Chapter 27
EVELYN
Alexander’s arm was warm and heavy across my waist. Sebastian had claimed the far side of the bed sometime in the night and was breathing slowly beside me. We had gotten to bed early for once, wiped out from the press conference, so I had been asleep for four hours at least.
I rolled over carefully, stretching to reach my phone without disturbing Alexander or Sebastian. The text was from an unknown number. An unknown number I recognized even if we still had been unable to track the owner’s location.
Let’s settle this. You and me. Come alone, or the men in that penthouse are dead by morning. And your lieutenants too. You have thirty minutes. A car will be waiting.
My sleepy brain took a moment to process it. I had to read the message twice. I set the phone down on my chest and took a breath. Drake just made his next move.
The part of me that had spent years operating alone wanted to roll out of bed silently and do exactly what he said. Get up, get dressed, don’t wake anyone, and don’t let him put the people I love in the crosshairs.
But that wasn’t who I was anymore. I rolled over and shook Alexander’s shoulder lightly.
His eyes opened immediately, blinking away the sleep when he saw me with the phone in my hand. I handed him the phone and reached over to shake Sebastian awake.
Alexander read the message, his jaw tightening. He pressed a kiss on my forehead, then climbed over me out of the bed. “I’ll wake the others.”
“What’s going on?” Sebastian asked groggily. He always had been a heavy sleeper.
“Drake texted. He wants to settle this, just him and me. He said to come alone.” I filled him in as I got out of bed and opened the closet to grab some clothes.
“Evie.” His sleep-roughened voice sharpened as he sat straight up in bed.
“I know,” I said over my shoulder. “I’m not going alone. But we have to make a plan, and we only have thirty minutes to do it.”
Facing Drake alone wasn’t a good idea; I knew that. But I also didn’t want to risk the guys and my family more than necessary. It was like the two sides of my brain were warring against each other.
By the time we all gathered in the living room, we had twenty-two minutes left on Kingfisher’s deadline. I sent out a message to Izzy, Liam, and Danny as soon as I had gotten dressed, so they were waiting on the laptop screen in the middle of the table.
I outlined the message Kingfisher had left for me. Sebastian left the room, heading towards his bedroom after I finished explaining.
“You’re not going alone,” Danny said firmly, straightening like he was gearing up for an argument.
“I know I’m not,” I said evenly. “But it has to look like I’m going alone.
I won’t place you all under unnecessary risk.
So how do we make it look like I’m going alone when I’m actually not?
” I had a feeling this was going to be Drake’s big move.
He had to be pissed from the press conference.
Whatever he was planning would be big, and we needed to be ready.
Sebastian entered the room, carrying a jacket over his arm. I recognized the jacket as one of mine and frowned. Why did he have it?
“I took the liberty of borrowing one of your jackets in case this exact scenario occurred.” He announced to the room, spreading the jacket on the table.
He pointed to the three buttons on the front of the jacket. “Each of these buttons is a small camera or audio recorder. The bottom button is a tracker, and I also have a tracker sewn into the lining of the jacket.”
“What if he makes her take the jacket off?” Marcus asked, his arms folded and his face twisted in a scowl.
Sebastian held up a small bag of tiny trackers. “Thought of that. These are small enough to fit in her shoes.”
“We’re moving Archers into positions around the penthouse,” Izzy said. “We’ll have eyes on her via traffic cameras, and we’re scrambling Archers into traffic camera blind spots. We’ll be able to track her through the city.”
“What about that list of properties we found associated with Drake?” Adrian asked. “Would he take her to one of those?”
“He probably will,” Alexander agreed. “But we don’t have the manpower to cover them all.”
“Based on the trackers, we can narrow down the area,” I said. I looked at Dominic. “Call Agent Mercer. Tell him it’s going down tonight.”
Dominic nodded. Good, we would need the SID here when it all went down.
Alexander was typing on his phone. “I’m waking up some of our SDS teams.”
I ignored the uncomfortable twisting in my gut. I still hated to drag SDS into it, but we needed the manpower. Especially if Drake was planning something big.
“She can’t go unarmed,” Marcus said firmly, daring anyone to argue.
“The first thing he’ll do is search her for weapons,” Adrian retorted.
Dominic reached into his boot and pulled out a small knife sheath. He handed it to me, and I pulled the blade out of its sheath. It was a small blade, only three inches long and narrow, but it felt well balanced in my hand.
“This should fit in your boot.” He gestured at my combat boots. “My dad gave it to me.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, looking up at him. This was his dad’s, and I was sure it held sentimental value from the way he carefully held it.
“I’m sure.” He pressed a kiss on my forehead. “It’s always kept me safe. It’ll keep you safe too.”
I nodded and lifted my boot onto a chair to tuck it into the side. The black handle blended with the black leather. It wouldn’t pass a thorough search, but if they just patted me down, it should be fine.
“Eleven minutes left,” Adrian said, checking his watch.
Everyone jumped into action, getting on the phone, coordinating SDS teams with Archers Izzy and Danny had looped into the calls.
The plan was coming together, but there was still a pit in my stomach.
Part adrenaline, part nerves. We had Drake backed into a corner, and cornered predators always fight the fiercest. What did he have up his sleeves for me?
Alexander pulled me aside as the others coordinated. He cupped my face and looked at me for a long moment. “You come back to us,” he said softly. It wasn’t a question but a command, like he could will the universe into doing what he said.
I tilted my head and kissed his palm. “I’ll come back to you,” I promised. And I would. I refused to believe this would end any other way.
He studied me for a moment longer, then kissed me hard.
“Okay,” Izzy said. “You have five minutes left. It’s time.”
Sebastian knelt to slip the trackers into my shoes, one for each boot. Then he pulled me into him and kissed me so hard I forgot my own name for a moment. He pulled back and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Kick his ass.”
“I will.”
Dominic was next, kissing me deeply. “Use the knife if you need it,” he whispered. “Don’t hesitate.”
I nodded and turned to Marcus. His arms were folded over his chest still. “I don’t like this.”
“I know,”
He reached for me, and I stepped into his arms. I could feel the tremble in his muscles and knew it must be killing him to let me go alone.
“I’ll be okay,” I whispered to him.
“You better be. I’ll spank your ass if you’re not.”
I ignored the flash of heat that flew through me. “Got it.”
“I’ll help him,” Adrian said, cupping the back of my neck while Marcus kept his arms around me.
“If you think that’s a deterrent, we might need to work on your idea of punishment,” I teased them.
Adrian’s eyes darkened, and he pulled my head back to kiss me. His kiss left me breathless, and Marcus stole my lips next.
Finally, Alexander stood by the elevators. I walked to him. We didn’t say any words. We already had. He squeezed my hand tightly and pressed the button for the elevator. A moment later, the doors opened with a soft chime. He squeezed my hand tighter, then let me go.
I stepped into the elevator and turned to face them, taking in their faces like I was burning them into my memory. “See you soon.” I promised as the elevator doors closed.
Time to end this.
The ride down felt like it took forever.
I glanced at my watch. One minute left. The doors opened in the lobby with a soft chime.
I pushed open the lobby doors into the chilly night air.
A black SUV idled outside at the curb. A man dressed in a black shirt and black jeans, looking every inch like a hired thug, pushed off the vehicle.
“You’re late,” he snarled at me.
“I’m not.” I pointedly checked my watch. I was exactly on time, actually.
“Arms up,” he said.
He patted me down roughly, spending more time on my hips than necessary. I glared at him but didn’t say anything.
“Get in,” he growled, opening the door.
I expected to see Drake in the SUV, but the back seat was empty. The driver, dressed similarly to the first guy, stared straight ahead.
“Put this on.” The first guy handed me a hood.
I looked at it skeptically, but when he thrust it at me again, I put it on. Wherever they were taking me, I had to trust that my team was following.
I put the hood on, and the black material cut off my vision. I breathed deeply through the rising panic at the loss of my vision. The hood reminded me too much of an enclosed space. I coached myself through breathing. I was in a car, not a tight space. It was like having my eyes closed.
The panic stayed at a low simmer as the vehicle twisted and turned through the city’s streets.
I tried to keep track of the turns in my head, but we turned so many times I lost count.
Was that intentional? Did we double back so I wouldn’t be able to tell where we were going?
It was the type of thing I could imagine Drake ordering them to do.
After what must have been at least fifteen to twenty minutes, the SUV rolled to a stop. The door next to me opened.
“Get out.”
He kept the hood on and gripped my arm tightly as he pulled me forward.
The screech of metal echoed into the night a few moments later.
He jerked me forward, and we stopped about ten steps in.
He yanked the hood off my head, catching some of my hair and yanking it out in the process.
I winced slightly at the pain and then blinked at the bright fluorescent lights.
Nathaniel Drake stood in the center of the room with his hands clasped behind his back. He was dressed as if he were about to attend a board meeting in a navy suit and burgundy tie. He looked faintly amused at my state, like he had already won.
“Miss Harper.” His voice echoed off the metal walls. “I knew you’d come.”
“You didn’t give me much of a choice,” I said, looking around the space.
I was in a warehouse of some kind but a small one. Maybe an old mechanic’s shop? There were three large bay doors to my right. To my left, a portion of the space was walled off. A thick metal door with a keypad guarded the entrance to that room.
“There’s always a choice.” He tilted his head slightly. “You just made the right one.” He assessed me slowly, studying me like he was trying to crack me open. “I’ve been watching you for some time, you know. You’re quite remarkable for what you are.”
“And what am I?” I kept my voice steady.
The thug from the car had retreated to the door behind me. I knew he was armed. Drake held all the cards right now ,but I knew my team was behind me. And listening to everything. I needed to play along and get Drake talking.
“A bleeding heart,” Drake spat as if the very concept offended him.
“You’re resourceful, I’ll give you that.
But you’re driven by emotion, which makes you predictable.
” He began to move, a slow circle around me.
“Today’s little performance was cute. The nonprofit announcement, the federal agent, the sob story—those were all nice touches. But did you think that would stop me?”
“I think it stopped your narrative,” I said simply, shrugging like I didn’t care.
“Temporarily.” He flicked his fingers like he was flicking away my words.
He stopped in front of me. “I’ve run this operation for years.
I’ve evaded many federal investigations.
Did you think that one small, insignificant vigilante organization could stop me?
Please,” he scoffed. “But do you know what I find most interesting about you, Miss Harper?”
“Tell me.” I folded my arms, careful not to cover the cameras on my coat.
“You built an entire organization out of one bad night. One moment of powerlessness that you decided you were never going to feel again.” My heart beat faster at his words.
He smiled, but his eyes were cold, empty.
“I find that poetic. Which is why I thought it was appropriate that your story ends the same way it began.”
I kept my face neutral even as my stomach clenched. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You will.” He gestured towards the door to my left. “Shall we?”
I hesitated, and he pulled a gun under his suit jacket. “Quickly, Miss Harper. I don’t have all night. I have a business to run.”
He walked me at gunpoint across the warehouse floor. He reached past me and shoved the door open. He stepped aside and waved me inside.
I stepped through the door.
The room was smaller than the warehouse, about a third of the size.
It was dimmer in here, a single overhead light buzzing incessantly.
A man leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed.
I froze. I hadn’t seen that face in person since I was sixteen years old on a back porch at a party I should have never attended.
Conrad Holcom looked older. I knew from tracking him through the Archers that he was working at his family’s law office. But his eyes were the same. Cold, gray eyes with a dark look in them. He’d had that look that night too.
The door clicked shut behind me as Drake stepped in after me.
My hands went cold, and my heart stuttered in my chest. Fuck.