Home is not a Place

46• Promise

SPECIAL CHAPTER: JEROME'S P.O.V.

The video streams onto my laptop, and before it is even over I have called up everyone on the team, making sure they are all on their way.

The video makes my skin crawl. The man is one hell-bent on revenge, and in his eyes anyone could tell he's going to die before Ethan gets away alive. His name is Nick Corwin, and he was kicked out of the CIA by me, but it was because of Ethan ratting him out. It was a good decision, obviously, because this man is completely out of his mind, but now Ethan is paying for it.

I swear if he hurts Ethan, I'm going to kill Nick myself.

Ethan has been through a lot of shit. A lot of shit that he didn't deserve to go through. And in the video he sent, there was so much pain lacing his facial features that I had to force myself to look away. He looked defeated.

Ethan never looks defeated. Something is dead wrong.

**

Drake is the first one to arrive in my office and the first one to see the video. His reaction is exactly what I expected--anger. He nearly punches a hole in my wall, but fortunately, he is able to hold himself back. Instead, he paces back and forth until my floor has a mark on it.

"That dickwad." He says, several other curse words following. "How the hell did he even get Ethan in all of those chains? Ethan would've put up a damned fight."

I try not to show my distress as I fold my hands in front of me on my desk. "I'm not sure. Although Nick was kicked out of the CIA, he knows all about us. About our ways, our training. He knows everything he needs to know to disarm Ethan."

"That's not good." Drake says, mumbling more cuss words. "I'm going to kill that bastard."

"Sounds good to me." I bow my head, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my fingers. It doesn't help the stress that has suddenly bubbled behind my eyes.

Felix, Tony, and Ajax enter the room together, all in workout clothes. Ajax's eyebrows are snapped together with fury, Felix's expression is tight with worry, and Tony's serious expression shows that he is prepared to do anything for his brother. In fact, any one of these men would save Ethan and put their own lives on the line. I would do the same for any of them as well.

We all watch the video another time, our eyes darting around the image. The walls don't give away his location, nor does anything. The only thing we should be able to gather is the location pinged from the video, but he must've destroyed whichever device he recorded the video with.

He must've had this planned for a while now.

"Wait," Ajax grabs the computer mouse from my hands. "Look. Ethan is doing something with his hands."

"Sign language!" Felix exclaims after re-watching the video. "That genius."

"What's he saying?" Tony questions, his brown eyes entranced in the video.

"Let me see." Felix whispers, getting closer to the screen.

The air is so stiff that I can barely breathe. And I can't imagine the way that these men feel.

We're not used to having one of our own kidnapped. Our men can normally hold their own. I wonder what was different with Ethan? Nick is twice his size, but so is Drake, and Ethan is able to take Drake down easily. Or there's the element of surprise. He could've used that. Or... Maybe someone else was involved...

"Man. His sign language is so small. They're barely movements." Felix says, frustration evident in his hazel eyes. He turns the computer screen more toward him, hogging up the space. "But I see an n. No, it's a double n."

"Double n?" Drake repeats, just as something cold slithers through my veins.

"And a V." Felix says, but as the words come off his lips, he realizes what Ethan is spelling.

We all know he is motioning for Vanessa.

Felix writes down Vanessa's name on the sheet of paper and replays it. I thought perhaps a name is all we got, but Felix writes an extra letter.

He writes a "d." Then, he writes an "e."

My ears begin ringing as he jots down an "a."

The last letting causes my heart to stop. It's a "d."

Dead.

Vanessa? Dead? No the hell she isn't. Not my daughter. Not the the little girl I abandoned. Not the beautiful woman I haven't had the chance to know.

I don't want to lose that chance. To lose her.

"Find her." I say firmly, just before Ajax takes my keyboard and takes initiative. He types something up, and my screen goes black. Following this, he types more until a satellite is popping up. He logs coordinates next, writing formulas like it's the easiest thing he has ever done.

My heart in a wreck, I watch as he pulls up cameras from Vanessa's apartment building.

That didn't even take three seconds for him to find.

He pulls up a view of Vanessa's apartment hallway, and walking down it is Vanessa's mom, the woman I used to call mine.

My breath escapes me when I see her beauty.

I still love her, but I can never have her. Just like Vanessa. I will never be able to hold Vanessa because she can never forgive me... If she is even alive.

"Is Vanessa there?" I ask, clearing my dry throat.

"There's not a view from inside her apartment." Ajax says, glaring at me as if I'm an idiot.

I send him a warning glance and rise to my feet. "Then, we need to go find out."

"Whoa. Hold it." Drake presses a hand against my chest. "We have to think of a plan."

"There's no time." I reply, my voice breaking slightly. Shit. I need to get myself together.

"I think I know what we can do." Tony says, entering the conversation hastily.

Drake ignores him and zones in on my gaze. "Trust me, old man. Running in there blindly won't be good for anything."

I nod, letting out a breath. We all turn to watch my ex wife open the door, and when she does, she doesn't drop her purse and run inside like I feared her to. Instead, she smiles at someone on the other side and enters.

That's the hope I needed to settle down.

"Okay." I say, turning to Tony. "What do you think we should do?"

He thrusts his pointer finger at Drake. "You already established a connection with Mrs. Creech. I think you should go and see if Vanessa is there. I'll be your sideman. Everyone else should stay here and take apart that video."

I glance down at the screen and at Felix and Ajax. They're so zoned into the video that they aren't even hearing this conversation. They're watching Ethan's hair get pulled by Nick, and Felix cringes. "I wonder what else he did to Ethan. He's a sick bastard."

"Yeah." Ajax shortly replies, hushing everyone else in the process.

"Tony, you're right." I tell him, waving them off. "Get to it."

"Yes, sir." Tony says, shuffling toward the door.

Drake lingers for a moment. "If you find out where he is, don't go yet. We have to think of a plan."

He narrows his eyes at me, and I don't reply. If I find out where Ethan is, I want to go after him. He's like a son to me. I won't allow Nick to have more time to do whatever the hell he wants with Ethan.

"You better promise me you won't leave without us." Drake says with furrowed eyebrows.

"Fine." I reply, giving in. He's right. Even though rushing to help Ethan is the one thing I really really want to do, I know if I go in blindly it will endanger my life and his. "Hurry."

"Aye aye." Drake responds with a pleased glint in his blue eyes. "We'll bring Vanessa back when we find her."

I smile and watch them depart, but my insides waver. I hope they find her alive.