Page 62 of Dollhouse

“Yeah. I’m ready to fuck this shit up,” he says and starts bouncing on his heels. I slap him on the back and pull out my phone as it vibrates.

“It’s from Ryan,” I say, and everyone pauses to listen.

Inside is a picture, snapped on his phone of a very dead man in combat clothes, a bullet through his forehead.

“Bro, what the fuck? It looks like his dick has been chewed on.” Jesse says, peering over my shoulder.

I scroll to the text.

Courtesy of your girl.They killed him and tried to run. They’ve been moved, already gone. Will send location ASAP. Bo’s been shot, don’t have a status. Camera footage confirms both physically and sexually assaulted, just FYI.

He doesn’t mean for the message to come across callously—it's exactly how we would relay the information on any other mission. We need to know where their heads are so we can handle them appropriately.

It still fucks me up. I need to get to them now.

I look up to see everyone’s eyes on me. “Plan isn’t changing. Head to Alpha house, let Ryan know when you’re ready and he’ll cut the lines. Rush the building. He’s already let the victims know what’s coming so they should be able to stay calm but be prepared for them to be unpredictable. Some terrible shit has happened in that building, and they are going to be deeply traumatized.” I scroll the message again, fixating on the picture of the dead man, unable to look away. “You’ll have the element of surprise, so take out the fifteen or so guards with Ryan’s help, load up the victims into the van that’s leaving immediately, and then we head right to Beta house. Five minute drive tops and repeat. Bundy and Eric are not to be killed. They are to bebrought back here and we will deal with them when both houses are secured and empty, okay? Everyone ready?”

To their credit, nobody hesitates when they nod back at me. These are the best of the best and I’m proud to be fighting with them. Not every person could put themselves in danger to save people they don’t even know. But we will. We always do.

They stand, adjusting the straps on their vests, ready to head to the vans we’ll be using. My dad and Aiden lead them, loading up and organizing the duffel bags filled with weapons. Hopefully most will go unused.

“Son,” he says, turning to me. “Be smart. I can’t tell your mom we’ve lost you. Stay calm and fight well, okay?”

I nod, and he pulls me in for a hug. “Jesse, same to you. Keep your head, no matter what you see or what you hear.”

He’s too dialed in to respond, nodding sharply as he bounces on the balls of his feet and folds his hands behind his head.

Then they’re gone, the house quiet as the red brake lights illuminate the dark woods and disappear down the long path to the road.

“We might as well get our shit in the car so we’re ready as soon as he messages us,” Jesse says. Sitting and waiting for word from Ryan is killing both of us because the stakes aredifferent. If my best isn’t enough—if we don’t execute this perfectly—it’s Emma and Bo who will pay for it.

Fuck, she really did a number on me. A year ago I didn’t think I loved anything, but she’s not the only one who’s changed since I injected myself into her life. Things are different and if I don’t manage to save her today, I don’t know what the fuck I will do.

Ryan’s initial message still sits open on my phone. Fuck knows what all Emma and Bo have been put through, or what state we’ll find them in. There’s no way I can share the update with Jesse or he’ll spiral. Bo’s shot, not dead. It didn’t say dead. I have to hang onto the hope that we’ll get there in time. It’s astruggle formeto keep it together at the thought of losing him—and I’m the notoriously unaffected one of the two of us.

He’s more than Emma’s best friend. He’s just abalance. A part of the messy, imperfect dynamic we’ve forged together.

The house falls still, a quiet pounding in my ears counting the seconds that we wait for news. Foranything. I stare at the clock, knowing we should have their location within the hour. I follow the vans in my head, trying to guess exactly where they’re at, when they’ve arrived, how quickly they should have been able to infiltrate with Ryan’s help. The time it would take to gain control of the guards and load up the trafficked people who were housed there.

It needs to happen smoothly and quickly. Efficiently. Mercy’s men can get it done and with my Dad and Aiden leading them, I hope it’s enough to save all their lives.

But goddamn this fucking clock, the ticking grating at me like even my skin is agitated. Tension is pulled tight in each and every one of my muscles and Jesse’s head rests on the counter as his leg bounces against the stool unendingly.

I’m actually impressed with him; I did think he’d be a lot harder to regulate the last few days, but no. Bo needing him seems to have done that on his own. It was a rare swap of our normal roles for him to fucking tie me to the bed to keep me from doing something reckless.

My phone ringing burns through the silence and I answer the call immediately.

“It’s done. We’re going to Beta house now. Not a single fucking loss on our end, they didn’t expect a thing.” Rowdy whoops sound off in the background, the men clearly amped up from the fight. “Landon truly was the only rat we had. Fuck ‘em,” he spits, disgust in his voice.

I don’t have room for my hatred of Landon right now, that will come at a later time. “Did anyone get a chance to sound the alarm?”

“I don’t think so but whoever watches the camera will notice they were cut and we might have only a few minutes before they show up to fix it. We’re almost at Beta house now, so we should still have the element of surprise.”

“Okay. Let me know when it’s done. Stay safe, Dad.”

He sniffs in acknowledgement. “Ryan’s working on your girl's location now. He’s got someone strung up pretty crazy to interrogate.”

I smile for the first time. “Good.”