Sacrifice (Book 2)

Chapter 24 - Traitor

Returning to the sterile ICU waiting room, Cole looked up at Ethan when he walked in.

Ethan dropped Mariposa's hand as she sat down. He took position next to her and hurled his anger at Cole. Don't nod or say anything to let the others know I'm talking to you.

Parker played it smart and his eyes wandered toward Ren.

You're an asshole for not telling me you could read my thoughts.

Cole's brows pinched. He looked like he wanted to protest, but Ethan wasn't having it.

Save it. You know things about me you shouldn't. That's a breach of trust in my opinion.

Angrily, Cole turned and opened his mouth.

No. I don't want to hear it. All I'm going to say is-that's not me now. We've all done things we aren't proud of later in life. I'm not perfect. Don't ever say anything to Mariposa. You got that?

Cole stood up, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. He glared at Ethan but kept his mouth shut. That was good because Ethan was still reeling from Ren and Mariposa's revelations.

Mariposa peered up at him through dark lashes, her eyes troubled. She knew something had passed between Cole and him. He'd make damn sure she never found out what it was.

It was time to start making a plan. Energy fired in his limbs. Shock, betrayal, understanding, anger, appreciation—the barrage of emotions left him wired. It was time to block out all that crap and focus on more important matters.

Ethan pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was 3:12 a.m. He felt obligated to stay with Benjamin until his family showed up. That would give him some time to think.

Erdo was gunning for them. So far, he'd made one failed attempt to eliminate the mortals in Madison's life. The move was probably in retaliation for exfiltrating Mariposa. She was important to Erdo. No one was saying why, but Ethan had a good guess. He looked down at her. The scars had faded to thin railroad tracks. With some luck, they would disappear in time. He couldn't imagine what it was like living with the monster. One thing was damn sure--she was never going back to him. He'd lay his life down before that happened.

Ethan wondered how far Erdo would go. It made sense he'd send someone to track him and his sisters to see if Mariposa was with one of them. Was Erdo insane enough to attack them? Once he'd gathered intel he'd advise the girls of the situation.

At the moment, he was stuck in a glass box with Ren, who according to him, only ended up on the same plane by accident. Ethan found it hard to believe, but there was a ring of truth in his story. Ren hadn't tried to hide the fact he was on his way to California to find them. Mariposa recognized him and hadn't called him out on anything he'd said. There hadn't been time to pull her aside and get answers. Until he had a chance to do that, Ren was nothing more than a CI--an asset he couldn't trust.

Identifying a confidential informant's motivation was paramount to handling them. Usually CIs fell into one of several categories. Ren certainly wasn't a cop groupie. He hadn't flipped after an arrest and was looking for a downward departure on his sentence. And Ethan didn't get the feeling moral outrage came into play. Ethan suspected Ren's betrayal was more likely due to revenge, or the belief he could benefit by taking their side when the shįt hit the fan. Whatever the reason was, if he flipped once he could flip again, and Ethan wasn't going to trust him.

Cole pushed off the wall. "I need some air." He still looked pissed, but he'd get over it. Ethan was pissed too.

"Hey, don't go far. We need to stick together." Ethan shook his head. "We're sittin' in a fishbowl here. I don't like it."