Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

JJ

"I want a revote," Noel said after I finished word-vomiting everything to the twins and Angel.

"We're not doing a revote." Angel's voice was gruff and pointed. "As with any job we take on, there's always a chance that more will be uncovered and it won't all be great."

"First things first, we need to get that tracker out." Gabe pointed to Four, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room and staring at a blank television.

"I have an idea." Angel stood and moved over to Four. He was talking to us, but his eyes regarded Four. "I know a woman; she's a psychiatrist that specializes in trauma. I think she may be able to help us with Four."

"Therapy?" Nick snorted. "How is that where your brain went?"

Angel narrowed his eyes at Nick. "She may be able to help us uncover parts of his mind that no cookie will tell us. Also, her father is a real estate agent, so she may be able to tell us about some abandoned properties we can use."

"Hang on." Noel stood, his eyes wide. "We're bringing a stranger into this fuckery? What makes you think she's going to just jump into this shit show?"

"Aziza has seen her fair share of horrors. She spent four years traveling the world, helping children who had been abused beyond repair. She knew most were lost causes, but she never gave up. In the end, she helped more children than anyone thought possible. She knows what she's doing and she knows how to keep her mouth shut."

"You trust her?" Gabe asked.

"Completely."

Gabe nodded curtly. "Then that's enough for me."

"Aren't we gonna vote?" Nick scowled. "It's how we do things."

"Seriously." I stood akimbo, facing the twins, who were visibly upset. "You two wanted to do this in the first place. You were all like, yeah, fire and brimstone."

"No!" Noel pointed at me. "We never voted because it didn't matter."

I rolled my eyes. "The two of you are just being difficult. If we paused mid-job to vote on every decision, we'd get nowhere fast. Are you gonna fight us on everything or accept that this is the job and we see it through no matter what?"

"The danger is an issue, JJ." Gabe's voice was soft. "I said before, I'm in as long as it doesn't get us killed."

"I don't want to die either, Gabe, but we don't know what doors we'll open.…We can hope for the best but prepare for the worst."

Angel peeked up from staring at Four. "I agree with JJ. To the end or not at all, and since we already voted, I suggest you all buckle up. I'm calling Aziza." He glared at the twins. "Stop your temper tantrums and get on your computers."

Noel and Nick grumbled but did what Angel asked. Angel left the room to call his doctor friend, and Gabe sat in one of the large chairs. "I really hope we didn't make a mistake taking this on, JJ."

I regarded Four. He was so small, and there wasn't a question in my mind that he was shattered on the inside. I couldn't walk away from this and sleep at night.

"Mistake or not, we're in it."

Angel's friend-slash-doctor agreed to come by the following day. In the meantime, she was able to tell Angel about an abandoned property on the outskirts of town that needed a lot of work. Her father had been trying to sell it for the past two years. I didn't ask questions when she told Angel the passcode to get in. Her father had alarms on all the properties, even the ones falling apart.

The twins were staying at the house, continuing their research. Max would remain with them. Gabe, Angel, Four, and I were headed to the property.

Everything was moving so fast and as I watched Four's face as we drove to the location, there wasn't even a flicker of emotion. Was there ever? I found myself thinking. Did he ever have a chance to be a little kid? Was he taken as a baby? Was anyone searching for him? What had this consortium done to him and why? My heart broke with every thought that banged around in my head.

"We're here," Angel announced.

Once we stepped out and I got a good look at the place, it was definitely a fixer-upper.

"Is it sanitary?" I had to wonder, because I swore if tetanus was a building this would be it.

"I'll make sure it's clean, JJ, don't worry." Angel squeezed my shoulder as he passed me to get to the trunk. He wasn't normally an affectionate man but he once told me and Mason that our kindness could melt the most frozen glaciers. So, maybe he was melting.

Once we gathered everything and were inside, Gabe and Angel made quick work of creating a pop-up operating room. Because we weren't sure how Four would react, Angel believed putting him out completely would be best. Afterward, we'd take him back to our house.

Four never fought me as I removed his shirt or guided him to lie on the table. Part of me wished he would, though. I wanted to see a spark of defiance, to know there was a fighter in there, that whoever he once was still lived there.

Angel approached Four, but I held up a hand. "One second."

I hovered over Four, making sure I was in his eyeline. "You're going to go to sleep for a little bit but I promise, as soon as you wake up, I'll be right here. Don't be scared, Four, I'll watch over you." I stepped back and nodded to Angel.

He put the IV in, and I kept my eyes on Four. His lips started to droop, and within seconds he was out. I held his hand the entire time. I didn't know why this man mattered so much to me. He didn't seem to be able to form bonds with me, but I had with him. The others didn't want to die over this job and while I didn't either, I realized if it meant that Four could be happy, to have a moment of the kind of wonderful life I'd had, I just might be okay sacrificing mine.

I didn't want to leave Shep. And hell if he'd let me. Knowing my sexy Viking, he'd face off with whatever was about to strike me down even knowing he'd fall too. I did love Shep, and he loved me. I sighed as I thought about him.

If I was so easily ready to die for Four's freedom, why couldn't I tell Shep I loved him when I did? I wondered if Aziza could tell me what the fuck was wrong with me while she was helping Four.

Angel removed the tracker but didn't destroy it. The plan was to bring it to a location and hope by the time the consortium went to retrieve Four, it would be there that they'd go first.

We chose a church because we were fucked up like that. Nick gave us a small camera to set up so we could see if anyone came there looking for Four. If they showed up there, we'd know, and it would buy us time in case they were checking all of Four's past locations.

On the way to the house, Four asleep on my lap, we drove by the church. Gabe went in, placed the tracker under a pew, and set up the camera.

"No issues?" Angel asked once he was back in the car.

"None, nobody in there."

I stared at Four the rest of the way home and tenderly rubbed his head. I'd keep my promises to him. Too many people had been awful to him in his life, and I wouldn't be one of them. If Angel believed my kindness could melt ice, my love would resurrect Four.