Wes knew he was waking up, but he couldn’t seem to get all the way there. Everything was gray and fuzzy. Muffled voices surrounded him… or were they in his head?

…ber…ite…

What? Wes thought.

A snippet of a slightly clearer voice had drifted through his brain for a second. He couldn’t make out the words. Two men were talking on his left side. They sounded farther away.

Amber… the voice said—a woman’s. It seemed familiar.

Am I going insane? Wes thought to himself, certain that he had, indeed, already gone insane. Am I dead?

…aite…

Hello…? Wes thought, unsure why.

The voice suddenly returned, with a clarity so piercing and so direct that it sent a bolt of adrenaline through him.

Amber Waite!

Wes’s eyes snapped open.

His heart pounded. He was in a small room with concrete walls. He thought he was alone until he realized the two men’s muffled voices were still here—Abel and some strange, enormous man were sitting beside him, talking. It took him a couple seconds to figure out what was going on.

“Abel?” Wes croaked.

“Wes! You’re awake!” Abel said, rushing over. “How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“Uh… I don’t know….” His whole body burned with a stagnant pain. His brain was groping around for answers—where had that voice been? Who was Amber Waite? Instead, he asked aloud: “Where are we? Who is that?”

“That’s Mr. Haines,” Abel said. “He helped rescue us, and he knows Dad.”

“Who is on his way here to talk to you two,” Mr. Haines said. “He’ll be glad to find you awake.”

All other thoughts flew from Wes’s mind. “Dad… coming here?”

“Yes,” Abel said.

It took another moment to sink in. He remembered the bag over his head, the driver’s yell, the crash. The fleeting and terrifying moments just before, when they had been cornered in an alleyway and he had a tracking device embedded in his back. They’d been caught.

But now they were free again?

“Where’s Evie?” Wes asked, glancing around.

Abel hung his head. “She’s… well… they still have her.”

“What?” Wes’s heart took a dive.

“We’re going to find her, I promise,” Abel added, clenching his fists. “That’s what we’re going to talk to Dad about.”

Mr. Haines’ phone beeped, and he glanced at it. “Speak of the Devil. I’ll be right back.”

The ginormous man stood up and left the room, shutting the door behind him. A heavy knot twisted in Wes’s stomach.

“Evie’s still out there…” Wes said.

Abel looked at the floor. “Yes. I… I guess I lost track of everything when the car crashed. I should have been able to grab her, though. She was right next to me. The man dragged her out before I could get ahold of her, and… I shouldn’t have let him take her.”

Wes remembered none of this.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Wes said. “The crash knocked me out completely. And it looks like it banged you up pretty bad, too.”

“She’s out there, Wes. By herself. With the people who tried to kill Mom. I shouldn’t have let it happen.”

“Hey, they said they weren’t trying to kill us,” Wes said softly.

“And you think we can trust them? We have no idea what they’re planning to do, and the last thing I wanted was for Evie to get caught up in it alone.”

“You said Dad was looking for her, though.”

“He is. He and his… team, I guess.”

“Then we’ll get her back.”

Abel looked up. “You’re being awfully calm.”

“I feel calm. Maybe I’m just tired.”

“Probably this.” Abel fingered an I.V. running from Wes’s forearm to a bag of clear liquid that hung nearby. “I guess it’s for the better. You’ve been through a lot in the past couple days. I don’t want you slipping away, too.”

The door opened.

“Boys?”

They turned their heads. A figure emerged from the doorway, first drenched in shadows, then steeped in light. A familiar stature. A familiar face. One they hadn’t seen in two years.

“Dad…” Abel murmured.

It was really him. Abel leaped from his chair and tackled Dad with a full-body hug—which Dad returned, laughing and gripping Abel hard. Wes’s mouth hung open. Dad wasn’t wearing the military uniform they had sent him off with. Instead, he wore a simple set of worker’s clothes, but with holsters and weapon straps all over the place. He also had a short beard, which was new, and a set of vicious scars on his neck and arms. No border patrol officer would have any of those, not from sitting in a cruiser all day.

After a few moments of blissful reunion with Abel, Dad’s eyes rested on the bed.

“Wes…” Dad said, dragging Abel over. “You’re awake. Thank God… you were thrown pretty hard into that side of the car when it hit the wall.”

He leaned down and hugged Wes as best he could while lying down. He kissed Wes’s hair and then pulled back—eyes full of tears.

“I’ve missed you boys so much,” Dad said.

“D-Dad…” Wes stammered. “You’re here.”

“Yes,” Dad said, the mere sound of his voice flinging Wes back to the warm feeling of two years ago. “I started looking for all of you the second I got Abel’s message. Ah… I have so much to tell you. So much has happened since we last saw each other.”

“Mom is gone,” Abel said.

A quiet fell. Dad sat on the bed beside Wes and brought his hand to his face. He rubbed his eyes.

“I know,” Dad said. “And it’s my fault.”

“No it isn’t,” Mr. Haines said from the doorway. “These people have been after us for a long time. They’re not looking to show any mercy.”

“Why did she run?” Abel asked.

Dad heaved a sigh. “She was trying to protect you, not abandon you. I know it didn’t seem like that in the moment, but we talked about it before I left. She knew what she had to do.”

“Mom knew about this?” Wes asked.

“She only knew what I told her… which was not enough. I should have told her more.”

“You weren’t allowed,” Mr. Haines said. “It would only have put her in more danger.”

“Look what happened anyway,” Dad snapped.

Abel and Wes fell silent. Mr. Haines crossed his arms, and Dad rubbed his eyes again.

“We’ll find both of them, I promise,” Dad murmured. “We have to get Evie back first, though. We have a good lead.”

“You do?” Abel asked.

“One of the enemy’s team members was still alive, barely, when we got to him, and we managed to squeeze some answers out of him before he died. He told us Evie’s captors aren’t going back to their HQ. There’s a delivery spot where they rendezvous when they’re in a tight spot. They’ll take her there… presumably to meet up with whoever hired them.”

“Delivery spot, eh?” Mr. Haines asked. He reached over his shoulder and un-holstered a massive shotgun with laser mods. “Think we could get in on a free delivery?”

“Free, no,” Dad said. “But we’ll be there. Which means we have to move fast. I only wanted to come and make sure you boys were all right.”

Dad stood, and Abel stood with him, grabbing his arm.

“I’m coming with you,” Abel said.

“No,” Dad said, pushing his hand off. “I just got you back, I’m not letting you go out there. You’re who they want.”

“We just got you back, too,” Abel said.

“Please, stay with your brother. Look after him. I’ll be back with your sister, I promise.”

“At least let me talk to you before you go,” Abel said. He glanced at Wes. “I’ll be right back.”

“And I’ll be back later,” Dad said, ruffling Wes’s hair. “Wait for me.”

Wes said nothing—just gave Dad a brief smile before the two of them left the room. Mr. Haines hovered for another moment, checking the specs on his shotgun, before he tipped his head at Wes. Then he followed the others.

Silence.

Wes stared at the ceiling. Dad was here. He’d been kissing his hair just a few moments ago, in a real proximity that he could hear and see and smell. It had been so long since they’d last seen each other. If only Mom and Evie had been here, it would have been perfect. That, and if they had been back at home instead of here—wherever this was. This unfamiliar gray room with nothing but a bed and an I.V. stand was no place for a proper reunion.

But after the long absence, seeing Dad again, anywhere, was better than nothing. Waiting would be hard with Evie and Dad out there. But he would get her back. He had to.

A faded afterthought drifted through his mind. He remembered the piercing voice he’d heard when he awoke.

Amber Waite.

Was that someone who could help? If so, Wes hoped with his entire soul that she would show up soon.