Chapter 40 Liev
LIEV
I lean back in the leather chair across from Alex’s desk.
“It’s a good move for you,” Alex says. “Mikhail obviously trusts you, and it puts you in a much more powerful position. And with Sera in the picture now...” He trails off, a knowing smirk tugging at his mouth. “You don’t have to do all the dirty work anymore. Not if you don’t want to.”
I rise, grabbing my jacket from the back of the chair, when my phone vibrates in the pocket. I frown at the unknown number.
“Liev? It’s Finn.”
Instantly, my gut tightens. “What’s going on?”
“Have you talked to Sera? Like, recently?”
My heart drops into my stomach. “I thought she was with you?”
Alex comes to his feet, suddenly alert.
“She never showed.”
Every muscle in my body locks up. “What do you mean?” Foreboding crawls up my spine, cold and insidious, and wraps around my throat.
Alex’s brows furrow. “Liev?”
I hold up a hand, silencing him, my focus lasered on the phone, fear gnawing at my insides.
Something is wrong with Sera. I know it.
“She was supposed to meet me at the gym an hour ago for sparring.” Finn’s words are coming faster than normal. “But she never showed. Her car’s in the parking lot. And she’s not answering her phone. It goes straight to voicemail.”
The world narrows to a pinprick. Her car is there.
But she’s not. My heart slams against my ribs, a brutal rhythm that drowns out everything else.
Terror—raw, and unfamiliar—floods my veins.
I’ve faced down guns, knives, my almost certain death.
But this? It’s like someone ripped open my chest and poured ice water straight into it.
I can’t breathe. Can’t think.
“Did you call her brother?” I bark, already moving, shoving through the door into the hallway. My strides snap on the marble floors. Alex is close behind me, his footsteps echoing my urgency.
“Not yet. Brady and Elizabeth headed up to their cabin for the weekend after the Taggert mess was resolved this morning. Didn’t want to worry them in case…” Finn trails off, but I hear the worry in his voice.
“Check the security footage.” My voice is rough. I’m hanging on, barely able to keep from roaring.
The elevator dings, and I jab the lobby button harder than necessary.
“Already did,” Finn replies, frustration bleeding through. “It’s glitchy as hell. I can see her pull in, park, then she walks across the lot and... waves at someone in a car. But I can’t make out the license plate. The angle’s shit, and the feed keeps cutting out.”
“Waves? Like she knew them?”
The fear twists deeper, morphing into a dark, churning dread. Who would she wave to? Who could lure her away?
My free hand balls into a fist, and I slam it into the wall of the elevator welcoming the bite of pain. I burst out of the elevator, sprinting for the parking garage, Alex right on my heels.
“She didn’t appear nervous or unsure,” Finn continues. “But I can’t tell for certain. And with the camera malfunction, I can’t get a look at the car when it enters the lot. Looks like interference, a jammer or something, but it could just be a system error.”
“Why didn’t you fix it?” I snap, yanking open the door to my car. “You’re the computer genius, aren’t you?”
Alex slides into the passenger seat, buckling in without a word.
The engine roars to life, and I peel out of the spot, tires screeching on the concrete.
“Well, I didn’t psychically know someone was going to target the gym’s security, did I?” But I can hear the panicked guilt underlying the words.
I draw in a breath, forcing it deep into my lungs.
Calm down. Panicking won’t find her. But the fear…
It’s a living thing now, clawing at my chest, whispering all the ways I failed her.
I should have been there. Should have driven her myself.
Should have... “I’m on my way,” I grind out. “Call Brady. Now.”
I end the call, tossing the phone into the cupholder. My foot slams the accelerator, weaving through traffic like a madman.
“Liev, talk to me,” Alex says, his voice low but insistent. “What’s happening?”
My jaw is clenched so tight it aches. “She’s missing. Car at the gym, but she’s not there. Not answering.”
The words feel unreal. The panic surges again, hot and blinding. What if she’s hurt? What if—
Alex curses under his breath. “You think it’s the Taggerts?”
“No.” My grip on the wheel tightens, leather creaking. “They got what they wanted—the money from Aaron’s accounts. And they know what I’d do to them if they touched her. They’re not that stupid.”
But doubt creeps in. What if they are? What if this is revenge? Or something worse? Joelle Taggert wasn’t there this morning.
“Then who?” Alex presses, his own tension mirroring mine. “Someone looking to get back at you? Someone who figured out what really happened with your father?”
“I have no idea,” I growl, swerving around a slow truck. “But when I figure it out, they are going to die the most painful death I can think of.”
The promise hangs in the air, dark and absolute.
I’ll tear the city apart if I have to. Burn it to its foundations.
Sera’s out there somewhere—scared, maybe fighting—who am I kidding?
She’s definitely fighting, and I’m not there to help her.
The thought rips through me, the pressure building to an unbearable level in my chest.
I love her. More than I ever thought possible. And if I lose her...
No. I can’t. I won’t.
We screech into the gym lot fifteen minutes later. The sight of Sera’s car mocking me.
“She was here an hour ago. We’ll find her.”
I ignore the people in the gym, heading straight for Brady’s office in the back, when Finn beckons me from the doorway.
He immediately returns to a laptop on the desk, fingers flying across the keys. “Brady’s on his way back,” Finn says without preamble. “Should be here in a couple of hours. I hacked into the city’s mainframe and got the traffic cams.”
He spins the screen toward me, a frozen frame filling the display: a blue sedan, a woman in the driver’s seat, blonde hair, and a familiar face.
My blood runs cold.
“Do you know who that is?” Finn asks, eyes sharp.
Shock slams into me, followed by a wave of confusion so thick it chokes. “That’s her friend Hannah, from group therapy. She’s Sera’s friend.”
Someone she trusted. Someone who could blindside her. The pieces don’t fit, but the dread deepens, a black pit opening in my stomach. “Send me the pic.”
Finn grunts, still typing furiously. My phone pings seconds later, and I forward it to Alex. “Have our people run facial recognition.”
Alex nods, stepping into the hall, already dialing.
I turn back to Finn, pacing the small office like a caged animal. Every second that ticks by feels like torture. My mind spins—images flashing unbidden of Sera, hurt, alone. Her smile this morning… the way she fits against me at night.
The way she’s my entire world.
“I’m trying to follow her car through traffic,” Finn mutters, eyes glued to the screen. “But coverage isn’t as thorough on the side streets as I’d like. Give me a few minutes.”
Minutes. It feels like hours. I stop pacing, leaning against the wall, arms crossed to hide the tremor in my hands. My chest tightens, breath coming shorter.
What if… No, focus. She’s a fighter, my Little Warrior.
“It’s gonna take a few minutes,” Finn snaps. “Your growling and sighing are distracting. Go marshal your troops or whatever.”
I stare at him, the words cutting through the haze.
Finn looks up, face set in icy determination. Something hard and unyielding is in his eyes that I haven’t seen before. “Wherever they’ve taken her,” he says, voice steady. “We’re getting her back. No matter what.”
I jerk my chin up, the knot in my chest loosening just a fraction. “Yeah. We are.”
Alex appears in the doorway, phone in hand. “Got her on facial rec. Her real name is Anna Welch, and she’s a private investigator. Joelle Taggert hired her three months ago.”
I push off the wall. “That’s a month before Sera said they met.”
Finn’s face is grim. “She must have followed her to the group therapy and thought it was an in.”
“What the fuck do they want from her? She gave them the money.”
Finn meets my eyes. “She wants to know where Aaron’s body is.”
“She doesn’t know.” I can barely get the words out.
But Aaron’s mother won’t believe her.
My phone buzzes again—Brady.
“I’m an hour out,” he announces, his voice sounding as raw as mine.
“I’m not waiting for you if we get a location.”
“You better fucking not. Just keep me updated on your position. Vincent is on his way to the gym with all of our available personnel.”
“Found ‘em!” Finn shouts, jumping to his feet.