Chapter Twenty-Five
Tristan
“I feel like we’re at a standstill,” I say to Massimo.
I’m on the phone in my room. It’s been the longest day ever.
I’ve avoided Isabella because I needed time and space to think without emotions driving me insane.
Massimo sighs and there’s a moment of silence.
“I know. It’s a fucking shame because we’ve managed to cover ourselves extremely well. We’re fortunate the general consensus amongst Mortimer’s men is still that Isabella escaped and Sacha got away. We’ve never had such an opening to strike on a powerful enemy as we have now. Tristan, we’ve managed to fool him.”
“I know brother, I know.”
“Mortimer isn’t preparing for an attack from us. He’s preparing to get his daughter back and punish the guard who allowed her to escape. We need to know where the man is soon, or it really will mean war and I can’t keep everyone safe.” He sounds drained out. “Tristan, I gotta ask… you believe her? Isabella? It’s bold to take such a risk. How can you trust her?”
I don’t think I could explain it to him the way I’ve reasoned it with myself.
“I just do. Can you trust that I do? Can you trust me?” It’s a double-edged question. I want to know if he can still trust me and I want to know if he can trust my judgment in this situation.
“You know I do,” he answers effortlessly and relief washes over my body in waves. “I just want to know that we’re doing the right thing. But, Tristan, what the hell now? The clock’s ticking and I’m at a loss. Other than moving to plan B, I can’t think of anything else.”
We accepted we might have to be mentally prepared for plan B from the start. I should agree and we jump on ahead. I just think we’ve come so far with the opportunity we have to waste it. I don’t want to screw with that if there is something else we can do.
I don’t know if Isabella might be able to think about something more. Maybe something she never thought of before. I tend to think though that if there was anything, she would have told me by now.
“Let me think about it for a few more days,” I impart. “Don’t think about plan B just yet. Our silence in this mission has been for our benefit. A few more days isn’t going to hurt us, especially if we move to plan B. We still have that time of reprieve while they think she’s escaped. Let’s use it to our advantage.”
“All right. We’ll take the time to think and put our heads together. I guess having Isabella is still a big advantage.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “She is.”
“Where’s Dominic? I messaged him earlier and he didn’t respond.”
Damn it… I don’t want to tell him about Dominic yet. Not when he so worried about everything else. But I have to tell him something. The point of having someone’s trust is making sure you maintain it. So, I can’t lie to him now or sidestep the problem.
“There’s something going on with Dominic, Massimo. I can’t be sure yet, but I’ll find out.”
“What do you mean? What’s happening to him?”
“I need you to trust me with this too. I just … need you to let me handle it.” It’s a big thing to ask a man who likes to think he has the power to protect everyone.
“Tristan, you have to give me something. I’m all the way across the sea I can’t just drive up and see you guys.”
“I think he’s taking something,” I confess.
“Fuck… what is he taking?”
I want to say heroin because that’s what I figured it had to be, but I hold off on telling him that. I don’t know it as truth yet and I don’t want to speculate and assume anything until I have facts. I respect Dominic enough not to do that.
“I’m not sure. I don’t know what it is yet, but he’s taking something. I’ll keep tabs on him.”
“Jesus Christ, I don’t believe this. It’s the pressure and the shit. I should fly over.”
“No,” I say quickly. “Let me handle it. You should stay there. When you go people will start to suspect something. I’ll figure something out.” It’s the same thing I told Candace.
“Okay… call me at the first sign of trouble.”