35. Brian
35
brIAN
M y knuckles whitened against the steering wheel as I pushed the accelerator farther down, my heart hammering in sync with the windshield wipers. Grace was alive. Her voice echoed in my mind—that broken whisper, the fear in her tone as she told me that Fran had gone for help. That meant Fran, too, was alive—possibly. Two women, two hearts, two voices I couldn’t bear to lose. The thought of either of them hurt, scared, and running for their lives detonated that fucking pain in my chest, making it hard to breathe.
“Come on, come on,” Duke muttered beside me, his face bathed in the blue glow of his phone.
“Fran should be at that farm, Weeping…” Or I was hoping beyond hope she’d made it there. The alternative wasn’t something I could allow myself to even think about. “If she is, she can direct us to Grace.”
“The damn signal keeps going in and out,” Duke complained, tapping his phone screen with growing frustration.
“Not what I want to hear.” My jaw clenched so hard pain resonated.
Fucking storm picked the worst possible time to unleash its fury.
“Pull over,” Duke said. “I have three bars right now. Staying idle will help the signal.”
“We’re two exits away.” It was odd to hear the raw desperation in my tone. “I’ll pull over when we get off the highway.” I had to keep going. Stopping, even for a moment, when both Grace and Fran were out there somewhere, only intensified that pain in my chest.
Panic attack, my ass. I couldn’t shake the paramedic’s advice. Time to see a doctor. I owed it to Fran anyway.
“We might not have a good signal. Grace didn’t.” Duke’s frustration came through loud and clear. “I just need the address. Then we can put it into your SUV’s GPS, which maintains a better signal than our phones.”
I growled, the deep, primal sound coming from the depths of my soul. “I hate when you’re right.” I eased up on the gas, guiding us into the breakdown lane, and flicked on my hazards.
My phone rang, and Ted’s name lit up my SUV screen.
“Yeah,” I barked.
“We located three properties for sale,” Ted said. “Oscar is with me, and we have you on speaker.”
“Grace just called.” My heart lurched at the memory of her voice.
A gush of air came through the speakers. “Where is she?”
“Not sure yet.” The admission ignited my anger, which tasted bitter on my tongue. “She said Fran went for help. There’s a farm two miles from where Grace is called Weeping something. Duke is searching for it on his phone.”
“The signal is weak and slow,” Duke added. “Can you?—”
“On it,” Oscar said.
Duke and I stared at the screen as though we were watching a tense movie. Each second stretched like an hour—time we didn’t have, time Grace and Fran didn’t have.
“Got it,” Oscar clipped out. “Weeping Meadow. It’s located on 555 Swamp Road. Not much around there except…” I could hear his fingers pounding the keyboard, as if he were sitting in the back seat.
Duke typed the address into his phone then into my SUV’s GPS.
“Okay,” Oscar said. “At the one-and-a-half-mile marker from Weeping Meadow, there’s a horse farm. No name. But the property was sold over a year ago. It’s not one of the three we found.”
“Brian, Duke.” Ted’s voice of authority came over the line. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, and I know the answer, but are you guys armed?”
“Are we part of your team tonight?” Duke asked. “Or are we the criminals you know?”
“Why the fuck does it matter?” I snapped, fury and fear tangling in my throat. “Lives are at stake. My daughter’s, Grace’s, and other girls’.”
“And emotions are off the charts,” Ted replied. “We need Drew Lopez and Josh Kinley alive. I’m calling the state police. I’ll fill them in on who you two are and that you’re working for me.”
Screw the law. If it came down to it, both of those fuckers would feel my wrath, in particular Josh. I didn’t give a fuck if I landed in jail as long as Grace and Fran came home to me. That was all that mattered.
Turning off my hazards, I flicked on my blinker then slowly navigated onto the highway.
I pressed my foot on the gas. The speedometer climbed, and the rain intensified, battering the windshield. I cranked up the wipers to the highest possible level, but they could barely keep up with nature’s fury.
“Plan,” Duke said as the Freetown exit approached. “You take Weeping Meadow, where Fran should be, and I’ll take the other, where Grace is.”
I wasn’t even thinking of a plan other than storming in and shooting people. Regardless, he was making the decision for me, knowing full well I couldn’t. How could I choose between my daughter and the woman I loved?
I slowed as I took the exit. “Who would you choose in this situation?” I asked my best friend for nothing more than to feel like I wasn’t betraying either Grace or Fran.
“Tough question.” He gave me a pitiful sidelong glance. “But Fallyn would want me to save our daughter, and I know my sister. I heard the guilt in her tone. She feels responsible for Fran. That was the reason she told you that she was sorry. If you don’t go for your daughter first, Grace could never live with herself.”
“I want to marry your sister, man. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. I’ve never experienced love before your sister. She makes me want to conquer the world, be a better man. I don’t know that I would survive if anything happened to either of them.”
“I feel ya. That love you feel is so strong that you want to kill anyone who harms them, which was why you and I had that motto—‘love gets you killed’—when we worked for the cartel.” He leveled a hard stare at me. “But right now, you need to be sharp. Ted was right. Emotions are high and will also get you killed if you’re not focused.”
I was torn between two magnetic pulls, both equally powerful, both equally devastating. But he was right. Fran and Grace were counting on me to be the man they knew me to be —a powerful man who took no prisoners and would bring them home.
“Up ahead.” Duke pointed out the windshield. “We’re approaching Weeping Meadow.”
I eased up on the gas. “You take the car to the other farm. I’ll meet you there.”
We both grabbed our guns, checked the clips, and readied the firearms.
Then I dove my hand into the duffel bag behind the passenger seat and retrieved two flashlights and two sets of night vision binoculars. “We’ll need these.” Duke and I were always prepared for anything.
“One last thing,” Duke said. “Share your location with me on your phone, and I’ll do the same. That way, if our signals hold, each of us will know the other’s location.”
I was stoked that he had his wits about him.
Armed and ready, we climbed out of the SUV.
Duke skirted around to the driver’s-side door, then we exchanged a bro hug.
“Stay safe,” he said. “Meet you on the other side.”
“Duke, save Grace for me, please.”
He gave me a weak smile. “If I know my sister, she’ll save herself.” Then he sped off.
In a lot of ways, Grace was so much like Duke. She didn’t want help. She was stubborn. She had fire in her. And she had a calculating way of handling things. But I wanted to be her knight in shining armor. I wanted to be the one to save her, to show her that she didn’t have to fight on her own. But Duke was right. Grace wouldn’t forgive herself if anything happened to Fran.
And right now, my daughter needed her father more than ever.