Prevail

Chapter 8

"Is she okay?" Nico asked, closing the lid to his laptop.

"I can't get ahold of her. She told me to call," Haze said, furrowing his brow.

Nico frowned. "She should be done with class and heading home. Maybe she got caught up."

Haze stuffed his phone in his pocket. "Let's be done for the day and go check on her."

Nico would never say no to leaving work early.

When they got to Henrietta's apartment, her car was no where to be found.

"She's definitely not here," Nico said, starting to feel nauseous.

"Fuck," Haze grumbled, already backing out of the parking lot. "I have an awful feeling."

"Don't say that," Nico whispered, watching the blur of trees and buildings as Haze sped off towards campus. "I'll call her. It's probably just a miscommunication."

She still didn't answer.

Henrietta always parked in the same lot because it was closest to her classes. They found her car easily.

Haze yanked on the door handle, surprised that it was unlocked.

"Her keys, phone, bag. It's all here," Nico said. "What the fuck is going on?"

Haze was at a loss. "She must've be taken, or hurt, or-"

Nico cursed again, feeling his heart thump in his chest. "That dude we took from the port a few weeks ago said that his boss would get revenge."

"Yes, but he went straight to jail. There's no way he could've alerted his boss."

Haze knew who the boss was. This was the guy they had been trying to lock down since the first day he and Nico started their job. He went by Crow.

Haze couldn't believe that they had put their girl in danger. They had kept her in the dark for a reason. This was all their fault.

Just as they came to that conclusion, Nico's phone rang. He handed it to Haze, knowing he would more than likely lose his shit.

"Are you missing something, Nico?" Crow's voice said in a menacing coo.

"It's Haze actually. What do you want, Crow?"

"I have what I want actually. Henrietta is such a lovely girl, so pretty and full of spirit. Listen to her scream." The phone shuffled and Haze struggled to breath as he heard Henrietta in the background. His stomach twisted.

Nico gagged next to him, hunching over to heave on to the pavement.

"I know there's something you want or you would've killed her by now," Haze said, squeezing his fists.

"I want everything you've stolen from me, like that big shipment a few weeks ago, and I want a million dollars in cash. Don't think I will give in that easily though. You won't hear from me for a few days."

The phone clicked.

"This is all our fault," Nico said, his voice hoarse. He hunched over again, but his stomach was empty. Haze rubbed his back.

"I know, " Haze mumbled. "I tried to trace the call with my phone but it bounced between three different cell towers. That should give us an area to start with. Nico, we can't wait a few days. We need to start now."

"What do you think we should do?" .

"We need to turn in everything we've gathered on this group for the last year. I know we wanted to wait until we had Crow's hideout, but we can't do this on our own now. We can't risk Henrietta."

"You're right, " Nico said straightening up. They were going to lose everything they had built as the Macklin Brothers, but he couldn't give a shit. Henrietta was more important than any reputation.

Nico drove Henrietta's car to his and Haze's home where it would be safe.

"She'll be okay, right?" Nico whispered.

"I don't know," Haze admitted. "I don't know what they're doing to her. We should've protected her better, and -"

Nico had never seen Haze so torn up before, so vulnerable and full of fear. The range of emotions was so odd on someone who had proven himself to be emotionless. Haze didn't need to be that way with Nico though.

Nico dragged his chair as close as possible to Haze's. It was time to push everything aside and get to work.