Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
ANNISTON
I sit in the passenger seat of the truck, the mountain road curving gently beneath us as we make our way back to the cabin.
The afternoon light filters through the tall pines.
Banks is quiet beside me, his hands steady on the wheel, but I can see the tension in his jaw and the way his knuckles whiten every so often.
The motel visit has left us both reeling.
Billy Hawthorne was there, using Wyatt Rivers’ credit card, just a few miles from where we’ve been hiding.
The thought keeps turning over in my mind like a puzzle I can’t quite solve.
I glance over at him again, studying the strong line of his profile. “If your father was so close,” I ask softly, my voice barely louder than the hum of the tires on the dirt road, “do you think he knows we’re nearby? Maybe he’s searching for you. For all of you.”
Banks doesn’t answer right away. He keeps his eyes on the road, but I see his throat work as he swallows.
The silence stretches for a long moment, filled only by the occasional snap of a branch under the tires and the distant call of a bird somewhere in the trees.
Finally he exhales slowly. “Maybe,” he says, his voice low and rough.
“I honestly don’t know what to think anymore, Anniston.
If he’s using Wyatt’s card, he could be trying to stay off the radar.
Or he could be leaving breadcrumbs on purpose, hoping one of us picks them up.
Hell, he could be running from the same people who are after you. We just don’t know enough yet.”
I reach over and rest my hand on his thigh, feeling the solid muscle tense under my palm.
He covers my hand with his for a brief second, warm and grounding, before placing it back on the wheel.
We don’t know what to think about anything right now.
The whole situation feels like a tangled web, and every new thread only makes it more complicated.
His missing father. His missing brothers.
My own research that somehow links everything together.
It’s a lot to carry, but sitting here with him makes it feel a little less impossible.
When we finally pull up to the cabin, the familiar sight of the small wooden structure nestled among the pines brings a strange sense of comfort.
Banks parks and does his usual careful check of the perimeter before we head inside.
The air smells like damp earth and pine needles, and the late afternoon sun warms the front porch steps.
I follow him in, closing the door behind us with a soft click.
He immediately pulls out his laptop and sets it on the table, already thinking ahead.
“I want to go back through your USB drive again,” he says, powering it on. “There might be something we missed. Any mention of my dad, or that motel, or anything that could connect the dots we haven’t seen yet.”
I nod, rolling up the sleeves of my hoodie. “I’ll make us some lunch first. We both need to eat. You can’t run on coffee and worry alone, Banks. Let me take care of that part while you work.”
He gives me a small, tired smile that makes something warm flutter in my chest. “Yeah. Sounds good.”
I move into the tiny kitchen and start pulling things together from the pantry and fridge.
Canned tomatoes, a couple of onions, some garlic, dried pasta, and the last of the herbs we bought.
It’s nothing fancy, but cooking gives my hands something useful to do while my mind races.
I chop the onion slowly, the sharp scent filling the air and making my eyes water just a little.
The knife rhythmically hits the cutting board as I think about everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours.
Sadie is safe. That knowledge sits like a warm light in my chest, easing some of the constant worry that’s been gnawing at me.
Jace is with her. I still don’t know anything about him, but if he’s anything like Banks, she’s in good hands.
I sauté the onions and garlic in a pan, the sizzle and fragrant smell comforting in the quiet cabin.
Banks is typing softly at the table, his brow furrowed in concentration.
Every so often I catch him glancing up at me, and those gray-blue eyes make my stomach do a little flip.
I stir the sauce, adding the tomatoes and herbs, letting it simmer while the pasta water comes to a boil.
The simple tasks help ground me. I’m still so worried about what comes next, about the danger circling closer, about whether we’ll ever untangle all of this.
But underneath the worry, there’s relief.
Real relief. My sister is safe, and that makes everything else feel a little more manageable.
I carry two steaming bowls of pasta to the table along with some crackers and a couple of glasses of water.
Banks looks up from the laptop and his expression softens when he sees the food.
We sit down together, the wooden chairs creaking under us.
The first bite is warm and savory, the sauce tangy with just the right amount of garlic.
For a few minutes we eat in comfortable silence, the only sounds the clink of forks and the occasional creak of the cabin settling around us.
After a while I set my fork down and look at him. “Can I ask you about your brothers? Specifically Jace, since he’s with Sadie right now. I want to know what kind of person is looking out for her.”
Banks nods, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He takes another bite before answering. “Jace is… a lot. He’s built like a tank, all brute strength and muscle from years of close-quarters work.
But he’s also the most fun-loving out of all of us.
Never really takes anything seriously. He jokes his way through life, flirts with anything that moves, and acts like the world is one big game.
You’ll hear him laughing from a mile away.
Except when he’s protecting someone. Then he turns deadly serious.
No jokes, no charm, just pure focus. He works for a company called Sunbreak Security out of Sunbreak Harbor.
That’s where he lives when he’s not out hunting for Dad with the rest of us.
Nice little place by the water. He says the ocean keeps him sane. ”
I smile a little, imagining it. “Sadie’s going to give him such a hard time.
She’s the complete opposite. Very by the rules.
Organized to a fault. She doesn’t even know how to have fun anymore.
She probably already has a color-coded schedule for him and is lecturing him about proper safety protocols and not taking unnecessary risks.
I bet she’s driving him a little crazy right now. ”
Banks chuckles softly, the sound low and warm. “Jace could use someone like that. Might be good for him. He needs someone who’ll call him on his bullshit.”
We finish eating and I clear the bowls, rinsing them in the sink while Banks goes back to the laptop for a few minutes. When I sit back down across from him, he looks at me with those intense gray-blue eyes, something gentle in his expression.
“What about your parents?” he asks quietly. “You haven’t said much about them.”
I take a slow breath, tracing a finger along the edge of the table.
The question still stings a little, even after all these years.
“They both died when Sadie and I were young. Car accident on a rainy night. I was eight. Sadie was ten. It happened so fast. One minute we had a normal family, the next it was just the two of us trying to figure out how to keep going. Our aunt raised us after that, but we don’t really keep in touch with her anymore.
She did her best, but it was never the same as having our parents.
Sadie basically became my mom after that.
She still tries to look out for me, even when I make it difficult with all my whistleblowing and running from bad guys. ”
Banks reaches across the table and takes my hand. His thumb strokes over my knuckles, warm and comforting. “I’m sorry. That’s a lot to carry on your own.”
I shrug, even though the ache is still there. “It made us close. Sadie and me. That’s why I’ve been so worried about her. But knowing she’s safe with Jace helps more than I can say.”
He squeezes my hand and then leans back, his expression turning thoughtful.
“You asked about Jace. I’m just worried I’ll never see Nash and Sin again.
Nash is the steady one. Great at high-risk extractions, calm under pressure.
He just got back together with an old flame, Delaney.
They seem really happy. Like the real thing.
I’ve never seen him smile the way he does when he talks about her.
And Sin… he’s more surveillance, quieter, but sharp as hell.
He just met this reporter, Rowan. The way he talked about her before they got taken, I’ve never seen him like that.
He was actually excited. Smiling more. Laughing at her stories.
Now they’re both gone and I keep thinking about how much they have to lose if we don’t find them soon.
Nash and Delaney had just started building something real.
Sin was finally opening up to someone. I can’t lose them, Anniston. I.. uh, just can’t.”
His voice gets rougher toward the end, the worry plain in every word. I squeeze his hand back, wishing I could take some of that weight off his shoulders. “We’ll find them,” I say softly, meaning it with everything in me. “All of them. Your dad too. We’re not giving up.”
He looks at me for a long moment, something warm and complicated in his eyes. “Damn fucking straight we will.”
We spend the rest of the afternoon going through the USB files together at the table.
Banks points out connections I missed, and I show him patterns in the financial trails that I’d been chasing for months.
Every so often our shoulders brush or our hands touch over the laptop, and that quiet spark is still there, steady and reassuring.
I’m still worried about what comes next.
I’m terrified for his family and mine. But sitting here with him, working side by side, I feel a little less alone in all of this.
Banks’s phone rings and he answers it. “What’s up?” He mouths the words, ‘It’s Mack’ to me.
I nod.
“The blue pickup was pinged not far from here,” Banks says. “On it.” he hangs up, looking at me. “Want to go and check it out?”
“Yes,” I say too quickly.
“Same rules apply.”
I nod, already moving toward the front door.