Chapter Twenty-Seven
He’d been wrong from the beginning.
Callen hadn’t gotten more than a few pages into his sister’s notebook—a notebook Maeve had supposedly mishandled as a key piece of evidence in Lauren’s investigation—before he’d known exactly what kind of threat had taken Maeve.
His gut clenched at the sight of the all-too-familiar handwriting within the pages now tossed in the back seat.
It’d taken a couple of minutes to remember the language Maeve and Lauren had made up to communicate with each other about things they didn’t want his parents to know about, but he was never more grateful to recall it than now.
Okay. Now and the time he’d first heard Maeve ask his sister about him.
Lauren had written notes from entire conversations with “C,” detailing threats he’d made, ramblings about Maeve that led Callen to believe his brother had been watching her for years and indicators of how intense Cieron’s obsession had become mixed in with city development notes, sketches made during city planning meetings and phone numbers to follow through on.
His sister’s entire life had been detailed in this one notebook. Meetings, contacts, brainstorming.
And the letter to Maeve. One only she would’ve been able to decipher if Callen hadn’t gone out of his way to crack their code. And the secret Lauren may have been killed for.
“We’re going to find her.” Tommy Russell had taken one look at the notebook Callen had pulled from his brother’s overnight bag, grabbed a handgun and a box of ammunition for himself, and headed for the SUV.
There was no arguing with his father to stay behind.
Cieron had killed Lauren, had tried to kill Callen and was potentially on his way to killing Maeve.
This was a family issue, and family stood together.
His father reached across the SUV’s center console, squeezing Callen’s aching shoulder.
He hadn’t realized how tense he’d become until then and tried to breathe through all the possibilities they’d come across once they reached Kolob Arch.
Callen still hadn’t heard from Simpson or his law enforcement rangers, but he had to believe Maeve would walk out of the park alive.
With or without his help. He raced up the one-lane road curling and double-backing through the northwest side of Zion National Park.
The mountains demanding attention from each side of the SUV were bigger, the valleys wider, the trees thicker, the drop-offs steeper.
Everything tourists loved about the main trails in the park—the red rock cliffs, raging rivers and beautiful, winding views—were more beautiful out here.
No longer consolidated to approved hikes and rules within a few square miles, the Kolob Canyons section of the park was solely made of backcountry.
With a thousand different places a killer might take a victim. “She has to be there.”
“She will be.” His father’s confidence spread through the interior of the SUV, most of it coming from years of his own military service and no-nonsense parenting.
He’d witnessed his three children do the dumbest things of their lives—hurt one another, hurt themselves, take risks that never paid off and more—and yet nothing seemed to faze the man.
Tommy held on to the sidearm he’d borrowed from Callen’s arsenal like the pro he was.
On alert. Ready for anything. It’d been that born and bred confidence his dad carried that’d given Callen the courage to invest in a private security company and become one of its key operators for years, to ask his sister’s best friend on their first date after she turned eighteen and then later ask her to marry him.
His father had taught him to adapt and endure through good times and bad, and without that influence, Callen wasn’t sure where he would be.
Who he would be. There wasn’t a single gene in Callen’s entire DNA he didn’t attribute to the man sitting in the passenger seat, and Callen couldn’t be more grateful to have his dad here now.
“Your instincts are better than you think they are.”
The interstate arrowed straight past the Kolob Canyons visitor center, cutting off more than an hour of having to drive north through the park.
They would still have to curve south and ditch the SUV to get on to the Kolob Arch trail, and Callen’s heart refused to let him forget every minute that slipped through his fingers.
“My instincts were wrong about her.” Maeve had never been responsible for compromising Lauren’s missing person investigation.
She’d never mishandled the evidence that led police to let the case go cold.
Cieron. It was all Cieron. Who’d killed their sister, leaving her skeletal remains on that trail.
Who’d abducted a forensic analyst to garner Maeve’s attention.
Who’d zip-tied him to a steering wheel and driven his truck into the Virgin River.
His brother had pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger, intending to get Callen out of the way.
All this time he’d fought to keep his family together, and Cieron had been pulling it apart piece by piece.
“I gave up on her. Even when she refused to give up on us.”
“Yeah. You made a dumb decision, but you’re here now.
That’s what matters. You’re fighting for her now, and sooner or later, you’re going to have to forgive yourself for those choices.
” The passenger seat groaned as his dad shifted.
Setting his head back against the headrest, Tommy Russell closed his eyes, as though sensing the pain to come.
Because there would be pain. There would be blood.
And it wouldn’t be Maeve’s. “All I ask is that you don’t forget who you are, son. ”
Understanding hit, and Callen couldn’t hold on to the shallow breath he’d taken as he ripped the steering wheel to the right and pulled to a stop at the Kolob Arch trailhead.
Slamming the vehicle into Park, he grabbed his weapon.
“You’re asking me not to take Cieron down.
After everything he’s done—not just killing Lauren or Iliana Meyer, but hurting Maeve—you want me to let him walk away? ”
“I’m asking you to do your job. You’re a protector.
You always have been. Don’t let all that anger you’ve been carrying change that.
” His dad shouldered out of the passenger side and rounded the hood of the SUV, weapon drawn.
Headlights cast Tommy’s shadow over the trailhead’s sign directing hikers into the dark.
“Now, stop living in the past and go claim your future.”
Determination settled into his bones. And Callen could do nothing but follow.
He couldn’t make that promise to his dad.
If push came to shove, he’d do whatever it took to protect Maeve, including choosing her over his brother.
But he had no idea whether it would come to that. Whether he’d even get to her in time.
Directing his flashlight ahead, he picked up the pace, feeling every jolt, every burn in his lungs the closer he drew to the arch.
His father kept pace with a few stumbles, but the man had taught his children to keep going, keep pushing.
Tommy Russell had never expected anything of his kids without being willing to do what he was asking personally, even well into his sixties, and he wouldn’t start now.
“When was the last time you ran six miles, old man?” The uneven terrain and sharp rocks poking through the compacted dirt threatened to trip them up.
Callen’s heavy panting faded into the surrounding darkness.
He could only see the next few steps in front of him, steady on course.
He hiked this trail multiple times a week, but the elevation changes were beating on every cell he owned.
Or was that the desperation squeezing his chest?
“Is this the fastest you can run?” His dad kept a few paces behind, unknowingly pushing Callen that much harder. “Expected better of a man almost half my age.”
A growl resonated from Callen’s chest. He pumped his legs, the distance between him and his father growing with each step until Kolob Arch came into view.
There weren’t any details or colors to pick out against the star-scattered sky, wispy with white clouds.
Sweat beaded at his temple as he slowed just before the hill of boulders leading to the arch.
The winter temperatures did nothing to bring down his body temperature.
There was only one path to neutralize the anxiety crushing through him.
She was here. She had to be here. “Where are you, Maeve?”
Movement registered from his left, a split second before a wall of lean muscle slammed into him.
The ground rushed up to meet him, and Callen landed on his right side, skidding into a boulder.
A fist rocketed into his temple. Once. Twice.
Cieron pulled a sidearm from his back waistband, ready to finish what he’d started at the river.
“You just couldn’t let me have her, could you? ”
The cold barrel burned against his temple. Callen’s vision wavered, his head pounded, but he managed to get his leg around his brother’s chest. “You never deserved her.”
A rock slammed into the side of Cieron’s head.
The gun discharged mere inches from Callen’s right ear. A high-pitched ringing screamed through his head before pain exploded in its place.
His brother twisted toward the source of the rock. And took aim.
It took a moment for Callen to blink away the dizziness accompanied by adrenaline burning through his veins.
“It’s not him you want, Cieron.” That voice.
Her voice. It’d lost some of its strength, but Maeve stood there, one hand limp at her side while the other was clamped against her shirt.
Blood-drenched and beautiful. She backed up a couple of steps, as though she had all the time in the world, but Callen recognized the sluggishness in her step.
Her body was failing her. Threatening to take her from him all over again. “Come and get me.”
Callen put everything he had into pinning his brother to the dirt with that one leg, but his brother was faster. Cieron scrambled out of reach, but Callen wouldn’t let him put another hand on Maeve. “You won’t get another chance, Cieron. Finish this.”
Callen lunged. Kicking off a boulder to his right, he attacked knee-first. Straight into his brother’s chest. The impact knocked Cieron back, and his brother hit the ground. Cieron raised his gun. And pulled the trigger.
The bullet ripped past Callen’s ear. Stinging pain chased back the dizziness from the slug to his head.
Callen kicked out, his shin connecting with his brother’s chest again, and another bullet shot through the night.
But his luck wouldn’t last. Grabbing Cieron’s wrist, he squeezed the tendons in the bastard’s hand, forcing him to drop the gun. Metal thudded against the ground.
The distraction cost him.
Cieron struck. His foot collided with Callen’s face, and the whole world lit up.
Stumbling back, he barely had the sense to stay conscious as his brother closed the distance between them.
Callen brought one foot up. Bones collapsed beneath his heel as he kicked Cieron to the ground.
Pain messed with his head but provided clarity at the same time.
Kept him in the moment. Standing over his brother, Callen took in the blood streaked across Cieron’s face. “Why?”
Why kill Lauren? Why cost Maeve her job? Why abduct Iliana Meyer? Why try to kill Callen? Just…why?
“Because I saw her first.” A slick smile pulled at one side of Cieron’s mouth as he climbed to his feet.
His brother stumbled back a step, then righted himself.
Spreading his arms wide, Cieron laughed.
“But you’re the oldest. You always got what you wanted.
Isn’t that right? You got our parents’ praise growing up.
You got Lauren’s loyalty until the end, when she was going to warn you about me.
You got Maeve’s devotion even after you destroyed her life.
They looked at you like you hung the moon, but I see the truth.
You’re nothing without them, and I… I just wanted one thing for myself.
I wanted Maeve, but you couldn’t even let me have that. ”
“I never wanted this.” Footsteps registered in Callen’s good ear, coming up the trail. Tommy Russell sounded as though he were going to drop dead, and Maeve… She was hurt, barely able to stand.
Cieron’s smile drained. “Yeah, well. For once, I’m going to make sure you don’t get what you want this time.” His brother spun on his heel, stretching for Maeve.
And Callen didn’t hesitate.
Grabbing for the gun between them, he raised it and took aim.
Pulling the trigger.