Chapter Fifteen
Ash Redfern was still awake when James crashed through the front door. He could hear his cousin running through the mansion and went to see what the hell he was doing and to remind him that everyone else was asleep.
He found him in the conference room where James had just pulled out a file and was about to leave again. He was short of breath and his otherwise handsome face was etched in worry.
"Hold it," Ash ordered, placing a hand against James chest.
"Piss off Ash!" James yelled. "Let me go!"
Ash frowned. Something was definitely up. James was not his usual composed, smiling self. "What's wrong?"
James took a breath and looked frantically around the room in despair. "It's Poppy," he finally cried. "She's gone and I can't find her. She left me a note saying she had gone to see Blake about Hunter…you know how she's been since Phil died! That was ages ago and I went over to Blake's and she's not there. Neither of them are there!" He took a breath. "She's in trouble, Ash. I know she is so just let me go!"
Ash bit down on his lip. "You can go but I'm coming too," he said finally.
"Fine!" James agreed hastily. "Just hurry up!"
He pushed past Ash before Ash could react and was making his way through the mansion again. Ash thought about running up to get Rashel and Quinn or Jez and Morgead but he saw that James wouldn't wait for him if he did.
Instead he grabbed his coat and ran out into the darkness after his cousin.
"Get in the car Ash!" James yelled, sticking his head out the window.
Ash hastily opened the door and jumped in just before James his the gas pedal and left the driveway with a skid of tyres. The car trip after that was even worse.
"That was a truck James for Gods' sake!" Ash roared as they over took a massive truck at such a high speed that James hadn't even checked to see if the other lane was clear. "Did you hear me? You're no good to Poppy if you kill yourself!"
James' eyes didn't waver from the road, nor did his foot from the gas pedal for that matter. He shook his head. "I'll kill Hunter first," he said softly. "He's behind this, I know it."
Ash didn't have time to respond as they took a corner fast, one side of the car almost tipping. "For fucks' sake James!" he yelled. "Were you away for drivers ed.?!"
His cousin ignored him, only pausing to throw the file into Ash's lap. "There's the address that Blake said Hunter's apartment was. Find it for me."
Ash glanced at his James tightly drawn face and began to search through the notes of Blake's phone conversations. He found it. "Mmm, looks like Hunter's still rolling in the dollars," he commented.
"Just give me the bloody address Ash, and quit with the commentary!"
Ash sighed and gave James the street name. His cousin swore under his breath and did a fast u turn. Another car beeped its horn at them but James ignored it.
"Goddess, if you really exist, please let me survive this car trip in one piece," Ash begged, looking heavenward and gripping the dashboard for life. "I'd be eternally grateful."
James ignored him.
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At Hunter's apartment, Blake was sitting next to Poppy who had at last found she had no more tears left to cry. Blake had an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders and was holding her tightly.
"I just wanted to see you and tell you about Phil," Poppy sniffed. "He was my brother and they killed him. They killed him on Hunter's orders and I wanted Hunter dead. I still
Blake sighed. She could understand Poppy's reaction towards Malon. The guy was way too many notches below zero degrees, she had to admit.
"It's okay, Poppy. It wasn't your fault. I must have done something to make Curtis suspicious if he had Malon check my apartment out. I probably would have been found out even if you weren't there." Inwardly, she knew that was a lie because she had no records of any of her Circle Daybreak dealings but the lie made Poppy feel a little better.
"Maybe," Poppy sniffed again. "But we're still trapped here. What are we going to do?"
Blake wondered when she had suddenly been put in charge. Although the position was familiar, she was now uncomfortable with it for the first time. This time, she had no plan and no idea on how they would get out of this mess.
"I don't know, Poppy. I'm sorry, but I don't," she finally admitted, looking round at the bare walls desperately. She had already tried the lock and it held fast. They were well and truly trapped.