Page 5 of Forever

“Nigel focus,” Tanner said.

“Right. The helicopter landed at the Locatelli Hotel in New York City. They’re keeping her there. Probably to murder her for revenge. Luckily, it’s just down the street.”

I took a deep breath. I was done panicking. I was done thinking about the worst case scenario. No one was murdering my girl. I turned to face my friends.

First things first.Brooklyn would want me to make sure Jacob was safe. I took another deep breath. “James. Penny. I need you to go home and make sure all the kids are safe.”

Penny’s eyes grew round. “They wouldn’t…they…” her voice trailed off. “James.” Tears started falling down her cheeks.

James nodded at me. “I’ll call you as soon as we get back to the apartment. We’ll make sure Jacob is okay.” He grabbed Penny’s hand and they ran off.

“I should go with them,” Daphne said. She tried to hide the tremor in her voice, but failed. “And I’ll go get Tyler and Hailey too. They’ll want to make sure Axel is safe.”

“Thanks, Daphne.” I hadn’t even thought about Tyler and Hailey. But of course their son was in danger too.

She gave Rob a swift kiss and then ran off to find Tyler and Hailey in the crowd.

I turned to my brother. “Mason, Bee. Make sure my house is safe.” I was worried we were bugged. Or…worse. I couldn’t get the car bomb image out of my head. I pulled out my key and handed it to Mason. “I know Brooklyn will want to go home as soon as I get her back. And I don’t want any surprises. Double check the cars.”

“We’re on it.” Mason squeezed my shoulder. “Go get her back.”

“And you two are coming with me,” I said to Rob and Tanner.

“What about me?” Nigel asked and cocked his gun.

“You go see Mr. Pruitt.” I was a little worried that Nigel was going to accidentally shoot someone if he kept waving that around. And I’d prefer if it was Mr. Pruitt and not me.

“But he’s not a part of this…”

“Yes he is. This is all happening because of him. Get whatever information you can out of him.”

A smile slowly spread across his face. “I’ll get it all! I haven’t tortured anyone in ages!” He sprinted off with his gun in the air.

What the fuck?I shook my head.

“So what’s the plan?” Tanner asked.

I’d let Brooklyn down a thousand times back in high school. And I wasn’t going to let her down ever again. “Follow me.”

Chapter 2

Friday

Brooklyn

I’d seen so many lives cut short. I’d lost so much. But I still closed my eyes tight and prayed to a God I didn’t believe in.Please let Jacob be okay. Please.Tears streamed down my cheeks, wetting the mask on my face.Just let my baby be okay.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling of what I already knew to be true. Everyone I loved died.Everyone.And I loved Jacob more than I’d ever loved anyone. He was everything to me. A piece of my soul. And if anything ever happened to him… I knew that would be it. My heart would finally stop beating too. I couldn’t handle any more pain.

“Silent now, huh?” the man who’d kidnapped me said as he put me down on something soft and covered my shoulders with a towel. “One mention of your son and you’re quiet as a mouse.”

I wanted to scream again. Instead, I clenched my jaw. I’d never do something that would risk my son’s life. But I also wasn’t sure if anything I did would keep my son safe. Because I loved him. And I was bad fucking luck.

My thoughts slammed together as tears spilled down my cheeks. I could hear Miller’s voice when I’d told him I was bad luck.“If anything you’re my good luck charm.”

And I heard Matt’s voice too when I told him I was bad luck and that everyone I loved died.“What about my parents? And what about Mrs. Alcaraz? And what about me? I’m still here loving you. I’ll always be here loving you.”

I took a deep breath.

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