot of time in the ring sparring with the other dregs, who had all been more than happy to help her. She was so brave and strong. And I was so in love with her I could hardly think straight.
So tell her that, you moron. Before she leaves.
Alissa had taken care of me the past few days, feeding me, helping me get up to use the bathroom or to shower. Even helping me dress. She was an incredible woman and as soon as I made sure Tony was okay, I was going to take her away from here. And spend time alone with her somewhere where no one would bother us for a very, very long time.
Tony’s pain slammed into me again, so fierce it made my legs buckle. I collapsed, falling to my knees, and tried to figure out where it was coming from.
Alissa witnessed my fall and rushed to my side. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I gasped in a breath. Exhaled. Slowly let myself adjust to his pain. “Yeah. I’m fine, but something’s wrong with Tony.” My legs were still weak and I didn’t want to lean on her, so I remained kneeling on the floor.
Tracker joined her at my side, his face filled with concern. He held out a hand, which I grasped gratefully. He hauled me to my feet. “What’s up? Are you sure you should be out of bed?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Where’s Tony?”
Tracker glanced over as Jacob, Ryan, Luke, Noah, and Logan all approached. “He’s gone. He left two days ago. All the file folders on the shareholders are missing, so we assumed he took them with him.”
I sighed. Which meant Tony had gone after the shareholders on his own. Goddammit! Why would he do this?
Because he wanted to punish himself. He was craving some kind of violence, so he’d gone out on his own. What had he been thinking?
Another wave of pain crashed over me and I gasped and stumbled. Tracker and Alissa caught me in between them and held me upright.
“What’s going on with you?” Logan demanded. “Has something happened?”
“Something’s wrong with Tony. He’s hurt,” I admitted. “His pain keeps spiraling into me.”
Luke and Ryan exchanged a glance.
“Why didn’t you guys tell me he was gone?” I asked. They shouldn’t have kept that from me. I was Tony’s partner. I should be told everything about him.
“Because you were trying to recover, and we didn’t want to worry you,” Logan supplied. “And we figured he would be back by now. We thought he just needed a few days by himself.”
“What kind of pain are you experiencing from him?” Luke wondered.
“Physical. Like he’s been severely beaten. I can’t pinpoint a particular location. It’s everywhere.”
Tracker looked at me. “Can you locate him through his pain?”
I closed my eyes and sought my spiritual connection to Tony. Since dreg partners were connected physically, emotionally, and spiritually, I was experiencing Tony’s pain right now. Eventually, that connection would lead me to him. But if he was badly wounded, I might not find him in time. In an emergency, I couldn’t rely on my bond with Tony to find him.
I needed Tracker.
All I got from my connection to Tony was more pain. I doubled over from the force of it, gasping softly. “He’s fucked up,” I whispered. “Bad.” I drew in several deep breaths before the pain gradually faded.
“Self-inflicted?” Jacob asked.
I shook my head. “No. I don’t think so. I don’t think he could cause himself this much pain. I think he probably left here with the intention of punishing himself, but whatever he’s got himself into is serious. I’m guessing he went after one of the shareholders and somehow got injured in the process.”
Everyone exchanged glances, then all eyes landed on Tracker.
“Can you locate him?” Ryan asked.
Tracker nodded and glanced at me. “I believe so. If I touch you.” Tracker had never had to find one of the other dregs before. Normally he used a photograph of the “target” to help him locate someone, but he could also touch an object that belonged to the “target” and use that object to help locate the person. Since all of the dregs were connected, and my bond with Tony was the strongest, by touching me, Tracker might be able to locate Tony through my connection to him. Tracker placed a hand on my forearm and closed his eyes, concentrating on locating Tony while we all waited.
Alissa watched, wide-eyed, her face filled with curiosity. She’d never witnessed Tracker in action before.
Finally, Tracker opened his eyes and stepped back. “He’s definitely fucked up. I saw a cell of some kind, and men with guns. Blood. Chains. Torture equipment. And a large house. A mansion. Fancy, manicured lawns and elaborate landscaping. And animals. Lots of animals. Like a zoo.” Tracker glanced at Noah. “Do you have the information on the shareholders? Where they live? If we can find a location that matches what I saw, then we will know where Tony’s at.”
Noah shook his head. “The only files we had were the physical ones Darcy gave us, and Tony took them with him.”
Silence fell.
Worry crept in. Tony was badly injured. If we didn’t find him soon, he could die. I tried to remember the information from the shareholders’ files, their names, where they lived, what they looked like, how old they were, their families, their jobs…
And then I tried to imagine which one Tony would go after first. Tony was The Smuggler, a master of disguise. A concealer. He was capable of getting into places unseen. Where would he go first? Which shareholder would he try to eliminate first? The closest one?
“Atlanta,” I murmured, opening my eyes. “The zoo owner lives in a fancy home in Atlanta. I remember reading that in his file. He even has his own personal zoo at his house. I’m betting that’s where Tony is at.”
Everyone exchanged glances again.
“Yeah. I remember that too.” Logan looked at Tracker. “You saw zoo animals in your vision?”
“I got a flash of cages with animals inside,” Tracker said. “Like a lab. Also large enclosures with wild animals.”
Luke clapped his hands excitedly. “Ronald Aikens. That’s the zoo owner’s name. I remember it. We find his house, we find Tony.”
I glanced at Noah again. “Can you research it, find out where the guy lives?”
Noah swiped the screen of his cellphone. “Already on it.”
We only had to wait a few seconds for Noah to pull up the location of the man’s residence. He lifted his head with a grin. “Got it. Atlanta upper scale area. Back in the trees. Perfect for a takedown. I’m pulling it up on Google Earth now. I’ll go print out some photos so we can have some aerial shots of the place.” Noah strode from the room.
Tracker turned to me. “Are you physically well enough to do this?”
“Hell, yeah.” This was my partner who was injured. There was no way in hell I was staying behind. No way I was not going to be involved in his rescue. We had to save him.
“Everyone get your gear. We leave in ten.”