Chapter Seventeen

Parker

I ’m sitting in the back of the used SUV that Cormac arranged for us to leave the hotel in.

As soon as Royce left with Damon and Mackenzie, Cormac and I packed up our belongings. He packed the SUV while I felt sorry for myself in the hotel room. When Royce returned to the hotel, we were on the road.

I don’t want to leave them, but being here with them puts them in danger. It would destroy me if anything happened to them because of me.

Mackenzie sent me a few messages after she got home, but once she stopped responding, I didn’t want to bother her. Which is why I’m sitting in the back of the car, pouting.

“She’s probably asleep,” Cormac says with a chuckle.

“Or fucking Damon.” Royce turns around in his seat to grin at me.

I make a face. “Thanks. That’s just the image I needed in my head.”

Just picturing it already has me half hard.

Asshole.

“Or is that why you’re pouting?” Royce asks, his smile falling away.

I shrug. “Maybe a little. I figured that’s probably why she stopped answering me. It’s not like I expect them to stay away from one another while we figure this shit out, but I’d rather be there with them.”

“We know you would.” Cormac meets my eyes in the rearview mirror. “And you will be— we will be… Once this is all over. I know you don’t want them getting dragged into this.”

“Of course I don’t.” Sitting back in my seat, I turn my head to watch the scenery flying by.

Royce sighs, reaching back to squeeze my knee. “I’m sorry, Park. I feel like I just made this harder for you.”

“Don’t apologize for finding them and bringing them back into my life.” I lay my hand on top of his, squeezing. “I love and appreciate you so much for what you did. It did help, and it’s just the motivation I need.”

“You’re sure?” he asks, still looking unsure of himself.

I nod slowly. “I’m sure. What you did was amazing. If I could love you more for it, I would.”

“I’m glad. We didn’t like the dark place you were slipping into—“

He’s cut off by the ringing of my phone. Frowning, I grab it from where it slipped onto the seat. My frown only grows more when I see it’s Mackenzie calling.

My heart pounding, I accept the call. “Hello? Mackenzie?”

She doesn’t answer and all I hear is silence until a voice breaks through that has my eyes going wide. I quickly switch it to speaker so Cormac and Royce can hear as well.

“…it seems we have a friend in common—Parker Hilton. We’ve been looking for him for a long time. This is the first time we’ve gotten close, but by the time I made it to the hotel, they were already gone. Luckily, I’d sent some of my men to follow Royce and then the two of you. It seems like you might be important to him—important enough to get him to come out of hiding.”

Motherfucker.

That’s Carlos Alvarez, Santos’s second. He shouldn’t be there. He shouldn’t know who they are. What is he doing there? How did he find them?

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about. If you’re talking about the men from the hotel this weekend, the two of us were purchased at an auction. We were brought to the hotel for sex—that’s it. You’ve got this all wrong.” That’s Damon, his voice flat and calm. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was telling the truth.

Carlos’s scoff carries through the phone. “I would’ve believed that if one of my men hadn’t found these photos. They’re old, but it’s clearly the two of you and Hilton.”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Take a deep breath, Parker,” Royce urges me, taking the phone from my now shaking hand. “We’ll listen for clues, and then we’ll figure out where to go from there. Cormac—“

“Already on it.” Cormac takes the next exit and gets us turned around until we’re heading back toward Detroit.

“Nothing to say to that? No more lies you want to tell?” Carlos’s laughter has me balling my hands.

This is what I didn’t want to happen. Damon and Mackenzie should never have found themselves wrapped up in the mess I found myself in.

“What do you want from us?” Mackenzie’s voice shakes a little as she speaks, making me grimace. She must be so fucking scared right now.

“I don’t really want anything from you, but I can use you to get what I want—Hilton. I’d say I’m sorry about this, but I’m really not.”

I tense at Carlos’s words, wondering what he’s getting ready to do. When Mackenzie’s scream reaches my ears, tears spill over my cheeks. It’s quickly followed by Damon’s roar, and then the sound of struggles before everything goes quiet.

What did he do to them? What is happening there right now?

“Oh, what do we have here?” Carlos laughs, the sound followed by movement before he speaks directly into the phone, “Parker Hilton, just the man I’m looking for. As I’m sure you realize by now, I have these two. If you’re half as smart as you think you are, I’m sure you can find us. Just know that they’re going to pay for what you’ve done until you turn yourself over. This is the end of the line, Hilton.”

“You better not hurt them,” I yell, unsure if he can hear me.

Royce shakes his head at me before swiping his hand in front of his neck, telling me to stop. I knew better than to say anything, but I couldn’t help myself. He has Damon and Mackenzie in his grasp. The things he’ll do to them… I can’t stomach even thinking about it.

“We both know I’m going to hurt them, and I’m going to enjoy it. The sooner you turn yourself over, the sooner their pain can end. I’ll see you soon, Hilton.”

The call drops, and I roar in frustration.

“Parker, I know you’re angry, frustrated, and terrified—I get it. I am too. But you’ve got to get yourself under control.” Royce turns the phone off and tosses it to the floor before turning around to face me. “We have to come at this with clear minds. We can’t let emotion overcome us, or we’ll do something stupid. Remember your training.”

Swiping at the tears still falling, I swear. “I know. I know. It’s just… I can’t… They…”

“He needs you, Royce,” Cormac says, eyes flashing up to the rearview mirror for a moment before returning to the road. “Climb into the back with him. He needs to let all this shit out, so he can get his shit together. We still have at least another hour, if not more, until we make it back to Detroit. We all need to have our heads on straight by then.”

Royce hums, pulling off his seatbelt before somehow maneuvering his big body between the seats and into the backseat with me. His arms immediately wrap around me, pulling me into his chest.

“Let it out, Park. Rid yourself of those emotions,” Cormac demands. “Because as soon as we’re back in Detroit, we get back to work. We will find them, and maybe we’ll be able to get some information on who the hell framed you in the process. Two birds, one stone, and all that shit.”

A laugh spills from me as I cling to Royce’s shirt, allowing my tears to fall freely.

Carlos already has his hands on them, so there’s nothing I can do about that. Even if it’s completely my fault.

But my guilt won’t help find them. Neither will my fear. Or my anger. Only a clear head will do that—just as Royce and Cormac said.

For now, I allow myself to fall apart in the arms of my lover. I can take this moment to lose it, but that’s all I can spare. Because we will be getting them back, and then I will never let them go again.

Closing my eyes, my emotions rush through me in a jumble. I let myself feel all of them without trying to process them. Fear. Anger. Guilt.

It’s almost overwhelming how much I’m feeling but as my tears slow, I can feel them falling away one by one. I’m not sure how long it takes, but eventually, I pull away from Royce and nod. I can’t completely suppress my emotions—they’re still there, just not as overwhelming.

This is the headspace I need to be in.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice rough from the tears. I clear my throat. “I’m okay now. Or at least as okay as I can be until we get them back.”

“Are you sure?” Royce still has one of his arms wrapped around my shoulders as he glances at me. “If you need more time, we have a little while until we get back to Detroit.”

I shake my head. “I don’t need it. I need to get to work. I’ve got to see what properties the cartel uses in Detroit. They don’t have a large operation in the US—especially not this far north. There shouldn’t be many. That’ll make it easier for us to narrow it down and get them back as soon as possible.”

“Alright.” Royce turns, reaching behind him and grabbing my laptop. “It’ll probably be easier once we set up a base, but see what you can find out now. I’ll see if I can find a house for us to rent. I’d rather not be staying in a hotel while we’re working on this. Too many innocents could be injured. It’s clear the cartel was close to finding us in Detroit. I don’t know if they’ll continue to look for us now that they have Damon and Mackenzie, but I’d rather not take any chances.”

“And I’ll just keep driving,” Cormac says from the driver’s seat, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror once more. “We’ve got this, Park. We’re going to end this.”

I nod. “We are—just as soon as we rescue Damon and Mackenzie.”

Royce settles into the seat behind Cormac, finally pulling on his seatbelt as he works on his phone to find us somewhere to set up a base of operations.

I get my computer booted up, connecting to the SUV’s WiFi hotspot to connect to the Internet. It’s easy enough to get lost in the task as I search for properties owned by any of the shell companies we know the cartel uses. Sure, there could be new ones that they’ve started using, but I’m hopeful that Carlos will want me to find him easily.

I hear Royce and Cormac talking but pay no attention to their words. The timber of their voices and the normalcy of doing what I do best settles my emotions even more. They won’t settle completely until this is all over, but I’m thankful that they’re no longer overwhelming me. That’s not something we can afford in our line of work.

When the car rolls to a stop, I glance up in shock.

We’re parked in front of a cabin surrounded by trees, telling me we’re not in the Detroit city limits. “Where are we?”

“Not too far from where you grew up,” Royce offers as he swings his door open. “We wanted something out of the way. It’s a little over an hour to Detroit from here—just the opposite direction we’d been driving in. This should be good for a base.”

I hum, pushing open my door and stepping out, computer still in hand. I grab my bag that holds everything I’ll need to get set up and head straight for the door.

“The code is 2-4-6-1-7-5,” Royce calls to me, and I enter it into the keypad on the door.

I push it open when it unlocks, stepping inside. A quick sweep of the room to the right reveals a living room, and I continue to move down the hallway until I reach the kitchen. There’s a table big enough for me to set up at in there, and I get to work doing just that.

Within twenty minutes, I have my whole system up and running—thanks to Royce bringing in my other two laptops. It would be better to have my desktop set up for this, but it’s hard to bring it on the run with us. This has been doing the job, and it’ll continue to do it while I look for where Carlos is keeping my loves.

Once more, I lose myself in my work as Cormac and Royce move around the cabin, speaking in low voices so as not to disturb me.

It won’t be much longer before I know exactly where they’re being kept, and then we can make the real plan. I just wish it would go a little faster, but I can be patient.

I’ve spent nearly two years being patient, so I know I can last a little bit longer.

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