Chapter 61

Chapter Sixty-One

ZANE

I slam my sticks on the snare, beating out a rhythm that would make the dead rise. It's still too clumsy. Just a little off-beat.

I can't play like I used to with these special drumsticks and they're not the sexiest-looking devices in the world, but hell, I don't need my wrist to use the kick or the cymbal. So I make use of both, giving energy to the song.

Finn is at my right, thumping out a funky riff on his bass. His head is turned down toward his guitar, dark eyes hidden from sight.

But I know he's not fully here with us.

"Finn, you good, man?" I yell, crashing my sticks into the cymbals. "You're fumbling more than me and I'm the one re-learning how to play from scratch."

"Sorry." Finn runs a hand through his hair. "I can't seem to concentrate."

"You can't seem to play without wincing either." Dutch grabs Finn's wrist and lifts it.

Finn pulls his hands back.

I push the drumsticks off and swing my legs over the stool. Walking to my brothers, I inspect Finn's hand and cringe when I see the raw skin of his knuckles. "You're either hitting your hand into a brick wall or into someone's face." I twist the hand around. "Make that many people's faces."

Dutch glowers. "You sure everything's okay?"

"Yeah."

"What does your dad have you doing?"

Finn glances away.

Dutch and I exchange looks.

Whatever Finn's training is, it's not pretty.

"Finn, let's change the plan," I say. "We'll come up with a new way to get you out of it?—"

"Joining the yakuza keeps everyone safe," Finn answers sharply. "Don't pretend otherwise."

I frown.

Dutch scowls.

Finn releases a sharp breath. "I should go."

Neither of us ask where he's going. In that sense, Finn is as mysterious as he's always been. But there's something different about his continuous disappearances now. Even if I don't know where he's going, I know who he's going to and that terrifies the crap out of me.

"We should find a way to free him. Soon," Dutch says.

"Sure. Let's just walk up to the yakuza and tell them to leave our brother alone. That'll go over well."

"We can't do nothing ," Dutch growls.

I stare at his fingers tightening into fists. Dutch has always been the type who wants to fix things, who wants to protect us. I get why sending Finn to the wolves puts him on edge, but even I know that our hands are tied.

"Finn is right. He's doing this for us. Dad's backed off. Grey is safe. And so is Cadey. We're protected on the basis that Finn belongs to the Kurosakis, not the Crosses. We need a hell of a plan before we go poking at that ants' nest."

My twin grits his teeth and glances away.

I hear a ping on my phone.

Pulling out my cell, I see that Grey just dropped a wad of cash at a fancy lunch spot next to the mall. Instantly, the weight on my shoulders lessens. It took far too much convincing before Grey would spend my money, but I'm glad she's comfortable enough to do it now.

"Cadence said she went to hang out with Grey for lunch," Dutch announces, also looking at his phone. "But she'll be back in time for me to walk her to class."

I barely hear him because I'm busy typing out a message to Grey.

ME: Why aren't you spending more money? That bill isn't high enough.

"Have you noticed Cadence and Grey have been spending a lot of time together?" I mumble.

"I have," Dutch admits. "I think I see her with Grey more than Serena these days."

GREY: You're funny. That bill is already too high.

ME: Not for my tastes.

GREY: I have an announcement to make when I get home.

ME: An announcement? What is it?

GREY: You'll find out later.

Curious, I glance at my twin. "Grey said she has an announcement to make. You think it has something to do with why she took Cadey to lunch today?"

"Huh." Dutch rubs his chin. "Cadey just told me the same thing. What are those two planning?"

"Maybe something for our nineteenth birthday?" I offer.

"Cadey knows what I want." Dutch's eyes flash up to me. "And it doesn't involve a party. Or an audience."

"Freak."

Dutch shrugs and returns to texting his wife.

My curiosity jumps a couple hundred notches. I'm bursting at the seams to find out what Grey has to tell me and can barely last through the school day.

It takes everything in me not to skip classes completely.

But I don't.

Well, it's more like I can't.

Grey and I made a deal. She agreed to spend our —not mine but our —money as long as I continue to attend AP Lit and take my classes seriously. ‘ Teachers aren't there to be ignored. Show up in class and don't waste their time' she said.

Classes are a drag and I miss seeing Grey with her little pencil skirts and bright smiles around the hallways.

I'm not the only one who misses her at Redwood. As much as the gossip about our marriage is rampant in Jinx's app and in conversations on campus, people still agree that Grey was a great teacher.

If she'd come back, I think things would eventually return to normal. But that woman… once she gets her mind stuck on something, there's no changing it.

Later that evening, I speed to the house on my bike.

Martina is there, cooking up a feast.

Dutch and I walk in to the tantalizing smell of our favorite meals.

I crane my neck, looking around for my beautiful wife. Normally, Grey greets me at the door with a kiss, yapping about the yakuza's underground network and flapping around her organization charts.

But today, she's not in the living room or in our room.

I call her, but she doesn't pick up.

There's a knock on my door.

Dutch barges in, his face tense. "Is Cadence in here?"

"She's not in your room?" I ask.

"No." Dutch grinds out.

Unease tightens my stomach.

I call Grey again.

The phone goes to voicemail.

I check her location tracker.

"Dutch," I say in a dark voice, "her tracker's off."

"What?" He barges over and curses when he sees the dull grey screen. Whirling around, my twin starts calling Cadence in earnest.

Viola bounces up the stairs. "Hello! Is it someone's birthday? Why is there so much food?"

"Viola, have you seen or heard from Cadence?" Dutch demands.

Immediately, Viola's eyes fill with worry. "No. Why? What happened?"

"I'll check the mall," I say. "Maybe their phones died."

"I'll come with you," Dutch says, striding forward.

I stop beside Viola. "Vi, call us immediately if your sister or Grey make contact, okay?"

She nods, clutching at her necklace.

Dutch and I drive to the mall and search every store, but there's no sign of our wives.

The sun disappears into the mountains and the moon shines a light on our path as we search the back alleys around the mall and the restaurant.

"Still nothing," Dutch cries, pulling at his hair.

My heart slams against my ribs. I want to scream at the sky. Grey, honey, where are you?

Dutch walks off to call Viola while two pairs of headlights shine in the distance. Finn's car stops in front of us.

He and Sol jump out.

Sol looks frantic. "I haven't seen Cadence anywhere." He glances at me. Seems to remember my wife is also missing and tacks on, "Or Grey."

"Viola hasn't heard from them either." Dutch's nostrils flare and he looks two seconds away from punching something.

Finn's phone rings.

I brighten. "Is it…"

He shakes his head. "It's a contact I called."

As he walks off, I scrub my forehead. "Let me phone Grey's mom."

"I thought she wasn't talking to her mom," Sol points out.

"It's worth a shot."

I dial Marion's number. It goes straight to voicemail.

Dammit.

Finn walks back to us. His eyes are dark beneath the street lights. A foreboding feeling slams in my gut.

For some inexplicable reason, I have the feeling that the worst is about to happen.

"What?" Sol breathes out.

"I found something, but…"

"But what?"

Finn squeezes his eyes shut.

I fly past Dutch and grab Finn by the collar, shaking him. "For the love of—if you clam up on me now, Finn, I will beat you to a pulp. Where is my wife? "

"What did your contact say?" Sol asks, glancing between me, Dutch and Finn.

"He tracked the girls' movements over the past few days."

"And?"

"They've been shopping for baby clothes."

I wheel back. "Cadence was looking for baby clothes?"

Dutch staggers like someone punched him. Sol quickly grabs him by the arm to hold him up.

"He got a hold of their hospital records too," Finn says.

"Is that legal?" Sol blurts. And then he smacks his forehead. "Stupid question. This is the yakuza we're talking about. What did the hospital records say?"

Finn glances at Dutch.

"Is Cadey…" Dutch wheezes.

"Cadey's pregnant," Finn declares.

My twin hangs his head in his hands and exhales shakily.

I want to congratulate him, but Finn has me in his chokehold of a gaze.

"What?" I sputter.

"Zane…" Finn blinks, "so is Grey."

His words echo around me, bouncing in my skull like a game of ping pong.

Then it hits.

The sky falls and I threaten to crumple into the ground. Too many emotions. I can't pick one. Surprise. Elation. Worry. Fear.

Unable to contain myself, I whirl around and slam my fist into the hood of Dutch's car.

My wife is pregnant, and all I want to do is hug her, but I don't know where the hell she is right now.

"We need to find them," Dutch barks.

"We will find them , " I correct him.

At that moment, all our phones light up with a message.

"What the hell," Sol exclaims, shock tightening his face.

Playing on my phone is a clip of two women being dragged into a van. It's too filmy to make out any details, but I am one hundred percent sure that second, unconscious woman is my wife.

I told Grey that yellow looked amazing against her skin and she bought a yellow jumpsuit that made me want to stay home with her instead of leaving for school. The video is black and white but I'd recognize those curls and that mini-skirt from this morning anywhere.

In the video, the vehicle speeds away and the footage ends.

My throat closes up. "Who the hell is this, Finn? The yakuza?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Dutch asks darkly. His voice bristles with the promise of death.

"I don't know what's going on," Finn mumbles, his eyes panicked.

"We're going to find them," I say, my voice as sharp as a knife.

There is not a universe where I can exist without Grey. I promised her I'd burn the world down if she needed me to.

Whoever took my wife and unborn baby is about to see their world turn to ash.

Jinx: Hello Princes of Redwood,

Did you get my gift? This secret keeper is ready to lay out all her cards. Why? Because I have something you want and you have something I need.

You don't know me yet, but soon, I'll be closer than your next secret.

See you soon,

Jinx

Thank you so much for reading The Silent Note ! Finn's taking over in the next book. Are you ready? His dark story is coming soon…