Signs of Love (19 page)

Justin numbly followed Trent down the hallway to the stairs that led them out to the parking lot. He wanted to take his truck but figured he was in no shape to drive without endangering other drivers on the road in his haste to get to Alana and Caden. It took everything in him to not urge Trent to go faster. He knew they weren't likely to still be at the apartment building, but it was the best place to start until Beth let him know if Daniel was able to get more information.

"I know it's easy to assume the worst," Trent said, "but let's trust that God's kept His hand of protection on them."

Justin longed to take comfort in Trent's words—he really did—but he knew better than most people that sometimes God removed that hand of protection and allowed the worst to happen. He'd lived this once already. He didn't want it to be God's will that He take either of them this time around. Justin wanted both of them to be alive so they could be in his life for years to come.

He had known the Jensen duo had managed to work their way past his defenses, but Justin hadn't realized just how far they'd gotten into his heart until faced with the very real possibility that he might have lost one of them.

Leaning his head back against the headrest, Justin closed his eyes and tried to focus on his breathing. Before he came face to face with whatever lay ahead, he had to pull himself back together. They—both of them—would need him to be strong.

If Alana would allow him to help them.

Something told him that Caden would be fine with him showing up. Alana...he had no idea. But that was really too bad if she didn't want him there. He didn't just want to help them, he needed to. The same protectiveness he had for Beth and Genevieve now extended to Alana and Caden in a way he'd never thought it would.

Hearing Trent's phone ring, Justin opened his eyes and straightened in his seat. Thankfully, the man put the call through his vehicle's hands-free so Justin could hear both sides of the conversation.

"Are you there yet?" Trent said by way of greeting.

"Just pulled up." Than's voice filled the interior of the vehicle.

"What does it look like?" Justin asked, not entirely sure he wanted to hear the answer even though he'd see it for himself shortly.

"Looks pretty bad, man. Sorry to say." Than cleared his throat. "There are still some official vehicles here. Do you want me to ask them about Alana and Caden, Justin?"

Justin blew out a breath. Was it better to hear it before or after he got there? "Wait for me."

"Will do," Than responded quickly.

Trent shot him a look as they came to a stop at a red light. "You sure you want him to wait?"

"Yes." Justin wasn't sure why, but he suspected it had to do with living with the unknown for just a little while longer in case the news was the worst. Hope was a crazy thing. He was braced for the worst, but there was still a spark of hope that until someone told him differently both of them would be safe and sound somewhere.

"We're almost there, Than," Trent said.

"I'll be waiting." The call ended abruptly.

Justin let out a long breath and closed his eyes again. He prayed for God to give him strength. If there was only one of them left, he was going to need strength to comfort them.

But please, God, let them both be safe. I can't imagine my life without them.

He opened his eyes as the vehicle slowed, and they came to a stop behind Than's truck. They'd barely stopped when Than got out and walked toward them. Justin released his seatbelt and pushed the door open. By the time he got around to where Trent and Than stood, they were already talking.

Than's gaze met his and the usually light-hearted expression on the man's face was missing. He laid his hand on Justin's shoulder. "Praying we get some good news here, man."

Justin nodded and then made his way across the street toward the burnt-out apartment building. Than and Trent flanked him as they approached a group of people on the sidewalk. Justin figured they probably made quite the trio. Him in his T-shirt and jeans, Trent in his rumpled clothes from the previous day and Than decked out in his business suit.

"Excuse me," Justin addressed the group. "Can I speak to whoever is in charge?"

A man wearing a suit separated himself from the group and approached them. "I'm Dave Saunders. I'm in charge of the investigation into the fire. How can I help you?"

"My friend and her son lived in the building. We heard that one person passed away. Can you tell me if they're okay?"

The man stared at him. "We're not releasing the name of the deceased at this time."

Justin's hands curled into fists. Surely the man wouldn't be that cruel. He felt a hand on his shoulder and then Than stepped forward.

"We understand that completely. All we'd like to know is that our friend and her son are okay. Can you at least tell us that much? We are desperate for information on them. We assume she lost her cell phone in the fire because we can't get in contact with her."

Than's gift was dealing with people, and he was working it. Justin's gift, on the other hand, was using his strength and it was taking everything in him—and Than's tight grip on his shoulder—to not try to pound the information out of the man.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The man's gaze went from Than to Justin to Trent and then back to Than. "The deceased was an adult male."

Justin's legs buckled as relief crashed over him. Trent and Than each grabbed an arm and held him upright.

"Thank you so much," Than said to the man. "And I hate to impose on you more but is there any chance you could tell us where the people who were displaced by the fire were taken?"

“Some were taken to the hospital, others went to a motel, but I’m not sure who went where.” When the man rattled off the name of an organization, Trent released Justin and reached for his phone. “You could start with them. They should be able to let you know for sure who's at the motel.”

"Thank you for your help. We appreciate it very much," Than said as the man turned to walk away. He looked at Justin. "You okay, man?"

"I am now. I need to find them, though." He shoved his hand through his hair. "They've lost everything."

"I'm with you. Trent's going to head back to the compound, but I'm going to go with you."

Justin looked at the man. "Thank you."

Than gave a quick nod. "That's what friends do."

Friends.
Yeah, he was coming to see that the guys he'd put in the co-worker category really were friends. He just hadn't acknowledged it.

Trent kept talking on his phone as they walked back to where they were parked. "Yes, we're trying to locate Alana Jensen and her son, Caden. They were residents of the apartment building that burned earlier today."

They stood between the two vehicles waiting for Trent to finish his call and hopefully give him the information he needed to find Alana and Caden. Justin shoved his hands into his pockets, wincing slightly at the burn as the muscles of his upper arm pulled. And he was suddenly feeling strangely naked as he realized he hadn't strapped on any of his weapons before leaving the apartment. Probably just as well. Given how on edge he'd been, he might just have pulled a weapon to get information if someone had tried to prevent him from finding out what had happened to Alana and Caden.

His phone beeped, and he pulled it from the holder on his belt. He saw it was a text from Trent that contained a name and address.

Trent lowered his phone. "That's the motel where they took the apartment's residents. The person I talked to didn't have names, but she said we should be able to find them there."

Than took Justin's phone and looked at the address before walking toward the driver's door of his truck.

Trent pulled open the door to his vehicle. "I'm going to swing by my place and then head back to the compound to work with Eric."

"Sorry to have bailed on you. I hope Marcus understands."

"He will. I'll call you if I need more information. Just concentrate on doing what Alana and Caden need."

"Thank you."

Trent reached out to clap him on the arm but then froze, clearly remembering that was the arm with the wound. "You're welcome."

As Trent climbed into his car, Justin went to the passenger side of Than's truck and pulled himself up onto the seat. Than was focused on the navigation system and glanced over as Justin joined him.

"It's not too far from here. Should be there in less than ten minutes."

Justin stared out the window, noting that the area was not improving much as they drove. He hoped he could convince her to leave with him. She had other options than a motel in a run-down neighborhood.

His sister's ringtone pulled his attention back inside the vehicle. Realizing he should have called her as soon as they had news about Alana and Caden, Justin tapped the screen to accept the call.

"Justin, I haven't been able to get through to Daniel. He's in a meeting."

"It's okay, Beth. We think we've found them. We're on our way now to where they said the residents of the apartment block were taken."

"So she and Caden are okay?"

"As far as we know. The one person who was killed in the fire was an adult male, so at least we know it wasn't either of them."

"Will you call me again once you've talked to her?" Beth asked.

Justin agreed to let her know what was going on once they connected with Alana.

"And if they need a place to stay, you know we have plenty of room."

"I'll let her know that." Justin had a feeling it was going to be a fight to get Alana to accept any sort of help, but he would play dirty if he had to in order to get her to agree to leave with him and Than.

Than pulled into the parking lot of a two-story motel that looked as if it had seen better days. The only good thing, Justin supposed, was that the likelihood of the manager giving up Alana's room number in exchange for a bill or two was fairly high. Any reputable place wouldn't have given out that information, but this place looked to be a step or two below that. They got out of the truck and headed for the front office.

"You shoulda left the suit coat in the truck, man. You're a little overdressed for the neighborhood." Justin said as they approached the grungy glass door with "OFFICE" stenciled on it.

Than reached out and grabbed the door handle and jerked it open. "No can do, man. Unlike you, I'm carrying."

Justin almost chuckled at that. Definitely a reversal of positions, that was for sure. "I kind of left the apartment in a rush."

"And apparently you didn't get the memo. Alex sent the word out that we're all to be armed now."

"I hadn't heard that," Justin said as his gaze moved over to the man sitting behind the counter. What had this organization been thinking putting Alana and the other apartment residents in a place like this? "I'm looking for Alana Jensen. She was one of the people brought here after their apartment building burned down. Can you tell me what room she's in?"

The man regarded him for a moment. "We're not permitted to give out that information."

Before Justin could say anything more, Than jabbed him in the ribs. He turned to see Than facing the door they'd just come in. "Isn't that them?"

Justin's breath caught as he got a glimpse of two familiar figures making their way along the walkway of the upper floor. Without another word to the man behind the desk, Justin pushed the office door open and headed for the stairs leading to the second floor, his gaze still tight on the duo.

He had almost reached the staircase when Caden's gaze landed on him. For an instant, the boy froze and then took off running. Justin heard Alana's shout for Caden even though the boy couldn’t hear it. He'd just stepped on the bottom step when the little guy came flying down the stairs and launched himself at Justin.

Without hesitation, Justin opened his arms and pulled the boy close. Like he had the night of the family event at the compound, Caden buried his head into his shoulder but this time his grip on Justin's shoulders was tighter. Almost as if he was determined to never let him go.

Justin slid one arm under the boy's thighs and used the other to rub his back. The scent of smoke still clung to him, and Justin had to swallow hard at the thought of how close he'd come to losing them.

"Justin?" Alana's voice drew his attention from Caden. She stood a couple of steps up which brought them to eye level. He ran his gaze over her to make sure she was okay.

She wore a large T-shirt that came to mid-thigh with sleeves that reached just to her elbows. When she tugged at one of the sleeves, Justin knew she was trying to hide the scars she'd showed him that day in the restaurant. Her legs were encased in black leggings, and her feet were bare. That she was out of their room in an outfit that he was pretty sure she'd never wear in public just brought home to him the fact that they had lost absolutely everything.

Pulling back a bit from Caden, he glanced over at Than. The man nodded and approached them. He tapped Caden on the shoulder and when the little boy looked up, Than signed something to him. Caden hesitated for a moment before he loosened his grip around Justin's neck and let himself be lowered to the ground.

Than reached out and gave the boy a quick hug before signing to him again. Satisfied that Than would take care of Caden, Justin turned his attention to the woman still standing on the stairs, watching them with wary eyes.

Justin stepped on the first step, bringing them closer and once again putting him above her. She looked up at him for a moment then dropped her gaze to Caden and Than.

"How did you find us?"

Justin wanted to pull her into his arms to assure himself she really was okay, but he had a feeling she'd resist that. "We went by the apartment and they told us which organization had provided a place for you to stay. Trent phoned them and found out that they'd brought you here."

Her brows drew together. "But how did you know about the fire? That it was our building?"

"Uh...I knew your address and recognized it when we heard it on the news."

Alana crossed her arms, a keycard clutched in one hand. "I guess you got that from the background check."

"Actually, no. I asked Caden and he gave it to me."

One of her eyebrows lifted at that revelation, and she glanced over at her son again then murmured, "I think he'd tell you pretty much anything you wanted to know."

Justin couldn't find it in himself to feel bad about pumping Caden for information. If he hadn't, they might never have known what had happened to them. “Are you guys okay? Were you hurt at all?”

She shook her head. “They checked us out at the scene because they were worried about smoke inhalation. They gave us both some oxygen but then let us go once they determined we were okay.”

Relief flowed through him. He’d been so focused on them being alive, Justin hadn’t really thought about what other injuries they may have sustained as a result of the fire. He was glad that it appeared that at least physically, they were okay. "Can we go to your room to talk for a few minutes?"

Alana hesitated, biting her lower lip for a moment before she nodded. She turned and moved away from him quickly. He glanced over at Than as he started up the stairs behind her. Than took Caden's hand and followed them.

~*~*~

Acutely aware of what she was wearing, Alana tried to get to the top of the stairs before Justin got too close. They'd been on their way to try to find some coins to use the vending machines to get something to eat and drink. She wasn't thrilled for them to be walking around barefoot, but she'd had no choice.

The room seemed to shrink as Justin and Than stepped inside. She noticed they both looked around, but neither of them made a comment. Meanwhile, she was just trying to keep her emotions in check. When she'd first spotted Caden in Justin's arms, the tumult of emotions that went through her had robbed her of breath.

"I'm just going to step outside for a minute," Than said as Caden settled onto the bed in front of the television. "I need to make a couple of phone calls."

Justin nodded at the man before turning his attention back to her. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and Alana realized he was unarmed. She also spotted what looked like white gauze peeking out from under the edge of one sleeve of his T-shirt.

"What happened?" Justin asked. "Do you know how the fire started?"

Alana rubbed her forehead. "One of the tenants had a habit of smoking while inebriated. From what I heard, it sounded like it started in his apartment. I woke up when the smoke alarm in our apartment went off." She bit her lip. "I had bought that alarm myself. I hate to think what might have happened if I hadn't."

Justin's arms dropped to his sides, his hands curling into fists, but he didn't say anything.

"I grabbed Caden and went to the door, but there was too much smoke. It was too hot." Her heart thudded at the memory, and she found the fear of that moment rushing back. She pressed both her hands over her mouth for a moment then tucked them under her chin. "I went back to the window in Caden's room and tried to open it. Break the glass. I couldn't do it."

"Alana..." Justin's voice was low and soothing.

He reached out and took her arm. Slowly—as if giving her an opportunity to stop him—he drew her toward him then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. Her arms were trapped between them as she dipped her head to rest it on his chest. Alana drew on the strength of his embrace, willing herself not to cry. She couldn't remember the last time—if ever—that someone had held her like that.