ReBoot (MAC Security 4)

“Her face is a mess,” he says, shaking his head. “Her arm is broken, she has head injuries and bruises cover most of her body.”

We all stay quiet as we take in all of the information and then Dad explodes. “Where the hell were the guards? How can they let something like this happen?” He spins around, facing us all. “We’re not letting this go. Luke, go back and get your team on it, West and Seb.” He raises a brow. “Do whatever it is that you do.” He then turns to Livvy. “And, Liv, we need to start some kind of…” He turns to Pop. “Motion? Is that what it’s called?”

“Yeah,” Pop answers, a small smile on his face.

“Good.” He nods and turns back to face Livvy. “We need to make some kind of motion about them entering your house. We’ll get her out of there, we all will.”

Dad finally turns to face me, his eyes connecting with mine as he steps forward. “Go home, son. There’s nothing el

se you can do here.”

“To hell with that!” I shout, backing away from them all. “I need to see her.”

“They won’t let you,” Pop tells me. “Only her lawyer and emergency contact can. Which means me... and her uncle.”

“She has an uncle?” Livvy asks, her voice almost a gasp.

“Yeah,” I grind out. “An evil one at that.”

“The one that was here earlier?” Dad asks.

I lock my jaw, the muscle ticking. “Yeah… he’s the one that put her away in the first place.”

“I don’t understand,” Livvy says.

I look over at her, my eyes connecting with hers as I try to portray that I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have blown up like that. It was uncalled for, but my head’s a mess and I can barely think straight right now.

I step toward her, taking her hand in mine and squeezing it gently. “He was the D. A. that put her away. Instead of helping her, he tried her as an adult.”

She gasps and I turn to face Pop, having a silent conversation with him. His eyes burn with fire and I know that he won’t let that happen this time, he’ll do anything in his power to help her.

I let my head drop, feeling my body slump. I want to be here, I want to see her, but I need to be helping everyone get her out of there for good.

Mind made up, I push my shoulders back, walking forward and saying, “You make sure you call me every hour to let me know how she’s doing.”

“I will, son,” Pop answers, placing his hand on my shoulder and giving it a light squeeze. “I won’t be going anywhere.”

I watch him for a beat, seeing the truth in his eyes before I tilt my head in acknowledgment and walk out of there, determined to get her out of that death trap as quickly as I can.

The first thing I notice is that my throat is dry. And when I say dry, I mean Sahara Desert, feels like I’m swallowing glass, kind of dry. I keep my eyes closed, taking stock of everything as I move my fingers on my one hand. Relief flows through me at the movement, but when I try the other hand, pain shoots through my arm and I groan.

“It’s okay, Lexi.”

The deep baritone of the male's voice has me on edge before the fog lifts, then I’m calming as I realize that it’s Cal. Confusion washes over me in waves as I try to figure out where I am and what’s going on. Then like the tide, it washes in without any warning and I remember what happened.

Punching.

Kicking.

The sound of my bone as it cracked.

The pain.

Drifting.

Their faces.

The smell of the prison.