Loading a resource file from external plugin dll

Hey all, currently I use a function loadFreeImage in a c++ based external dll to load a file (black and white texture image used for a haptic surface).

Image *img = loadFreeImage( HAPTEXTURESLOC + imageName + HAPTEXTUREEXTENSION );

So in the editor build I can do something like: loadFreeImage("Assets/Textures/Haptic_Tex/Test.tga");

My question is:
In a stand-alone PC build, can I load this same file without manually including the assets folder? I understand the use of Application.persistantDataPath which gets me to a directory like C:/Dev/DW_Projects/HapNan/HapNan_UnityProject/Builds/PathTest_Data (the location of the build). Then I get confused about doing something like a Resources.load or something similar in c++ to pull the file out of the datapath, is it baked into the resources somehow?