Chapter Forty-Five Dare
A s the helicopter took off with Ava inside, I sprung into action. Without a word to the others, I began racing back through the woods with Piper in my arms. Once we reached the crowd at the cemetery, I searched for Mam.
Once I found her standing with Tobias and Helena, I sprinted over to them. “Mam, I want you to take Piper and Tobias and Helena to your house. You’ll be safe there.”
“I’m coming with you,” Tobias pronounced.
At Helena’s horrified gasp, I placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know you want to help, but you have to sit this one out.”
“No. I have to find her.”
“You can help me by watching over my daughter and my mother.”
Although he didn’t like it, Tobias finally nodded. “No, Daddy! Don’t go!” Piper had screamed, wrapping her arms tight around my neck.
“I have to, Pipes. I have to get Mommy back.”
“Let me come.”
“No, baby. You need to stay with Grammy. She’ll take you to her house. You can play with Julesy and the twins and Dario and Matteo. I bet auntie Isla will let you play mommy to Rian.”
Tears streaked down Mam’s face. “Anything you want, mo stor, ” she said, as she rubbed Piper’s back.
Piper continued to howl and grasp my neck. Although it killed me to do it, I nodded to Eamon With a face, he pulled Piper from my arms. Her screams would haunt me for years to come.
Her arms frantically reached for me as her feet kicked against Eamon. “No, Daddy, Please! Don’t go!” she screamed as Eamon took her to Mam’s SUV.
Turning to Mam, I shook my head. “Will she ever forgive me?”
Mam cupped my cheek. “Of course, she will. She adores you.”
“She does,” Helena agreed.
Fighting my emotions, I had merely nodded. Kellan appeared then with a wriggling puppy in his arms. “I thought this might help.”
A laugh had burst from my lips instead of a sob. “Yeah. I’m sure it will.”
Once Kellan handed off the puppy to Piper, I got into another waiting SUV with my brothers.
As we tore away from the cemetery, Callum said, “I’ve got a contingency crew packing up our weapons. They’ll meet us at the airport.”
Leaning forward in his seat, Quinn said, “I’ve alerted Rafe and Leo in case they’re headed to Philly. They’ve got their contacts at LaGuardia, Kennedy, and Philly International working on flight logs.”
An ache twisted its way through my chest. “What if he’s taking her to Greece?”
“Then we go there,” Quinn replied as Callum nodded.
The thoughts of a ten hour flight separating me from being able to get to Ava had made me even crazier. At the ringing of my phone, I snatched it out of my suit pocket. “What?” I demanded.
“Dare Kavanaugh?”
“Yes?”
“My name is Ajax—I work for Ares Trakos.”
“I want my wife,” I snarled into the phone.
“That’s why I’m calling.”
Anguish ricocheted through me. Was he about to tell me where I could find Ava’s body? Or was it where I could find where she was being tortured? “What do you want?”
“Ares wants you to know that no harm is going to come to your wife. You can pick her up at a location outside of Philadelphia as soon as you can get here.”
“What’s the fucking catch?”
“There is no catch.”
“You’re just going to let me waltz in and get my wife.”
“All will be revealed when you land in Philadelphia.”
“You haven’t told me where.”
“I assume you have a tracking device on your wife, and you’ll know.”
I had to hand it to him—the fucker was good. “I’ll be talking to you soon, Mr. Kavanaugh.”
And then the call ended.
Callum and Quinn threw questioning looks at me. “Who was that?”
“A man working for Ares Trakos.” When I related to him what Ajax had said, I added, “We’re either about to walk into a complete trap, or Ares has something up his sleeve.”