Chapter 22
22
RYKER
D ominion Hall was locked down. Every door, every window, every inch of this place was secured, but that wasn’t enough. My team was running at full capacity, pulling every tool we had, calling in every contact who might know something. This wasn’t just about Isabel. This was about the survival of Dominion Defense Corporation.
Because this felt like a test.
A first move. A probe. A recon into what Dominion’s domestic capabilities really were.
And that was a problem.
Dominion had been built to operate overseas, where the rules were different, where the threats were clear. But this? This was happening in our backyard. Someone wanted to know how quickly we’d respond, how far our influence stretched, and how much damage we were willing to inflict when provoked.
The only question was—who?
I ran through the list in my head. There were competitors headquartered in the region, some with deep enough pockets and enough of a grudge to try something this bold. But Dominion had gone out of its way not to make trouble with other American companies. Not unless they were crooked. And when that happened, it was game on.
Charlie stepped into the room, his face unreadable, but I knew him too well to miss the tension in his jaw. “Elias is still running traces on the messages. So far, nothing. Whoever’s behind this isn’t sloppy.”
I already knew that. Sloppy enemies were easy to deal with. This was different.
“Keep pushing,” I said, barely keeping the frustration out of my voice.
Charlie gave a sharp nod before turning and disappearing down the hall, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like that we had no answers, no real leads. And I sure as hell didn’t like that Will had vanished without a trace.
The only thing I did have was a sick feeling in my gut that this wasn’t random. That whatever had happened to him, whatever was happening now, had been set in motion long before tonight.
I heard Isabel before I saw her. Her footsteps were quieter than most, but I knew the way she moved now, the soft shift of her weight, the way she hesitated at the threshold. When she finally stepped inside, I knew something was off.
She moved too carefully, her shoulders stiff, her fingers clenched around something small and crumpled.
She handed it to me without a word.
I didn’t read it right away. I watched her instead. She wasn’t panicked. She wasn’t breaking down. She was calm.
That made something twist in my chest .
Finally, I unfolded the letter, my eyes scanning the lines, the neat, deliberate strokes of Will’s handwriting. By the time I reached the end, my blood was running hot.
Will had been given full control over his operation. I trusted him to handle his own shit. But if he was worried about his own safety, he hadn’t told anyone. Not even me. And that meant one of two things—either he hadn’t seen this coming, or he had, and he hadn’t told us.
My fingers tightened around the paper. Dominion could be reckless, but we weren’t stupid. If we were running close to the line, we took a team. Always. No exceptions. So why the fuck had Will been handling this alone?
I looked at Isabel again. Still calm. Still composed.
“You’re handling this too well,” I said, my voice low. “Why?”
She met my eyes without hesitation. “Because if Will really thought the best place for me was with you, then I’ll listen.”
Something thick and dangerous settled in my chest. I forced it down. There was no time for that now.
She wanted to help. And truthfully, I’d sent her back to her apartment because I thought it’d be a wild goose chase, something to keep her occupied while I handled the real problem. But now she was here. At Dominion Hall. And I had to find something for her to do.
I was thinking through the options when my phone vibrated.
A text.
I glanced at the screen and went still.
It was a picture.
Will .
Blindfolded. Hanging by his wrists. His body beaten and bloody.
I stared at it for a long second, my pulse a slow, steady burn.
Then I looked at Isabel.
She didn’t know it yet, but the war had just started.