Their family
Their family
Zero POV
Shadow doesn’t answer right away. His jaw flexes, eyes darting toward me like he’s debating whether to speak.
“Shadow,” I press, my patience thinking.
He looks like he is reconsidering telling me whatever it is he was told
“What. Did. They. Find?”
He swallows. “The car.”
The world seems to stop moving. For a heartbeat, even my pulse freezes.
“Where?”
“About four miles downstream,” he says quietly. “No sign of the two though.”
A gasp follows, it's Chloe’s.
The last part has my heart clenching and trembling at the same time.
That's good news right? If they are not in the wreckage, they escaped, right?
Before I can be consumed by these thoughts, I grab my jacket without another word and stride out.
“ Where are you going? I will come with you.” Chloe sniffs from behind me.
I halt and turn to face her, forcing a smile.
“ No Chloe. Stay here with the others. I’ll give you a call when I get there.” I say.
She shakes her head, fear evident in her face.
“ I want to see…” She starts but I hush her.
“ I don’t want to see you like this Chloe. Hera wouldn’t too. Going there will only upset you even more.” I coerce her.
I expect her to protest but she nods, wiping her tears.
“ Alright. I will listen to you.” She murmurs.
I place a gentle kiss on her forehead then turn and walk away.
Shadow and Ghost follow behind me.
The drive there is silent, only the growl of engines filling the night air. Every passing minute feels to be dragging and every heartbeat heavier than the last.
The car is already on the shore when we get there.
Only Ghost, Shadow, and I walk down the muddy bank. The divers are packing up their equipments.
I hear murmurs in the distance, even someone calling my name but I barely hear them. My eyes stay fixed on the black Dodge sitting crooked by the shore.
The front is smashed in, the windows cracked, the glass glittering on the seats. But it’s empty.
I walk closer. The passenger door hangs open, dripping river water. On the driver's side, the door is closed but the window glass is gone, like someone crashed it.
The seatbelt is still looped through the frame but unbuckled.
Everything points in one direction, they escaped.
Ghost walks around the car, running his fingers along the shattered frame. He crouches near the broken window, inspecting the edges.
“Someone escaped from this side.” he says after a moment. “The glass broke from the inside out. They didn’t drown, Zero. They got out before the car went under.”
There's a flash of excitement in his eyes and I can't help but smile.
A strange relief floods through me.
I exhale slowly, my chest tight but lighter.
“ The door unlocked means Hera escaped too, right?” Shadow asks.
“Looks that way,” Ghost replies, standing.
“ The question is, if they escaped, where the hell did they go?”
Shadow steps closer, his boots sinking in the wet mud. “That’s the problem,” he mutters.
“We’ve checked every hospital in the past two days. From public and private and came out with nothing. No one matching their descriptions was admitted anywhere near here. If they escaped, they vanished.”
I run a hand through my hair, staring at the dark river. The current moves fast, curling and twisting as if hiding the truth beneath its surface. “Maybe they didn’t make it to a hospital,” I say quietly. “Maybe they’re in hiding. Or someone’s keeping them hidden.”
Ghost’s gaze flicks toward me. “You think they were taken?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore,” I admit. “But I do know Hera wouldn’t go down easy. Mason either. If they’re alive, they have a reason for staying quiet.”
Deep down, that's the prayer I have been whispering to myself.
They have to be alive. They must be or else I don't know what to tell Lily if she asks about her father and aunt.
She has suffered so much, lost some much.
Mason had finally taken the decision to be a good father to her and now this? Why does heaven have to be so unfair to her?
Hasn't she suffered enough already? Can't heaven have mercy on her?
Before anyone can answer, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out, and the name flashing across the screen makes my pulse spike. It's Justin, Hera's computer wizard.
I step away from the noise and answer. “Yeah?”
His voice comes through from the other end.
“Zero, we need to talk. Come and find me, I will send you my location.” He rushes to say immediately the call is connected.
“ Slow down and tell me what is happening.”
Justin sighs, “I can’t say much over the phone, but… it’s about Hera.”
Every nerve in my body goes on edge. “What about her?”
“Just get to my place and I will tell you everything.” He insists.
The line goes dead before I can give him a reply.
I stare at the phone for a second before sliding it back into my jacket. “That was Justin,” I tell Ghost and Shadow.
“He says it’s about Hera. I’m going to see him.”
Shadow frowns. “Do you need us to come with you?”
I shake my head. “No. I need you two to focus on finding Mason and Hera. With the new development, I think we should widen the search beyond Chicago.
I'll leave you two to check every small town, every village along the river. Talk to gas stations, motels, clinics, anyone who might’ve seen two people traveling on foot or looking hurt.” I instruct them.
I have always taken orders all my life. Now being the one to give them suddenly feels weird and overwhelming.
Ghost crosses his arms. “Are you sure about going alone?”
“Yeah,” I say firmly. “ It's Justin , not an enemy.” I refute.
Justin has always been loyal to Hera. I heard he is one of the oldest members of Killer Angels.
Shadow exhales heavily. “ Alright, we will start with the river towns.
If there’s a trace of them, we will definitely find it.”
I nod. “Good. Keep your phones on. And Shadow, keep this quiet for now. Chloe doesn’t need to hear about my meeting with Justin.”
He nods once. “Got it.”
Without another word, I head back to my bike. I don't know why Justin is urgently asking for my presence but knowing that chances are that Hera and Mason might have survived the accident keeps me hopeful.
I will find them no matter where they are. I'll make sure they reunite with their family.