[Georgia 03] Fallen

So was Ginger.
    He snatched the weapon back. “Agent Mitchell, that was not cool.”
    His words filled her with anger. “Not cool?” She thumped her open palm against his chest. “Not cool?”
    “Agent.” His tone of voice implied she was acting hysterical, which only served to amp up her fury another notch.
    “How about letting my son walk out the door when you were assigned to watch him? Was that not cool, too?” She pushed him again. “How about you and your partner standing around holding your dicks while my boy is gone?” Another push. “Is that cool?”
    Ginger held up his hands in surrender.
    “Faith,” Zeke said. She hadn’t noticed her brother standing there, maybe because for once he wasn’t making things worse. “Let’s just go back to the house.”
    She held out her hand to Jeremy, palm up. “iPhone.”
    He looked appalled. “What?”
    “Now,” she ordered.
    “That’s got all my games on it.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “What am I supposed to do?”
    “Read a book!” she screamed, her voice screeching. “Just stay offline. Do you hear me? No Internet!”
    “Jesus.” He glanced around for support, but Faith didn’t care if God Himself came down and told her to give the kid a break.
    She said, “I’ll tie you to my waist with a rope if I have to.”
    He knew she wasn’t bluffing; she’d done it before. “This isn’t fair.” He slapped the phone in her hand. She would’ve thrown it to the ground and crushed it with her foot if the damn thing hadn’t cost so much.
    “No Internet,” Faith repeated. “No phone calls. No communication of any kind, and you stay in the fucking house. Do you hear me?” He walked toward the house, giving her his back. Faith wasn’t going to let him off that easy. “Do you hear me?”
    “I heard you!” he yelled. “God!”
    Ginger shoved his gun back into the holster, adjusting the straps like a haughty cheerleader. He followed Jeremy down the street. Faith limped along after them. Her feet were bruised from the rocky asphalt. Zeke fell in beside her. His shoulder brushed against hers. Faith braced herself for some kind of tirade, but he was mercifully silent as they walked up the driveway and entered the house.
    Faith threw Jeremy’s iPhone onto the kitchen table. No wonder he wanted to leave. The space was beginning to feel like a prison. She leaned heavily against the chair. What had she been thinking? How could any of them be safe here? Evelyn’s kidnappers knew the layout of the house. They had obviously targeted Jeremy. Anyone could’ve been in that car. They could’ve rolled down the window, pointed a gun at Jeremy’s head, and pulled the trigger. He could’ve bled out in the middle of the street and Faith wouldn’t have known until his stupid Facebook page loaded that something was wrong.
    “Faith?” Zeke was standing in the middle of the kitchen. His tone indicated this wasn’t the first time he’d said her name. “What’s wrong with you?”
    Faith crossed her arms low on her stomach. “Where have you been staying? You weren’t sleeping at Mom’s. I would’ve seen your stuff.”
    “Dobbins.” She should’ve known. Zeke had always loved the soulless anonymity of base housing, even if Dobbins Air Reserve was an hour drive from the VA hospital where he was doing his inservice.
    “I need you to do me a favor.”
    He was instantly skeptical. “What?”
    “I want you to take Jeremy and Emma back to the base with you. Today. Right now.” The Atlanta police couldn’t protect her family, but the United States Air Force could. “I don’t know how long it’ll be for. I just need you to keep them on the base. Don’t let them off until I tell you.”
    “Why?”
    “Because I need to know that they’re safe.”
    “Safe from what? What are you planning?”
    Faith checked the backyard to make sure the detectives weren’t listening. Ginger stared at her, his jaw rigid. She turned her back to him. “I need you to trust me.”
    Zeke snorted a laugh. “Why would I start doing that?”
    “Because I know what I’m doing, Zeke. I’m a police officer. I was trained to do this kind of thing.”
    “What kind of thing? Run into the street barefooted like you’re escaping from the loony bin?”
    “I’m going to get Mom back, Zeke. I don’t care if it kills me. I’m going to get her back.”
    “You and what army?” he scoffed. “You gonna call in Aunt Mandy and go smear lipstick all over them?”
    She punched