Page 37 of Rise By Sin

“A friend,” I answered as I grabbed my old bag that I once used for college classes and threw the strap over my head so it sat across my body.

“Ava love, what the fuck are you doing? You can’t walk into a room of criminals and just offer them money. They’ll probably just shoot you and get the money anyway,” Jack told me.

“He’s right. You’re being insane. Just stop and think for a fucking second,” Mason added.

“I’ve thought, Mace, and you know what I decided?” I asked him bitterly.

“That you want to die, because that’s all that’s gonna happen if you do this!” he barked at me.

“I decided that I am not going to let Colt fucking die. Any of you try to follow me or stop me and I’ll shoot you. You think I’m bluffing then just try me!” I growled before pushing past all of them and exiting my room as steadily as I could. I was still shaky because I was tired, and amped up because of what I knew I was about to do. Was it a sensible decision? Probably not. But I had found that criminals could be reasonable people where money was involved, and I was banking on them not being willing to shoot a disabled women on sight. I had to at least try. I knew Colt would do it for me if he had to. I knew my brother would do anything for me.

I moved to the living room and rolled my eyes when I saw all the papers from Colt’s file still spread across the floor.

“Thanks for the help, Jack,” I told him sarcastically as I struggled to drop to my knees, then started gathering everything up, except for the file on Helen and the pages Colt had printed from the news stories on her murder.

“If you’re doing this, then I’m coming with you. You’re not going alone,” Mason said and I knew they were all behind menow, likely still stood in their line trying to intimidate me into acquiescing to their demands. How little they knew me!

“Yeah, It’ll end really well for the both of us if I walk in there with a cop,” I scoffed.

“You’re a cop!” Deak cried and when I glanced around to him I could see the worry on his face.

“I’m a very obviously disabled woman who I’m sure they’ll take pity on and not shoot immediately. That’s my play and I’m sticking with it. That’s why I have to go in alone,” I told them all calmly.

“I could bring in some back up…”

“Mason, no. One sniff of the cops anywhere near this and I will end up dead. Please, just stop underestimating me and let me do this. Either they have Colt and I’ll get him back, or they don’t and at least we’ll know where to focus next,” I told him as I picked up the file on Helen’s death and slammed it on the table at my side. “That’s why you need to start looking into this,” I added as I looked to Madon again.

“Do you have any description from when he….from back then?” he asked carefully.

“Tall. I’d guess around 6’2”. He was slim, not an ounce of fat on him, but definitely toned and muscled. He wore all black and a mask. It was like a kids Halloween mask that he’d painted black. His hair was like a crew cut back then. Dark brown. His eyes were brown too. That’s about all I have,” I told him matter-of-factly. I couldn’t allow my mind to go back to that night. I didn’t have time for any more of the flashbacks that seemed to have returned to me.

“Location?”

“I don’t know exactly. I was barely conscious when I ran, and my head was a mess. I was still in the city. Thinking about it since I think it might have been near the subway. It was definitely underground. Colt told me he collected me from a diner I stumbled into on the upper east side. A waitress setting up for the day let me in and gave me her cell to call him, but I think I was running for a while before that. It’s not much, but I was really fucked up at the time,” I told him as I again fought not to think back to that nightmare I had survived.

“You ran? You got away?” Deacon asked.

“Yeah. I played dead. He must have thought I passed out and he released the cuffs and let me down to the ground. I’d been taking those self defense classes ready for Quantico, and when I took him by surprise I got him down long enough to run.” I explained. Just saying Quantico was a hurtful reminder of the dream I had once held of joining the FBI. That night had ruined everything for me.

“Jesus fuck, Ave. Why didn’t you bloody tell us what happened? Why didn’t you let us be there for you?” Jack gasped as he came closer and wrapped his arm around me from behind. I pressed my face into his bicep for just a moment, needing the comfort.

“I should have. I should have told the cops too, but I was ashamed and scared and I just wanted to pretend it never even happened. Now Helen’s blood and that of who knows how many others is on my hands,” I confessed tiredly.

“That’s not true, Ava,” Deacon said right as Mace spoke too,

“Don’t be ridiculous, baby.”

“Just look into it Mace, okay? Please. If the Owen’s don’t have my brother, then this psycho does and we need a lead to follow to get him back,” I pleaded as I looked up into Mason’s dark eyes. He and Deak had moved even closer too and were stood right behind where Jack still held me.

“Okay, I’ll get on it, but Jack and Deak are going with you. You can go in alone, but if you do get Colt out of there, you might need help with him, so they need to be close, okay?” Mason said, cutting off my argument before I could even make it.

“You can follow me in Deak’s truck, but you need to stay a block away, and I’ll call you if I need you. Deal?” I bargained. Mace and Jack shared a look then nodded. Knowing it was the only way I was going to get out of the apartment without them arguing further, I took it.

***

Oz had sent me three known locations of businesses owned and operated by the Owen family. The first had been a strip club, which had been pretty empty considering the time of day it was. I had walked in and asked around, but the staff were tight lipped about anything to do with their employers. I sat and sipped a club soda as I surveyed the place for a while, then left, pretty sure the bosses weren’t there at that time. Everything was just too relaxed and quiet. It didn’t feel right.

As I driven away from the seedy looking club on the outskirts of the city, I had seen Deacon and Jack following one car behind me, and I had to admit, I did feel comforted to know they were close. It made no sense, since I already knew if things didn’t go as I hoped, I could be dead and disappeared before Deak andJack even knew anything was wrong, but I was just glad I wasn’t completely alone.

---