Take It On The Run

Chapter 26

POV: Avery

"You're absolutely sure?" I asked again.

The anonymous contact Ms. Smith had sent my way—a man who simply went by Mr. Jones—had finally called. I thought I'd be relieved when he got in touch with me, but my stomach lurched at the news he'd just delivered.

"I know with one hundred percent certainty that Mr. Dawson is in New Orleans. He arrived a few days ago."

That was right around the time that Sloan had moved to New Orleans, had found us. It made no sense. Why would he attempt to contact her after all these years? Unless he knew something we didn't. My heart galloped at the possibilities, none of them good.

I raked a hand through my hair. "Jesus fucking Christ. I need to go now."

"There's more information about the organization you inquired about."

"I'm glad to hear it, but the first piece of information you gave me is more pressing."

"I understand. I can call you again in a few hours. If I don't reach you then, I'll call around the same time tomorrow."

For safety reasons, I was never to seek out Mr. Jones. Not that he'd given me a permanent number to reach him at any way. He'd already informed me that he'd be calling from a new, untraceable number each time he made contact.

"Perfect."

I didn't wait for him to respond as I hung up and dialed Sloan. She didn't answer. I took a deep, steadying breath and reminded myself that she was at work and that there were any number of reasons as to why she might not be responding.

I wasted no time calling Deacon. He picked up on the second ring. "What's up?"

"Is Sloan with you?"

"Hold on, I can barely hear you. Let me switch over to my earbuds." I heard rustling against the receiver as he readjusted his phone. His voice sounded more clear now as he asked, "What did you say about Sloan?"

"Is she with you?"

"Yeah. Why? What's wrong, Ave?" I heard clanking and rustling in the background, as though he was in the middle of moving inventory around or something.

My voice rose slightly as I asked, "Do you currently have eyes on her?"

"I went to the back to grab a case of beer. It's buried a little deeper than I thought, though." He paused before repeating, "Why? What's wrong?"

"I need you to go check on her this instant. That contact just got back with me, and they said Sloan's father is in New Orleans."

"What?" Deacon exclaimed. I heard what sounded like several bottles hitting the floor. A moment later, he said, "She's gone, Avery. There's broken glass on the ground behind the bar." His deep voice cracked. "Oh my god...If something happened to her because I wasn't there, I'll never forgive myself."

"Calm down, D. I need you to keep your cool if we're gonna find Sloan, okay?" I reassured him despite the fact that it felt like my heart was in danger of giving out. "You couldn't have been in the back longer than a few minutes tops, right? How far could she have gotten?"

"I'm checking outside."

I couldn't believe this was really happening.

"I don't see her anywhere. Hold up, let me check the security footage." More panting as he presumably booked it to his office. From what I heard, he was typing away furiously on his keyboard. He gasped. "Oh my fucking god."