Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
They raced down the freeway. Normally, the trip from West Oaks to Los Angeles was over an hour, but at this time of night traffic flowed smoothly. Sylvie knew Tanner was keeping a close eye on the vehicles around them, watching for any signs they were being tailed.
She leaned forward in her seat. “Everything look good out there?”
Tanner nodded. “So far.”
She checked her phone. The Bennett Security office was full of people right now because of this operation. She’d asked Priyanka to keep her apprised of any data coming in from the Russian hackers. But Priyanka’s last update, from just a few minutes ago, said she hadn’t seen anything yet.
Sylvie cursed under her breath. There should’ve been something by now. It was daytime in Russia. The black-hat hackers would be active.
“You all right?” Dominic’s shoulder leaned into hers.
She exhaled, forcing a smile. “Of course. Everything’s going to be fine.”
About twenty minutes into the drive, they got word that Maureen had arrived at the West Oaks safe house. “You should call Raymond and let him know we’re on our way.”
Dominic took out his burner phone. He’d left the other back at the house. He punched a button and lifted the phone to his ear. Sylvie heard it ringing.
But Raymond didn’t answer.
A crease appeared between Dominic’s eyebrows.
“I’m sure he’s just getting ready,” Sylvie said. “None of us had much time.”
Dominic nodded, though his frown remained.
“You should try to sleep. I can wake you when we get to your brother’s dorm.
He smirked. “How about you rest, and I’ll wake you when we arrive.”
They both knew that nobody was going to be sleeping on this car ride. So she snuggled against him instead, enjoying these last few minutes of being together.
“When we get to the safe house with Raymond, you won’t be able to stay,” Dominic whispered. “Will you?”
“Maybe for an hour or two, but that’s probably it. When we get there, Tanner and the other bodyguards will be in charge. It won’t be so easy for me to boss them around.”
“Too bad. I enjoyed that.”
The safe house was about ten miles from Raymond’s West Los Angeles campus, according to the Google maps search she’d run earlier. The distance wouldn’t take too long to cover at this time of night. During peak L.A. traffic, it could’ve taken an hour just to make that small piece of the trip.
From there, the Bennett Security bodyguards would take over, and Tanner or Rex—the man driving them right now—would take Sylvie back to headquarters.
She had no idea when she’d be able to see Dominic again, or even speak to him.
Sylvie hoped the security measures wouldn’t be that drastic.
But it all depended on what the Syndicate decided to do next.
“Where will you go afterward?” he asked.
“I’ll be somewhere safe. Don’t worry about that.”
She had the feeling Max and Tanner would insist she not go home for a while just in case Charles Traynor decided to send someone after her.
She wasn’t looking forward to it. Max had an apartment on the third floor of their headquarters building, and he’d recently moved out of it to get a new place with Lana.
Max would probably tell Sylvie to hole up there. At least she’d be close to work.
She didn’t want to discuss the topic with Dominic, though. He needed to focus on himself right now, not on her.
They pulled up outside Raymond’s dorm just after four. The building was a large rectangular brick structure. A few students wandered the sidewalks, obviously on the way home from parties.
Tanner unbuckled his seatbelt. “Have you reached Raymond yet?”
Dominic was trying his brother again. “He’s not answering. This isn’t right.”
“Tanner, what about our surveillance on Raymond?” Sylvie asked.
“We pulled them, just like the kid wanted.” Tanner sent an accusatory glance back at her. “Starting to wonder about that.”
So was she, though she didn’t want to say it aloud.
Dominic unbuckled his restraint and reached for the door.
Sylvie grabbed his arm. “Wait, you can’t go. That’s not the plan. Raymond’s supposed to meet us out here.”
“But if he doesn’t come out, then we need to go in.” Dominic got out of the car.
She met Tanner’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
“I figured you both would get pissed if I activated the child locks. I’ll go with him.”
“Then so will I. Rex can wait here for us.”
“Sure,” Tanner said breezily. “Why don’t we stop by a frat party, chug a few beers while we’re at it? Fuck.” He tugged on a windbreaker, clearly meant to hide the gun in his shoulder holster.
They hurried after Dominic, who had already charged up to the building’s entrance.
The door was locked, but a couple of girls had just gotten out of an Uber and were tottering toward the door, their keys in hand.
Their eyes widened when they saw Dominic.
Sylvie didn’t know if they were afraid of him or stunned by his attractiveness. But it didn’t really matter.
She stepped forward. “We were just heading in. Can I help you with that?”
The girls gave Sylvie their keys. She unlocked the door and handed them back. She had half a mind to follow them to make sure they got back to their room safely, but Dominic was already running down the hall.
He stopped at a door. “This is it. Raymond’s in room 104.” His knuckles rapped on the wood.
“Does he have a roommate?” Tanner asked.
“It’s a single.” Dominic knocked again, louder. Then he tried the door, but it was locked. Sylvie could feel his panic. He was running his hands through his hair, cursing. “This can’t be happening. Where is he?”
A couple of people opened other doors, peering out.
“Anyone know Raymond Crane?” Tanner asked. “He could be in trouble. We’re trying to help.”
Raymond’s neighbors said they knew him, but they had no idea where he was. Then a shirtless guy stepped out of the room across the hall and said, “I saw him earlier, leaving with a bag. He said he was taking a few days to go see his family.”
Dominic practically pounced on the man. “When was this?”
“Um, midnight maybe?”
After they had the phone call with Raymond. But why would he have left so early? That was hours ago.
Tanner thanked them, and the students went back into their rooms. “Wherever Raymond is, he’s not here. We need to go. We could be blown.”
Dominic was pacing frantically across the hall. “I’m not going without him. There’s been a mistake. He wouldn’t have just left.”
He raised his phone to his ear again, probably trying Raymond’s number. He turned around and paced away from them, muttering to himself.
A terrible thought had just occurred to Sylvie. Priyanka hadn’t detected any data coming in from the Russian hackers’ system. Did that mean they already knew what she and Dominic had tried to do?
Had they gone after Raymond?
But then why would Raymond have left on his own?
Tanner pulled Sylvie aside. “This situation could get very bad very fast. We need to get him out of here. If those Syndicate people show up, we could be putting every kid in this building in danger.”
“Okay, but then what? We have to do something.”
“Yeah, we’ll call the police on the way. But we’re not doing anything else until after Dominic’s in the safe house. This is more than we can handle right now. The best we can do is get him secured so this doesn’t explode in our faces. Then we’ll see to his brother.”
Dominic turned around. He’d dropped his phone to his side, looking deathly pale.
“Did you reach him?” Sylvie asked.
Dominic shook his head, his mouth a thin line.
Tanner walked over and put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. But Dominic shook him off. “I am not getting back in that car. I’m not leaving without my brother.” He took off down the hall, but he wasn’t going back toward the entrance they’d come in.
She chased after him. “Where are you going? Tanner is right. We need to get out of here.”
“You don’t understand.”
“Nic, wait.” She tried to grab his hand. He yanked himself out of her grip, whirling around.
“What are you going to do, have Tanner grab me and carry me back to the SUV? He’s welcome to try. I am not leaving here until I know what happened to Raymond. He’s the one person I was always supposed to protect, and I… He…” Dominic’s hands were shaking.
“We’ll figure out where Raymond is, and we’ll help him. But you can’t do that if the Syndicate grabs you, too.”
“I don’t care what they do to me!” Dominic’s eyes locked with hers. “There’s no point in hurting my brother, except to get to me. It’s me they really want.”
The realization washed over her. Terror followed.
He was going to trade himself for Raymond.
“Don’t do this, Nic. Please.”
“I’m sorry, Sylvie. You’ll have to shoot me if you want to stop me.”
Dominic had reached the rear exit door at the very end of the hall. “Don’t follow me,” he said over his shoulder. “Unless you want to give me a weapon, Tanner? Like a dumbass I left all of my guns at home, like you told me to.”
“Am I arming the fugitive? No thanks. I’m not doing the paperwork on that one.”
“I didn’t think so. Don’t come after me, Sylvie. Please.”
Dominic pushed the door and went outside. Where, for all they knew, the Syndicate could already be waiting.
“Shit,” she yelled.
Tanner’s large palm rested on her arm. “Let him go. If he doesn’t want to come in, he’s right.
I’m not going to make him. It’s not going to be pretty when the district attorney finds out we helped him skip his bail.
We’re going to have a shit ton to answer for.
But if he’s running, it’s his choice. We’ll just have to let the police handle it. ”
“No. I’m not letting him.” Sylvie ran after him.
“Damn it all.” Tanner kept up behind her, talking into his phone to their driver, Rex. “Yeah, the other side. Bring the car around. No, I don’t fucking know what’s going on. Call the police to report a possible kidnapping. Be careful and be ready. Yeah. That’s what I’m afraid of, too.”
Please let them be okay, Sylvie thought. Both Raymond and Dominic.
Tanner dashed ahead of her, barring her path with his arm. “You know, believe it or not, being a bodyguard is usually pretty damn boring. So at least this assignment has been interesting.”
He pulled out his backup weapon, handing it to her. She checked the magazine. Fully loaded with .38 rounds.
“I’ll go first,” Tanner said. “Stay behind me, and if I tell you to run Sylvie, you’d better fucking run.”