“Bullshit. You go all the time with no communication,” he jerks a thumb at me, “He doesn’t.”
“And that’s my fault? Fuck you, Axel.”
“Okay,” I interrupt. “Let’s take a breather. I’m my own person. I haven’t lost sight of why we’re here, and I told you we wouldn’t be home.”
“You were with the girl, weren’t you?”
“Nope,” Sean answers smoothly. “I just needed a break from all of this. We got a hotel room in the city.” Ihatelying to Axel, but he’s not going to handle the truth well, and it will push Sean even further away.
Axel’s face turns blood red, then he storms from the room.
“I don’t know how many times I can do this without punching him in the face.”
I chuckle. “Maybe that’s what he needs.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Somehow this has to work out.
Or this family is going to fall apart.
* * *
Several hours passbefore Nolan comes running into the living room, laptop in hand.
“I found Daybreak!”
Axel ambles into the room after hearing the commotion. He’s hidden and hasn’t said a word all damn day. “Good job. How?”
“While I was sifting through files, Ari reached out to a contact, and his contact finally came through. It’s one of the biggest places to get forged documents. They can literally do anything. He gave me a website, so I set up a meeting for you guys for fake documents,” he pauses, “Shit. I probably should have asked first.”
“No. That’s good,” Axel assures him. “When and where?”
“Thursday,” Nolan says, thrusting a piece of paper at him.
Axel hands it to Cole. “That address look familiar?”
“Isn’t this that creepy house that sits in the middle of nowhere?” Cole replies.
“One and the same. Looks like we’re getting somewhere. What else did the contact say, Nolan?”
“Just that they can be trusted. He wouldn’t give me any more information than that.” At that, Nolan spins around and heads back to the office.
“So, what’s the play, Axel? We go to the meet and ask for information or steal it?”
“If it’s anything like I remember, it’s surrounded by a huge wrought iron gate. And if they’re running a successful business like this out of it, it’s probably more modern with a shitload of security surrounding it. I say we go to the meet, ask nicely, and if that doesn’t work, we take it the hard way.”
Torture. We’re casually sitting around talking about torture. Why does Sean want to bring Chelsea in the middle of this? I can see the strength in her, but I also feel this overwhelming urge to protect her. We would be leading a whole world of trouble right onto her doorstep.
After we settle the rest of the plan, I make my way outside to the back patio. My favorite place to be when I get itchy from being around people for too long. It’s wide open, and I don’t feel like I’m being confined. Another gift from my time in hell is that I’m now claustrophobic. Something that I don’t feel with Chelsea or Sean.
The door opens, and I look over, expecting Sean but Cole walks out, taking the seat beside me.
“What’s going on, Kai?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not Axel. You don’t have to play dumb with me. With you and Sean.” I raise an eyebrow. “Come on. You guys went radio silent last night.”