"Do you normally make-out with the people you're hired to kill? It doesn't strike me as very professional."
"Put the gun down," Gabriel panted, not answering her.
"Why on earth would I do that?"
"Because you're not going to shoot me," Gabriel rep...
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If there was a maximum amount of guilt a person could feel, Ash was quickly approaching that limit. First, Rin had ripped her apart with a painfully accurate assessment of her character. Then Carmen had asked her if she would have hurt them when she had taken them as hostages in exchange for Kyle. She had been ready to do whatever it took to get Kyle back, but in hindsight, the idea that she might have hurt Gabriel's parents made her nauseous. Then she realized that she hadn't called Kyle in days, even though she was the reason he was in hiding. And when she finally did call him, she found out the company was after him.
But all of that guilt paled in comparison to the panic she felt at the realization that if they found Kyle, they knew who she was. And if they knew who she was, they could find Carter.
She tried to calm herself, tried to keep her hands from trembling as she punched in his phone number - a number she had memorized but had never planned to use. She had never lost control of herself this badly. But Carter had always been her weakness.
Pick up pick up pick up pick up.
How did they even figure out who she was? She was dead - on paper, at least. Then again, Gabriel had found her too. Maybe she had left a hair in Huxley's house that they tested for DNA?
The phone rang and rang until she was greeted by Carter's voicemail.
"Hello beautiful human, this is Carter. I'm so sorry I missed your call. Hopefully it's because I'm out doing something crazy and exciting, but chances are that I just can't hear you over my music. So leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can."
Tears angrily pricked at Ash's eyes. Her brother's voice was a little deeper now, but still so soft. It was probably good she hadn't called until now, because she would have called him constantly just to hear his voicemail.
Then reality flooded back to her. He didn't answer. They had him.
A tornado of expletives tore through Ash's brain, but none seemed sufficient for the situation.
"It's past midnight," Gabriel told her in an apparent attempt to calm her. "He could just be sleeping. Could you call your aunt?"
Ash nodded and dialed the numbers quickly. She tried to relax, but her hands would not stop shaking.
"Ash, we'll figure it out," Gabriel assured her evenly. "Carter is worth nothing to them dead. They might use him to get to you, but they would need him alive for that."
He was right. The thought put Ash's mind slightly at ease, but the sound of Rob's voice calmed her nerves even more.
"Hello?"
"Rob, it's Ashlyn," she said, relieved. "I know this is probably a bit of a shock, but-"
"Hello Ashlyn. I've been expecting your call."
The tone of his voice was casual - not the tone you would expect from someone finding out a person they thought was dead was actually alive. An uncomfortable iciness began to spread through her.
