Chapter Quote:
"You're loyal to a fault. Your code is about family, and that's great in the holidays, but it makes you predictable."
~Owen Shaw
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Chapter 28

Ember

I woke up to Jace placing a cup of coffee on my nightstand. "I know you don't like coffee, but figured this was an extenuating circumstance," he said.

I took a cautious sip, surprised to find I liked it. "What's in it?"

"A lot of sugar and milk until you can't really taste the coffee."

"So that's why I like it."

"Any breakthroughs?" he asked, taking a seat next to me and staring at the screen in front of us. It showed two different feeds: the front of my house and the back of it. How Jace's contacts managed to get those cameras up and running was beyond me, but I was grateful for their help. Sam and Jackson were face-planting my desk, having exhausted themselves looking at the security feeds. They'd at least thought to pause the footage before crashing. Brandon was passed out on a makeshift bed on my floor, drained from helping me all night.

"Jackson and Sam were able to track him via security footage from the hospital and surrounding areas, but he's avoiding any cameras like the plague, so it's making it difficult. No one's shown up at my house yet either. If I don't get some sleep soon and stop shaking from all the caffeine I've had, my family is going to get suspicious, and I don't know if I can keep another secret from them."

"What other secrets are you keeping from them? Other than the one you won't tell me about?"

"Just that one. But it's just as big."

"It's about Jack, isn't it?"

I peered over at Jackson, hoping he couldn't hear me talking. He didn't want me knowing what I did about my brother. "Yeah. I know where he is. He doesn't know that. Neither does Jackson."

"Why haven't you gone after him?"

"He doesn't want me to know, and I have to respect that. I have to believe that one day, he'll realize that no matter what he's done, we will welcome him back with open arms. He's one of us, no matter what Lynch has made him do."

"Can you get Jackson to relay the message to him?"

"He has. The ball is in Jack's court now."

Jace took my hand. "If you want to go after him, just say the word. I'm with you."

I squeezed his hand to convey my gratefulness. "I love you."

"And I love you." He scooted closer to me. "So, what can I do to help?"

"You want to take over watching the security footage of my house while I try and get some sleep?"

"You've got it." I shifted in my bed to make room for him, then fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of my dad the entire time.
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"Ember? Wake up, we've got something," Jace said, bringing me out of my slumber. I groggily sat up, slightly dazed.

"You with us, Em?" Jackson asked. Brandon and Sam stood behind him.

"Yeah, I'm here," I said. "What's going on?"

"We have activity at the house."

All tiredness evaporated as I scrambled up, grabbing the laptop from Jace. Sure enough, a figure in a black hoodie and baseball cap was cautiously approaching our house. The darkness outside obscured his features, though, so I couldn't tell what he looked like. At first, I began to suspect it was a burglar because he kept peering in through the windows and ringing the doorbell to check for signs of people living there. But when no one answered, he walked to the side of the house, and I watched with bated breath.

We kept a spare key in a hidden compartment of a flower pot, and the only people who knew about were me, my mom, my dad, Dom, and Letty. If this guy found our key, it had to be my dad. It just had to be. Especially because we'd never used the spare key in the first place, so it's not like someone could've seen us getting it before.

"What's he doing? Why's he picking up a flower pot?" Brandon asked.

"Oh my god," I breathed, unable to believe this was happening.

"What?"

I explained to him the situation and the thought process that had just run through my mind. "Mom, Dom, and Letty are all here. Dad's the only one who isn't."

"So, you're saying-"

"That's dad. That has to be." Everyone took a seat on my bed at the news. Jace put his arm around me, understanding I was barely holding it together. I reached for Jackson's hand because I knew without him, I wouldn't be witnessing or experiencing what I was now.

"What's the plan?" Sam asked. We watched as my dad put the spare key in the door and enter the house. I didn't respond. Breaking my handhold with Jackson, I grabbed my phone and waited until I could see my dad in our living room window before dialing our number. I watched him lift up a photograph as I hit 'call.' With bated breath, I stood up and began pacing, waiting to see if he'd pick up. Our caller ID would be announcing my name, so maybe he would. I doubted it, though. The ringing phone was more than likely to freak him out. Meanwhile, my friends watched me expectantly.

As I predicted, the phone went to voicemail, and I took a deep breath. "Hey, dad... I-I don't know what to say, really, except that I love you. Mom and I are okay, so are Dom and Letty and everyone else. I have a friend who knows Jack. He's going to help me get to him once this whole thing with Lynch is over. We're going to get that bastard, and I'm going to make him pay for everything he's done to you and Jack and our family. I don't know when this will be, but I'll tell you when I do. I have a feeling you have a score to settle with him. You're welcome to stay in the house. Mom never got rid of any of your clothes, so they're all still in your closet. You have my number when you want to call me back... if you do... when you're ready... I hope you do because I really, really miss you, and I want my dad back." My voice cracked, and the tears I'd been holding back flowed over. "I love you so, so much."

I hung up and buried my face in my hands, trying to hide my sobs. Jace was at my side in a flash, pulling me into an embrace. The others joined in. I'm pretty sure I heard someone else crying, too, if not all of us.

"He's alive," Jackson whispered. "He's alive, Emmy."

I pulled away. "I want to go home."

"Then I'll go with you," Jace declared.

"Me, too," Jackson said. "And I think I have an idea for how to get Lynch."

"What is it?" I asked.

"He's always one step ahead of us, it seems. And he's always setting traps for us. Why don't we set a trap for him? One he won't see coming."

"How do we do that? The guy is ridiculously smart," Sam said. "He's already figured out our plans before. What's to stop him from figuring it out this time?"

"Because we give him a reason to believe it. Every time we've set a trap, he doesn't have the intelligence to back it up, so he gets suspicious. This time, we're going to bait him."

"How?" I asked.

"More like who," Jackson replied. "And by who, I mean me. I'm going to use myself as the bait to get him where we need to be."

"No, you're the only connection I have to Jack, and I'm not risking losing you. If anyone should be bait, it's me. I got us into this mess in the first place."

"No. We just got you back," Jace jumped in. "Neither of you are going to be bait because I'm going to do it. Lynch believes Ember is dead, and we need him to continue thinking that way. He'll just shoot Jackson. But he won't shoot me. Not right off the bat, at least. Besides, I bet Jackson and I could come up with a pretty convincing, heated argument for someone to witness that could get back to him."

I bit my lip, not wanting to agree to his suggestion, but I had to consider it. Lynch didn't care enough about Sam or Brandon, he wouldn't hesitate to kill Jackson, and he thought I was dead, which we could use to our advantage later as a surprise to throw him off guard. Jace was his son, my boyfriend, and he and Jackson didn't always get along.

Jace had a very good point.

"Not coming back is not an option, do you understand me?" I warned. "God help you if you get yourself killed-"

"I won't. I have a family to come back to."

"Damn right, you do," Brandon said.

Jace nodded in appreciation. "So, how are we going to tell the adults?"

"We don't tell them about dad. Not right now. Not until we a visual and physical confirmation that it is, without a doubt, him," I said. "Jackson's right about not telling my mom. If we told her right now, we jeopardize his life and ours, and we risk letting Lynch use him against us again. We tell them our idea, though. They're not going to like it, but it's our last shot."

"Who wants to break the news to them?"

"I will," Jackson offered. "It was my idea. I should take the heat for it."

"I will, too. I'm making myself the bait after all," Jace said.

"We're all taking credit. Ride or die, remember?" I stared down each one of them. "Are we in agreement?"

"Ride or die," Jackson said.

"Ride or die," Jace agreed. Sam and Brandon echoed the statements.

I nodded. "Then let's get to work."