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I can feel the weight of whatever he’s going to say. It’s already suffocating me. I briefly look away from the pain in his eyes, knowing my world is about to come crashing down.
“Is she alive?” I murmur as I lean forward on my elbows, my voice barely audible.
“She is.” The reply doesn’t come from Travis. I jerk my head to Frankie and wait for him to expand on that. When he doesn’t, anger takes hold.
“Well, where the fuck is she? Someone tell me where Addison is!” I scream, jumping up from my chair. The sound of the chair screeching takes me back to when I was here just a few weeks ago when I found out my dad killed Addison’s mom and then Joe took her from me.
The breath I can’t seem to grasp has me feeling lightheaded. Damon must notice because he’s standing by my side. “Sit down, Aiden.” His hand pushes my shoulder down, forcing me back into my chair. I hate that I’m still weak.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, taking in deep breaths. My eyes are closed when Damon starts asking questions.
“Where did you see Addison, Frankie?”
“I work … worked for Rico Santiago.” I tense immediately at the name and look up to Travis.
“What? This is your fault,” I say with a chill in my voice, pointing at him. “You told me he wasn’t an enemy anymore, that you were on neutral ground.” I remember when I worked undercover and came across Rico’s name. He told me I didn’t have anything to worry about with him. He wasn’t a threat. They had come to a mutual agreement. Seems that agreement was only one fucking sided.
“You don’t think I know that? Don’t think I blame myself the entire twenty-four hours a day I’m in this hellhole? It seems I trusted the wrongpeople!” he yells, pulling on his cuffed hands attached to the table.
“This isn’t helping,” Max says calmly, interrupting us. “Frankie.” Max motions for Frankie to continue. Frankie looks between me and Travis, twisting his lips, and slightly shakes his head. I narrow my eyes at him, and I’m about to fire off some words, but he starts talking instead.
“I was there at his house doing some … business.” He glances our way but when we don’t say anything he continues. “As I was relaxing with some sweet sugar in my lap, Rico came in the room and told me to take some food to someone. He told me the guy who normally does it wasn’t there.” He shrugs. “So, I was like, okay. I was definitely not going to say no to the boss. I didn’t know it was in the basement though.” My fists are so tight that my nails dig into my palms. I know where this is going. I can feel the anger seep into my veins. Anger that erases any oath I’ve made for justice.
Anger that makes me want to kill.
I jolt up out of my chair, pacing the room. I haphazardly run my hands through my hair. I can’t even bring my eyes to look at anyone. Even when Frankie continues.
“When I opened the door, I thought I’d see a man. Some schmuck who did Rico wrong.” Frankie’s voice becomes hard and angry. “When I saw her …” He pauses, slamming down a fist on the table. I jerk my head in his direction. His eyes are black and filled with fury. “When I saw Addie lying there … it took everything I had in me not to pick her up and leave.”
“How did she look?” I whisper and swallow the lump in my throat, afraid to hear his answer. He looks away from me as his eyes water. He shakes his head, closing his eyes. My fears have just become reality. I know what he’s not saying. I know what goes on in those basements. I’ve been on numerous cases rescuing people—the ones who lived—from those basements.
“So, you left her there?” I seethe.
“I would have gotten us both killed.” He directs his glare at me. I nod, knowing he’s right. “Instead, I left her food and the rest of the night I tracked every motherfucker there. Got as much information as I could about security, rotations, layout of the house. And I felt like the biggest asshole the entire time, knowing she was down there suffering.” He pushes off his chair, standing toward the wall and hangs his head. “I would do anything for my Add Cat. I owe her my life.”
What the hell? Add Cat? Not yours. Mine.
I want to jump over the table and punch his teeth out of his mouth. Damon’s words halt the rage ready to explode. “How do you know Addison?”
How does he know Addison? The nickname. I’ve heard that before. Where have I … “I know who you are. You got Addison shot.” My eyes widen, remembering when Addison told me about the scar on her leg. That’s why his name sounded so familiar.
He slowly turns around and lets out a low chuckle. “I did not get her shot,” he grumbles. “I was so pissed at her for getting involved. She’s always been a firecracker.”
Confusion reflects on everyone’s face as I look around, waiting for him to continue. Even Travis looks surprised. I guess he doesn’t know everything about his new friend.
“How do you know Addison? And when the hell was she shot?” Damon asks and glances my way. I jerk my head toward Frankie. Let him explain. I doubt I’ve heard the whole story.
“Let’s just say we saw each other a lot while she was in college.” Bastard. She was never yours. Why he’s making it sound that way grates on my nerves.
“She worked at the courthouse, and Frankie here was a frequent flyer.” I raise my brow in challenge.
“Something like that,” he says. I don’t have time to argue about why he was at court. So I let it go. “Anyway, one night some guy who thought I snitched found me at the courthouse. He somehow got a gun inside and shot me in the leg. Addison thought her bad-ass self could take the guy down before he killed me. She didn’t know he was hyped up on opiates. He ended up throwing her against the wall and took a shot at her. Before he could take another one, security got there and killed him. The shot grazed her leg.” I can hear the anger in his voice as he retells the story.
Damon sighs. “Only Addison,” he says, shaking his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
Everyone takes a moment to refocus. “You were right to do what you did,” Max says, getting back to why we’re here. “When did you see her in the basement?”
“Last night,” he murmurs. “When I found out she was there because she was Travis’s daughter, I thought for sure they had the wrong person.” His bleak eyes meet mine. “I flew here the second I could get away without my absence being noticed.”
