Chapter 31
Newton
”She planned the whole fucking thing,” one of the stupid fucking attorneys says as the videotape rolls.
I watch the cameras as the tech follows her from the bathroom and into the elevator. The second she gets in the car, she turns her jacket inside out like a professional, definitely like someone who has had to do it before.
”Not a fucking chance,” I argue, unconcerned at the way Kincaid looks at me.
”Explain that then,” the guy snaps pointing at the monitor as the video plays out the scene of Brielle meeting up with a goon we have to assume is one of Nathans”s men.
She looks over her shoulder before looking ahead, but the angle is wrong for me to see her face.
It takes all of ten seconds for her to climb into a waiting car.
”Wren”s already trying to track the car through town,” Kincaid says when I look at him.
”And add that to the list of shit you shouldn”t say in front of a state prosecutor,” one of the guys mutters as the tech turns to look at him, letting him know that”s all he has. ”Get all of that on one file for me, and I can see what can be done about getting a warrant issued.”
”A warrant?” I growl. ”Why the fuck would you have a warrant issued for her?”
The guy looks at me but doesn”t say a word before walking out of the room.
”Come with us,” Kincaid says as he follows the guy from the room. ”The hearing can”t wait.”
The judge is already on the bench when we enter the courtroom, and he looks less than impressed with the state prosecutors taking their spot in front of him.
Nathan Adair sits in a wheelchair beside his team of attorneys but he doesn”t have to look back at us to know that Brielle won”t be taking the stand against him today. He has hurt her so badly, she”ll never be able to face the man if given the choice. I know that”s why she ran.
The guy outside just happened to be there in anticipation of her changing her mind.It wasn”t a setup. I can”t let myself believe it was.
The state”s attorney begins to speak once the case has been opened, but I can”t pay any attention to what he has to say. My thoughts are on Brielle and the danger she has to be in.
I know Nathan is vile enough to make whoever those men were that took her to keep her safe until he can get to her, and that”s the only solace keeping my ass in the seat I”m in.
”I urge you to reconsider,” one of the state”s attorneys says, grabbing my attention.
”Do you?” the judge asks as he narrows his eyes at the man. ”I”d urge you to actually have a case worth hearing the next time you step into my courtroom. I don”t like having my time wasted, Mr. Silva. As a man who has worked in this very building for over fifteen years, you should know that.”
Mr. Silva shifts his weight from one foot to the other as he remains standing in front of the judge.
”I order Mr. Adair to be released immediately as there is no case pending against him in Ohio.”
”Judge,” Mr. Silva says, having more balls than I originally thought he had. ”There is a case still pending in New Mexico. We ask that he remain in custody in Columbus until arrangements can be made to return him to face those charges pending there.”
The judge looks at the man as if he thinks he”s a vile creature rather than seeing Nathan Adair that way.
”And risk violating even more of Mr. Adair”s rights?” the judge says in a bored tone. ”No thank you. New Mexico will have to work its own case. If they want him back, a judge there will need to order it. Do you have an order requesting him to come back?”
”No, your honor,” Mr. Silva says.
I know he doesn”t have an order because we discussed it when we were briefing to come to Ohio. Even the judge in New Mexico was leery of putting his name on anything where Adair was concerned, and it speaks of his reach and the fear he has instilled in so many people.
”Judge, please.”
I swear I can hear the man swallow as if he knows he”s hours away from death.
His hands tremble as he picks up a folder from the table in front of him, and it”s easy to see the fear in his posture. I have no doubt he”s wishing he bolted like poor Ruby did before the hearing even got started.
”You”ll have to be processed out of custody, Mr. Adair,” the judge says, ignoring the prosecutor. ”Please accept my sincerest apologies for the oversight that has happened here today.”
Nathan nods at the man, and I have to wonder if the judge is in his pocket or if he”s trying to save his own ass.
”Shouldn”t take more than an hour or so,” the judge tells him before adjourning court with the smack of his gavel.
When Kincaid, Shadow, and Jinx stand as if they share the same brain, I do as well and follow them from the courtroom.
”I don”t think it would”ve made a difference,” Kincaid says once we”re on the elevator.
”We don”t have much time,” Shadow says. ”We have to find her.”
I stand a little taller to be associated with these men. They don”t think the same way the people here in Ohio do. They don”t know much about Brielle, but they trust that if I think she was taken rather than going with that man willingly, then it”s what they will believe as well. It”s not that they have faith in her, but they have faith in me, and right now that”s all I need.
”We”ve set up a command center across town,” Deacon says, meeting us in the parking garage.
”What did Wren find?” Kincaid asks.
Deacons shakes his head, making my chest ache. ”He hit a brick wall. Some of the cameras along the path are out of order.”
”Convenient,” Kincaid snaps.
”He is looking through more footage to see if they pick them back up, but as we all know there”s a very good chance they”ll switch out vehicles. Adair has been getting away with shit for a really long time. He”s an expert with this shit.”
”How long have the cameras been out?” I snap.
”Don”t know,” Deacon says. ”Wren might look into that later but, he”s not going to waste time on it now.”
I grind my teeth. I know the man is the best in his field, but I just know that those cameras being down have to do with the hearing today. I have no doubt they were always a part of this plan. It puts my confidence in thinking Brielle wasn”t a part of this on shaky ground.
”Let”s get to the command station,” Kincaid says. ”We can work through everything there.”
At a minimum, I thought we”d have months. I was working under the assumption that even if shit didn”t shake out the way we needed it to here in Ohio, Adair would be shipped back to New Mexico to face the charges there.
I never even considered that he”d be released from custody.
My hands shake all the way to the command center, a small apartment BBS was able to lease on short notice.
The guys are incredibly efficient, having filled the place with seating, a coffee machine, and a huge war table in the middle of what would normally be used as the living room.
”We”re going to find her,” Kincaid assures me as we step inside. ”Did she ever disclose any of the different safe houses that they keep?”
I shake my head, but I bet Nathan would”ve taken that risk into consideration in planning all of this out. He wouldn”t risk the chance of being interrupted while he exacts his punishment on her for her year-long betrayal. I can only hope that her running instead of stepping inside that courtroom today garners her enough of a fucking reprieve from his anger that we have enough time to get to her before he hurts her.
I pull in a ragged breath, wanting to find one of the empty bedrooms and curl into myself in the closet, but doing so won”t help the woman I love.