for Jackson to convince Day they were soulmates, destiny. He shook his head, his brain rejecting the idea that this was the end for him and Day.
“We do know he’s alive. Whoever has him set up that livestream. They have an agenda, and as fucking disgusting as it is, his stalker showed his hand with those messages he sent each time a video went up. He thinks Day is a virgin, and he’s living out some warped fantasy where he is the winner of Day’s virginity auction, and he wants us all to see his prize. He wants you to see it.”
Jackson’s gaze darted to Linc. He wasn’t saying anything new but hearing the words uttered out loud set off a whole new chain of emotions for Jackson. How had he let it come to this? Day had spent his entire life being used and abused by adults who were supposed to love and protect him, and he’d put his trust in Jackson to finally be the one to take that burden away from him. This was all on Jackson. If some creepy fucking pervert hurt Day… “This is my fault. I should have waited for you or taken him to the office or never agreed to go on his channel. We pushed this freak into making a move early. If he hurts him—”
“Jesus, Jackson. Enough. The only person at fault is this fucking head case who has a hard-on for Day. It has nothing to do with fault or blame. It just is what it is. You aren’t thinking with your head. We need you to be the fucking level-headed leader we all signed on to work for right now. You can fall apart later when Day is back home. No matter what happens with Day or to him, as long as he’s breathing, he has a chance. Do you want to spend valuable time snapping at your team and letting your emotions get the best of you, or do you want to find the man you love?”
Jackson took a deep breath and let it out. Fuck, Linc was right. He wasn’t helping anybody, least of all Day. He was spiraling. He needed to just breathe and think. Somebody in the other room held the solution to their dilemma. They needed to work together to figure out who had Day and why before it was too late.
“You’re right. Thanks, man.”
Linc clapped him on the shoulder before walking to the conference room and waving the others back in.
As soon as they were all gathered, Jackson said, “I’m sorry for the outburst.”
“It’s all good,” Calder said. “We’ve all been there. I did have an idea, though.”
“Me too,” Wyatt said.
“Let’s hear them.”
Calder spoke first. “Do a deep dive into Day’s past. A detailed background check. Maybe something in his history will help us understand what S-e-r might have meant to him. It had to have been important if he was willing to spend his last minutes attempting to text you instead of just hitting 9-1-1.”
Webster started typing. “On it.”
Jackson looked to Wyatt. “What was your idea?”
Wyatt blew out a huge breath and looked at Linc and then Charlie before biting his lip. They both nodded at him. “Day had his information saved on his OnlyFans account. I can easily get in.”
Jackson frowned at the hesitance in Wyatt’s voice. “Why does that sound like a bad thing?”
“I don’t know much about being a creator on OnlyFans. If I sign in, it might knock Day out of his account or alert his kidnapper in some way and spook him, which could make him do something desperate.”
“So, why is it worth the risk?” Jackson asked, keeping his voice neutral so as not to, once again, scare off the people he considered his extended family.
“Because, if it doesn’t boot him offline, I might be able to start his live feed from here, and we might be able to see where he’s being held.” Wyatt swallowed audibly. “We also don’t know what we might see when we turn the camera on…what his kidnapper might be doing to him. I don’t want to upset you.”
Wyatt’s words were like a knife through Jackson’s heart. The idea of flipping on that camera to find Day being raped or abused or…worse…might be more than Jackson could bear, but what was the alternative? But if he turned on the camera and it alerted Day’s attacker and spooked him… No. No. Linc was right. He needed to take Day out of the equation.