Chapter 23
Raven just got off the phone with Nan. Difficult didn’t even begin to describe that conversation. River grasped her hand and squeezed. Tears shone against her sister’s red-rimmed eyes. She and Bran and River and Patrick had been absolutely paralyzed with fear. They hadn’t slept, all of them sitting in Raven’s living room, holding their phones—waiting for a miracle. They hadn’t gotten one.
Around three that morning, Hugh had given them a rundown of what intelligence had been gathered so far. Raven almost fainted when he told them that forensics had found hair matching Rowan’s and William Stanton’s ex-wife, Katy, in the trunk of the car. The kidnapper changed vehicles, and the police were working on what they were being transported in now.
She and River hadn’t been able to speak, shock freezing their tongues. She looked at her husband, her eyes pleading for him to do something, anything, which was wholly unfair, but Raven was long past caring about fair.
Her sister was gone, and she wanted her back!
“I called our pilot, Bobby, Rave,” Bran cupped her face in his palms, forcing her to look at him. “We’ll go to Oklahoma and not leave until we have Row back. I promise, baby.”
Raven twisted her head to kiss his palm before she looked at her sister. “River?”
“We’re coming. Right, Pat?” She turned pleading eyes to her own husband.
River was almost seven months along and Raven knew Patrick would prefer to keep her from flying especially when she was so distraught. He also knew keeping her from going would place even more stress on his wife’s shoulders. So, he agreed. “Of course.”
Raven looked at Bre, her assistant, and Daniel’s part-time nanny and asked if she would come with them.
“Of course. I’ll run home and pack now.” Organized as ever, Bre told Raven to “Go ahead and pack your bag. As soon as I get back, I’ll help you pack Daniel’s things. I’ll bring the travel crib from my house,” and with that, Bre flew out the door.
Raven looked back to River. “Would you email Dom now so he’ll know what’s happening first thing in the morning? Tell him to cancel our calendar for the foreseeable future. He’ll know which clients want to meet Josh for his metalwork sculptures, and those appointments can stay. Tell him we won’t be coming back without Rowan.”
There wasn’t a business manager in the world that could top Dom’s skill. Raven and River wouldn’t have to spare Triskelion a thought, which was a blessing since there wasn’t a thought left that wasn’t focused on Rowan.
“I’ll text Jo that we’ll call her once we land in Oklahoma. I hope she takes our advice to stay and finish the Zurich job with her mom. Maybe by then, we’ll be back in Ireland with Rowan, and she can come straight here,” Raven finished, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. Jo was frantic, and she loved her friend for it, but there was no reason not to finish her current job. Jo admitted they’d be done in two days.
“When I spoke with MacGregor, he told me that he is working closely with his team on deep diving into BlackOut’s IT infrastructure. He said if there were links to be found between the company and the kidnapper, they should know in the next twelve to twenty-four hours. Since he is currently in Scotland, I asked him if he would make sure Jo knew everything we know in case the time difference screws us once we’re in Oklahoma,” Patrick explained.
“I’m sure that wasn’t a problem. He probably talks to Jo constantly,” Bran said as he scooped Daniel out of Raven’s lap and grasped her hand to pull her up.
“Turns out, it was a problem,” Pat raised his brows, clearly still surprised. “He said he and Jo were currently not in touch.”
River started to cry. Hormones.
“No worries, Riv. Once we have our sister back, we’ll find out what the hell Thomas did to hurt Jo. Now, dry your eyes, Riv, and go pack. Hugh will get Rowan back.”