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“Both of you know that Addison was at Travis’s house last summer.” They both nod in agreement. “What you don’t know is …” I pause and look around the room. I feel like I’m breaking some kind of trust between me and Addison, but I’m not sure how to save her without doing it.
“Aiden, if you know something that can help us find Addison, you need to tell us,” Max says.
I clench my jaw and growl. “You need to talk to Travis.” Both guys look at me with confusion.
“Why?” Damon asks.
I sigh. “Because Addison is his daughter.” Damon’s eyes widen as Max drops his head onto his arms. “The person who took Addison used to work for Travis. He tried to attack Addison while she was staying there. His name is Joe Lopez. Travis—”
“Wait,” Damon says, interrupting me as he puts together who Joe is. “Please tell me this isn’t the same Joe Lopez who you built your whole case against Travis and the reason he’s sitting in jail right now.”
I nod. “The same one. I don’t know what the hell happened, or whose body we found, but it wasn’t Joe.” My voice is still raspy, but talking is getting easier.
“You know what this means, right?” Damon asks.
Fuck yeah, I do. If we find Joe, Travis goes free. I built my entire case against Travis based on one thing: he had Joe killed. We found a body at the bottom of the Hudson River. The bodyguard who was instructed to kill Joe spilled his guts one drunken night. That was it. I took hold of that one mistake Travis made and built my case. Obviously he didn’t have him killed if he’s still alive, but I don’t have time to think about that right now.
“So this guy has a huge score to settle, then. With Travis and Addison,” Max says as he stands up and starts to pace. I nod, fisting the white hospital sheet. “Give me all the info you can on this guy Joe. I’ll have Stone start digging.”
Max is on the phone with Stone, relaying all the information that I gave him, when Damon asks, “How are we going to play this?”
“I’m going to tell the cops who took her, but I’m going to leave out that Travis is her father.” Damon leans forward, his arms on his knees.
“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t tell me.”
I shrug. “Wasn’t my story to tell.”
He slowly nods. “Okay, we’ll go talk to Travis. You know that it’ll be on record that we’re there. People might start asking questions.”
“I’ll deal with that if it becomes a problem. Everyone knowing that she’s Travis’s daughter won’t help her be found. They’ll know who took her and that’s what is important. If you guys can—”
“Oh, my God, Aiden, you’re awake.” Sydney comes flying in the room, landing on my bed. I have to scoot over to make a little room for her. This bed is small enough as is. “Please tell me you have information that will help us find Addison,” she pleads. Her eyes are bloodshot red. She wrings a Kleenex around her fingers, waiting for an answer. I grab her hands. They’re so tiny my one hand engulfs both of hers.
“I will find Addison, Syd. I promise,” I say, squeezing her hands.
I hear Max get off the phone. “We’re all set to see Trav—” Max stops when he sees Sydney on my bed. I can’t believe he didn’t see or hear her when she came in. He looks her up and down, studying her. “You must be Tink?” he says as he sticks his phone into his front pocket.
Her eyebrows crease, and she looks from Max to me and back to him. “I don’t know who you are, but my name is not Tink.” She crosses her arms as she stands up, trying to make herself look taller. I chuckle to myself because she’s not much taller than when she was sitting.
“Well …” Damon starts to say something.
“You be quiet.” She points her finger at him, and he laughs.
Max walks over, holds his hand out, and says, “Max Shaw.”
She shakes his hand. “Sydney Owen.” Max seems to hold Sydney’s hand a moment too long for Damon’s liking. He stands up and walks around to Syd, rubbing her shoulders. Max pulls back his hand but looks from Syd to Damon, smirking.
Syd shakes off Damon’s hands. “Would you stop? This is not the time to try and mark your territory. My best friend has been kidnapped and you all need to find her. Now!”
Sydney looks back to me with tears in her eyes. “Syd knows everything I just told you both, so you can finish what you were saying, Max,” I say, not looking away from her. Her eyebrows shoot up. “I had to tell them. I’m sure Addison told you about Joe from last summer.” She looks down, trying to recall.
I can tell the moment she realizes who he is because her head whips up and tears run down her face. Damon wraps his arms around her as she buries her head in his chest.
Max clears his throat. “So, Jaxon is getting us in to see Travis. Stone is already digging to find anything on Joe.” He glances at Sydney still embraced in Damon’s arms. “We won’t stop looking until we find her.” Sydney pulls her head away, peeking at Max, and nods.
All of us look toward the door when it swings open. The petite nurse from earlier walks in. “Alright, visiting hours are over. My patient needs his rest.”
That’s the last thing I want to do, but I can feel my body agreeing with her. Max nods once and then leaves. Damon squeezes my shoulder. “Focus on getting better and let us focus on finding Addison. I’m glad you’re okay. You fucking scared the shit out of us.” He smiles before turning around and leading Sydney out of the room.
