Page 26 of Protect

“I hope you choke on your gum and you choke on your teeth while you think about all the people you let down because someone else mattered more,” I snarl, grabbing his gun off the floor and putting it in the back of my pants. I drag my shirt down over it. “Maybe then you’ll realize exactly what you’re going to lose when we get Hope back.”

Ten

JAXON

The silence is like needle pricks to my skin as we head to Dirt Lane Road. Knox’s focus is unwavering as he drives while Dimitri keeps checking his knuckles. Honestly, I didn’texpect that out of him. Sure, I told him to do something and I was ready to beat the crap out of his dad with his own nameplate, but Dimitri apparently had a lot of pent-up shit.

I shift in my seat and clear my throat. “Sorry, man,” I finally say while keeping the map Hope drew open on my lap.

“Sorry for what I said,” he snorts. “I was pissed and should have walked away.”

I hum. “I wouldn’t have let you. It was fair. Better you gave me some words than the beating you gave your dad,” I say. “He deserved it, by the way.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Dimitri mutters.

“The GPS will get us to the road in an hour,” Knox informs.

We’ve been driving for an hour and a half already. We stopped at Hope’s old house to clean up and change clothes, but I still feel disgusting. Nothing about this sits right with me. We need to get to her.

Right now, there isn’t anything to say.

We already filled Knox in on what we found—including her mother, the videos, and everything else. He told us about the diary but had obviously left things out. That was the new trend, only sharing the necessary, hiding the unnecessary and terrible.

Has anything fucking changed since school?

Leaning my head back, I think of Hope smiling, her laughing with the guys on the team, looking so confident and assured, not flinching away anytime someone raises a voice. Plenty has changed. Hope isn’t going to be fighting alone anymore. She isn’t going to have to cross her fingers and pray that someone’s going to believe her, listen to her, free her.

We’re on our way. She’ll be ours by tonight. She’ll see how important she is to us. We left everything for her, everything we’ve worked hard to achieve. We won’t choose anyone’s side except hers. We won’t doubt her again.

“Do you think they’ll still be there?” Dimitri finally asks, breaking the tense silence.

“He thinks he’s safe there,” Knox says with the kind of conviction that hints at more.

If he’s that sure, it’s because he’s either known someone like Coach, been in a similar position, or knows way more about Coach than I want to believe. I take a slow breath and nod. “He has no reason to leave and trying to transport her when she doesn’t hesitate to fight is more dangerous… for him.”

“Shame she hasn’t killed him yet,” Dimitri whispers.

Knox’s hands tighten on the steering wheel.

I don’t blame Dimitri for the thought, but it’s too dark for Hope. I don’t know if I could do it. I don’t know if she could. Hell, I’m ready for a fight and I know Dimitri is too based on what he just did to his father, but could any of us really kill Coach?

For Hope, I could, I think, surer of that than anything. For Hope, I could do a million terrible things and never regret a single one if it made her safe.

Knox hit the gas, the roar of the engine being the only sound that fills the car.

I just hope we aren’t too late.

HOPE

I stare at my empty plate. It wasn’t enough to sate the hunger, but I had to eat. My dad sits across from me, his gaze shifting around the room, his leg impatiently tapping. I wonder what he’ll do next.

I fought him off once, but now that he has the shackles on me, I can only go so far from the table. I can’t even reach the chair myself.

“You have more energy now,” he comments with a nod, almost seeming proud he took care of me.

I glance at my thumb and recall all the movies I watched, how easy it looked for someone to dislocate their thumb and slide out of the cuffs. I don’t think it matters. I can’t even try with him watching me.

My eyes land on the knife next to his plate. Could I get it? Would I know what to do with it?

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