His Rose

Ch. 12

My phone clattered to the ground, and it felt like my whole world was spinning. My vision blurred and my breath came in short spurts, my mind putting together the ominous location sent to me and the cryptic text as a clue. No, a warning. A threat on my brother's life.

"Rosie, hey," Jace breathed out, catching me as my knees buckled. I sucked in a deep breath as I broke out of my trance, staring up at his concerned-filled gaze. I could sense the fear instilled in him by the text, but he did a good job of hiding it.

"I... I have to get to Xander," I finally said, standing up. Everyone's eyes were trained on me, but only Jace dared to talk to me.

"You can't drive," he argued. "Not like-"

"Jace, I have to. Xander could be dying! Or-" My voice caught in my throat, and I shook my head, unable to bring myself to say the words as tears sprung to my eyes.

"Adina-"

"Jace, we're supposed to be enemies. You know you can't come." I know he didn't do it, but it could have still been his gang. Even his own father. What if Julian saw Jace helping me? We'd be dead. And I don't think just figuratively speaking.

"You tell me everything tomorrow," Jace said after a resigned sigh. "You bring the kids to practice, and we'll grab lunch then go to the pier. I'll run it by my mom and text you. I'm unblocking my number." I just nodded, mindlessly taking my phone from him, my brain too focused on Xander. Did he text anyone else? Should I?

I somehow managed to grab my keys and umbrella and slip on my shoes without realizing it; the next thing I knew I was peeling out of the driveway, directions to the pinged location already displayed on my phone.

"Come on, come on, come on," I muttered to myself, tearing down the streets of Daytona Beach and just hoping I didn't hydroplane. I should have been hoping I didn't get pulled over, too, because police sirens began wailing behind me as I was just about to pull off on the backstreet it said Xander was on. I should have also prayed that if I got pulled over, it wouldn't be my dad.

"Adina Rose Brooks, what the hell is your problem?" he demanded, a mix of anger, disappointment, and concern etched across his face as I wound down my window, not even worrying about how much rain would be staining the inside of my car now.

"Dad, it's Xander, something's wrong. I got this text and he texted me and I need to-"

"Show me." He looked solemn, and I'm surprised he managed to follow along with my rambling. But I complied, handing him my phone after fumbling with it a bit, my fingers still trembling slightly. His gaze darkened, and he handed my phone back to me.

"Get going, I'm following in the squad car and I'll call a bus." I nodded, winding up my window and driving off, spotting my dad in my rearview talking into his radio as he hopped back into his own car, following me with the sirens off this time.

I was at the location a minute later, but I didn't see Xander. I didn't see anyone. It just looked like a sketchy alleyway. Did someone steal Xander's phone? Did they ping a fake location and take Xander elsewhere?

I jumped when I felt my father's hands clamp down on my shoulders, but took a steadying breath as he began rubbing them softly, soothing me.

"Fuck the rain," Dad muttered, glancing around. "If he was injured, the rain has washed all the blood away." I nodded as I took another sweep-over of the area. Again, nothing was out of place. It was surprisingly clean, actually, save for the hint of a trash bag poking out from behind a dumpster.

Wait...

I inched closer, my dad having left my side to catch the other officers up to speed. "Adina, wait," he warned, already taking long strides to catch up to me as I crouched down beside the bag.