Chapter 53 Ethan's pov

Chapter 53 Ethan's pov


Monsters think they are wise, especially the ones like Joe Blackwood.They never stopped unless you made them. They make the silliest of mistakes which gave them away without realising it.
I stood by the hospital window, phone pressed to my ear, eyes tracking the slow movement of clouds outside as Alex laughed softly behind me,something Aiden had said, no doubt. That sound mattered more than anything. And I won't let anyone, or anything, not even his so called uncle take it away from me. 

“Say that again,” Noah said through the line. 

“Joe flee the city about an hour ago,” I replied. “i was informed he used a private jet so I don't think anyone knows where he's headed.”
“And you’re sure?”
“I had eyes on the hangar,” I said. “Rico confirmed it. Maybe he's tired of hiding. He is to dumb for someone who wants to takeover an empire.”
Noah exhaled sharply. “The fucker is scared. He probably has an idea we're close to getting him here”
“he should be scared,” I muttered. “Besides I love a good hide and seek.”
Behind me, Alex’s laughter faded. I felt it instantly,his awareness locking onto my tension like a tuning fork.
“I’ll call you back,” I told Noah, ending the call before he could argue.
Alex stood near the bed now, arms folded, studying me like he was memorizing my face in case it disappeared. The ring on his finger caught the light. I’d catch myself staring at it when I thought he wasn’t looking.
"Joe is running?"
“Yes,” I said. “ probably Setting up his last stand.”
Alex didn’t flinch. He’d grown past that. His uncle already made it clear he wanted Alex dead.
“i spoke to my father earlier, I think he might know where he went,” he said quietly.
I stilled.
“What?”
“he said something about a vatio home." He continues“Joe has a vacation property in Toronto.”
That tracked. Joe liked places where he won't be noticed from what I've gathered.
“And your father just volunteered that?” I asked carefully.
Alex nodded. “He said he owes me the truth now. All of it.”
I searched his face. “Are you sure you're okay with that?”
He shrugged, but it was tight. Guarded. “I don’t trust him. But I believe him.”
That was enough.
“Then we need to make a move quick,and quietly because I want to bring him back here and make him pay.” I said.

I made plans with Noah, and we decided to meet so we can use my private jet and pay Joseph Blackwood a visit. Noah met me an hour later, already armed and already irritated.
“You’re getting soft,” he said by way of greeting.
I snorted. “You’re getting predictable. You should work on that.”
He glanced past me. “Alex staying?”
“Yes.”
“And you think Joe won’t use that?”
“He already did, more than once.” I replied. “It didn’t work.”
Noah studied me for a long moment. Then, quieter, “You sure you’re thinking straight? We don't want to mess this up."
I thought of Alex, God I love him and I'll work on fire if that's what it takes to keep him safe.
“I’m thinking clearly for the first time in my life,” I said.
Noah nodded once. “Great,Then let’s end this.”

After we landed at the airport, we drove the car that was prepared for us before our arrival to the forest. The sound of birds quirking and flapping their wings feel the air. It doesn't look like a place humans should leave in.
At some point we had to pack the car and continue on our foot. As we walked we go over the plan again. Joe definitely had cameras installed in his house due to his dirty deeds and paranoia, someone will definitely be after him.
Joe’s vacation house emerged slowly,wood and stone tucked between towering trees.
“I think there are more than one person's here.” Noah murmured.
“I think so too.”
I gesture for him to go round and used a jammer on all the cameras. While I work on the once from my end then meet up when we're don. I walked slowly and quietly with my gun in hand. Every sense of my body heightened ,Every instinct screamed that this could be a trap , but I decided to trust Alexander's Father this once .
There was no guards around , lucky us. He probably thought nobody wound care enough to come find him. I walked slowly towards the door. The doors where not even secured, the fucker really did let his guards down. I used my tool to unlock the door and carefully open it . Noah was right behind me.
Inside the house was warm and quite. And a single glass sat on the counter. Whiskey. Still wet at the rim.
“He definitely knows,” Noah said.
Before I could respond, a voice echoed from the back room.
“I was wondering when you’d show up.”
Joe Blackwood stepped into view, slow and smug, hands visible, smile carved from poison.
“Ethan Pierce,” he said. “The dog who is going out of control.”
I raised my gun. “You dont know half of who I am.”
He laughed. “Oh, I do. Don't flatter yourself.”
Movement behind him caught my eyes and I fired immediately before they could.
They fired back taking our attention away from Joe for a while. Noah shouted my name as Joe vanished through a side door as bullets tore into the walls.
“Go!” Noah yelled.
I went after him. The forest took us whole,
branches whipped my face. Joe ran like a man who’d rehearsed this escape a thousand times. He had a lot of energy for a man in his fifties. 
“You can’t kill me!” he shouted over his shoulder. Still running. 

I almost trip and lose my footing.

“Stop running and finding out” I growled.
I tackled him at the edge of a ravine. We hit the ground hard. He clawed, screamed, punching like a weak lady and tried to reach for the gun I’d knocked loose. I pinned him, breath heaving, 
“You lost,” I said.
Joe laughed. Blood in his teeth. “Did I?”
A gun clicked behind me.
I froze.
Noah’s voice cut through the dark. “Ethan.”
A shot rang through the forest and joe’s smile widened like he'd won a lottery or something.
Shit!