Betrayal

Chapter 12

  Ethan and Jolene froze as obnoxious laughter rang through the phone. Jolene closed her eyes for a moment, breathing out a sad and frustrated sigh. She felt like it was her fault, she should have stayed inside with Zoe; she shouldn't have left her alone. If she hadn't gone out to fight Ethan, who wasn't even her enemy, Zoe wouldn't have been captured. She was scared, too. She knew that she had no choice now but to fight back, now that she had a general sense of who she was. She was sure that once she got out of there, within time, she'd remember everything she needed to remember. However, there was always going to be the nagging thoughts, the haunting nightmares, that she wished she could have forgotten.

Now she had to choose: fight her demons, or let Zoe die at the hands of a sadistic maniac.

On the other hand, Ethan looked as if he were going to throw the phone out of the window. He just wanted to finish making the serum, grab his wife, and get the hell out of there. That didn't seem to be happening anytime soon, so he was stuck battling it out with each Baker, and by then it was getting old. He was tired and almost out of ammo... and in no mood to be messed around with, especially by a walking twig that he'd love to snap in half.

Ethan wasn't sure if his violent thoughts were coming from his frustration and exhaustion, or something else; something far worse.

"Hey buddy! I thought ya should know, I decided that Zoe needed a time out!" Lucas practically shouted. Ethan's right hand curled into a fist.

"She and Mia are with me... and they're keepin' each other company." He continued.

"Just let them both go! What do you need them for?" Ethan asked, his voice loud and angry. He gave away a hint of desperation as well, but Jolene assumed he had just reached his breaking point. She looked around in the trailer, trying to look for clues.

The back window was smashed open, and she supposed it had been done when Ethan was shooting at her. All of the glass was on the booth seat near the table and on the floor, glistening in the lamp's dull light. A few magazines were on the ground, and one of the bird cages that were set up on the table was knocked onto the ground. Jolene noticed a small puddle of blood, no larger than a water bottle cap, and realized what had happened.

She walked over to the broken window, the glass crunching and digging into her bare feet, never flinching once as it tore her flesh, and began to track where Lucas had come in. She looked on the ground and saw muddy boot-prints that spanned the rest of the distance between the window and where Jolene presumed Zoe was standing during the fight in long strides... like he was running. The bird cage was opened and on the ground next to one of the first prints, and she quickly realized that Zoe had thrown it at Lucas to throw him off. Then, she noticed the single bullet mark in the wall.

Zoe had a gun, but Jolene didn't see one laying around, which meant Lucas took it with him. Next, she moved toward the magazines that were knocked to the ground, along with the small drops of blood on the table. Jolene figured that he had hit Zoe, possibly smashing her face into the table as a way to incapacitate her, then, she was dragged out the back window where he had entered through.

Jolene dipped her finger in the small puddle of blood and rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger. She wondered if Zoe left a trail.

"That's family business, Ethan, and not yer concern, understand?" Ethan pursed his lips and looked over at Jolene, who was still playing detective.

"Now if ya want the head, come on by an' I'll give it to ya! But only if ya participate in ah-uh, little activity I put together-just for you."

"What activity?"