3. GRAYSON
3
GRAYSON
SIX MINUTES PRIOR
The night sky flashed silver, and another bolt of lightning tore through the darkness as the sudden onset of rain pounded the asphalt in angry sheets. All I could see was the blurry glow of taillights snaking off ahead. Somewhere out there on these slick roads, a van carried Ivy further away with each passing minute.
Waiting for Hunter to show up after I’d called him felt like it was taking an eternity, my feet nervously pacing the shoulder as I clenched and unclenched my fists. This wasn’t the safest place to be, but it was safer than sitting in my disabled vehicle, which sat there, just waiting to get annihilated in the middle of the road. The rain, cold and relentless, felt like needles against my skin, mirroring the sharp pangs of fear and desperation clawing at my heart.
I’d survived the aftermath of my father’s murder—the violent act that ripped through our happy home like an F5 tornado, leaving wreckage and devastation in its wake. I’d survived my mother’s death—witnessing her desperate fight to stay alive, the only parent left for her boys. Subjecting herself to poison and painful treatments, despite being warned against the odds of it helping. Both I’d seen in their caskets, eyes closed, skin unnaturally pale, both having never imagined that when they started their family, they’d die before seeing all the milestones in their boys’ lives. I’d survived all that, but only barely, existing in the hollow space of what was left of my heart.
But this…this I would not survive. I had no desire to endure life if Ivy was ripped from me, too. She had gathered the shards of my broken self, piecing them together with gentle hands until I felt almost whole again—a mosaic of the person I used to be, fragile but beautiful in its imperfection. If she died, the feeble bonds holding me together would shatter, leaving nothing but dust where a person once stood.
I looked down at my phone for the millionth time. Nothing from Seth yet. Every second that passed was a second lost, a second closer to her death, and a second that she might be going through unimaginable suffering.
The vehicle’s headlights approached me, slowing and pulling to a stop on the shoulder. I raised a hand to block the glare as I walked over and climbed into the back seat of Hunter’s Aston Martin, thanks to Jace occupying the front.
“Are you sure you guys are okay?” My voice was tense.
“We’re fine,” Hunter assured.
“And Luna?”
“Shaken up, but fine,” Hunter said. “Bryson is with her. Along with an army of security—I called in everyone I had.”
I swallowed, but the guilt didn’t go down.
Hunter navigated his car back onto the treacherous road.
“I’m sorry.” I ran a palm over my wet face, my hair dripping onto my soaked shirt. “I thought I had time before they would make a move. If I had any idea they would come, I would never have brought her to your house.”
“Grayson”—Hunter’s voice was firm yet comforting—“we’re family. We’d have your back no matter what.”
A lump formed in my throat.
“Might’ve armed ourselves to the teeth, though,” Jace added. “Evened the odds a bit.”
My stomach pitted. The wipers battled against the waterfall of rain pelting the windshield, but it was pouring so hard, it was difficult to read the green signs over the interstate.
“Should I get off?” Hunter asked as we approached an exit.
“No,” I said. “I want to keep heading in the direction the van went until I hear back from a colleague of mine.”
God, I hoped Seth was close to finding their location.
“We might pass their exit,” Jace warned.
“Let’s just give it a few more minutes. If I haven’t heard from my guy by then, I’ll give him a call.”
I didn’t want to interrupt him if he was fast at work, tracking her.
“What happened after I left?” I asked.
Hunter recapped the events. The flicker of the security feed, which, in hindsight, was a symptom that it had been hacked and put on a loop, so neither he nor his security team saw the men approaching. The problems with Ivy’s texts not going through—a symptom of the cell phone blockers they’d enabled. The front door busting open, a smoke bomb going off. Men taking Ivy while others stayed behind, only to be tackled by my brothers seconds before they believed they’d get shot.
Pride swelled inside me that my brothers had gained the upper hand in the end. I just wished I could have been there to help, could have stopped them before it had started.
“So, you’re CIA?” Jace flipped his visor down and raised an eyebrow at me.
“The hell, Hunter?” I snapped.
“I didn’t tell him,” Hunter said flatly. “One of those assholes called himself CIA.”
“He what ?”
“Apparently, if you gain the upper hand after the smoke clears and have weapons to all their heads, some talk. And swear they’re not organized crime members, breaking into your house.”
Jesus.
“Did you kill them?” I asked.
Hunter’s eyes, illuminated by the dashboard lights, met mine in the rearview mirror.
“Why would I do that?” Hunter challenged flatly.
This was why it was tricky having Jace here—Hunter and I had shared secrets of the past that I had no interest in divulging to our brother.
Not now, at least.
Then again, what did it matter?
“Where are the operatives now?” I questioned.
“Surrounded by my security guards until we can figure out our next steps.”
Good God. “I’ll call my handler,” I said. “Maybe he can send someone over to sort out this mess.”
I pulled out my phone, but uncharacteristically, Daniel didn’t answer.
Which was particularly odd when you consider I’d told him I was about to go stop a mission.
Me: I need to talk to you. It’s an emergency.
But even after a few seconds, my text also went unanswered.
“Ivy went willingly.” Hunter’s voice was full of admiration, his stare holding mine in the rearview mirror again before returning to the road. “When she realized our lives might be in danger, she surrendered on the condition no one would hurt any of us.”
A sharp ache built behind my temples.
What a selfless and brave move, to go willingly when you know the people intend to kill you. Ivy was a better fighter than a lot of the CIA operatives I knew. Chances were, she could’ve taken out a couple of men on her own. Sure, the smoke bomb would’ve made it more difficult, but for her to not even fight at all? To give up her life to protect my family?
Just like she’d risked her life the day we met, when she’d gone into that dark parking garage, all in an effort to help her grandmother. Ivy was always selfless, always willing to risk her life for others.
The thought tightened my chest with anguish and admiration, making me want to save her all the more.
I was grateful they hadn’t put a bullet in her skull right then and there, but after thinking about this while I was waiting for Hunter, I’d come to a sickening conclusion—the kidnapping meant they intended to interrogate her first. With that mountain of evidence against her, with those links to the most dangerous criminal in the world, the CIA might go to any length necessary to extract as much intelligence out of her as possible.
One drop of blood at a time…
She must be so scared. What is she going through right now? Is she hurt? Bleeding? Are they cutting her?
“I have to get her back.” My voice cracked.
Suddenly, our car swerved violently to the left, and the world outside the windshield blurred into a kaleidoscope of taillights and rain-slicked asphalt. The tires screamed against the interstate, their high-pitched squeal piercing the air and setting my teeth on edge. From the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of another vehicle’s headlights careening toward us, its metal frame glinting menacingly in the dim light. My heart leaped into my throat, its frantic pounding reverberating through my entire body.
As our back end fishtailed, the momentum threw me against the door, and the seat belt dug into my chest. I braced myself, my fingers digging into the supple leather of the seat.
Just when I thought we were about to meet a catastrophic end, Hunter’s skilled hands worked their magic on the steering wheel. With a deft twist and a controlled surge of acceleration, he coaxed the car back into submission. Gradually, with the car straightening out and the chaos of the near miss fading into the night behind us, I released a shaky breath.
“Fucking hell.” Jace rubbed his neck. “Your driving hasn’t gotten much better than it was in high school.”
Hunter scoffed. “Says the guy who ran over our mailbox. Twice.”
“Who puts a mailbox on the edge of the driveway?”
“Everyone,” Hunter said. “Everyone does.”
Jace rolled his eyes, their momentary banter interrupted with my cell’s ring.
“Seth,” I said. “Tell me you have something.”
“Exit 293,” he said without preamble. “They’re headed north on Maple.”
I relayed the information to Hunter, hope and adrenaline jolting through my veins.
We were at mile marker 291, so we had two more miles before we would even get to the exit.
“Do you have a location?” I asked.
“I’m watching the van now,” Seth said.
“It’s still on the move?”
“I assumed you’d need to know the exit as soon as possible.”
How…above and beyond of him. It nagged at me that he was going this far out of his way. He could’ve just given me the address when he had it, and he would’ve secured my letter of recommendation. So, what was with his vested interest all of a sudden?
Unease settled in my chest.
Daniel not returning my messages…Seth’s eagerness to help. He wasn’t luring me into a trap, was he? For going against the CIA?
“Their headed east on Main,” Seth said.
I relayed that to Hunter, who nodded in affirmation.
“Look”—I rubbed my eye—“I don’t mean to sound like a complete dick, but…are you helping me or them?”
“Them?”
“Are you feeding my intelligence to the men that have Ivy?” Namely my whereabouts, ETA, that sort of thing. “Did Daniel order you to intervene here?” I pressed.
It took five seconds for Seth to respond…five long-ass seconds.
“No. Daniel left shortly after you did,” he explained. And there it was, that unease in his tone, that hesitation that I’d sensed when I’d first called him. “He, uh…started acting cagey right after you left. He made a call and said he was leaving now and would be right there .”
Right where?
The last time I saw Daniel, I had shown him indisputable evidence that Ivy was innocent of being an arms dealer. One would assume he would’ve jumped on a phone call to disseminate that information as quickly as possible, to save the life of an innocent civilian.
“Maybe he wanted to present the evidence in person,” I reasoned.
With the CIA mission in progress, why would he take that time, though? Seconds mattered.
“Maybe,” Seth allowed, but I could hear the doubt in his tone. “But it didn’t sit right with me.”
It didn’t sit right with me, either. What was he up to?
“So, after he left, I looked closer at the evidence you brought. Just a preliminary scrub.”
He was building up to something. I could push him on it, but I waited. Impatiently, mind you, but I waited all the same until, finally, he said it.
“And you’re right. Something doesn’t add up. The IT fingerprints suggest the evidence against that woman was manufactured.”
Appreciation bloomed in my gut.
Because that, evidently, was something Seth wasn’t on board with. I wasn’t sure if it was because of his conscience or because having any involvement—even failing to make an effort to intervene—in the termination of an innocent person could hurt his chances of a promotion, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was that he appeared to be on my side here.
On Ivy’s side.
I’d still be guarded and careful, in case he was laying a trap.
I didn’t think Seth was the type of guy to do that, but then I never expected Daniel wouldn’t give me a heads-up that they were about to target Ivy, either, and knowingly lure me away from her with the false pretense of that meeting. I thought our bond went deeper than that.
And if Daniel was acting shady on top of that…something else was going on here, too.
“There’s one more thing that Daniel said on that call that struck me as odd.”
I waited.
“He said he’d make the call to the mother.”
Ice crawled over my bones.
“The mother?” What did that mean? “Did he say anything else?”
“No, that was it. He just said he’d make the call to the mother, then rushed out to his car.”
As I mulled over the information, an unsettling dread wove through the fabric of my skin. The pieces were falling into place, forming a picture that I didn’t like. Daniel’s cagey behavior, the suspicious timing of his actions, and now this cryptic reference to a mother figure…it all pointed to something sinister lurking beneath the surface.
Seth’s voice broke through my thoughts. “They’ve parked.”
When he told me the address, my blood froze.
The only time the CIA took suspects to a location like that…
Was if a lot of blood was about to be shed.
We had to reach her. Now. Before the unthinkable happened.
I leaned forward, every muscle coiled. “Drive faster.”