Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LEON - PRESENT DAY
Over two hours on country roads in the rented SUV and we finally reach our destination. Tall iron gates loom ahead, flanked by two security lights. The moment I lay eyes on the C that sits in the center, memories spring to the surface of my mind.
I’ve been here before. How had I forgotten?
We park off the road, hiding the SUV in between two massive trees, and walk closer to the gate.
“This is it?” Damon asks, walking beside me on the edge of the tree line.
I nod, unable to form words. Each step closer makes my chest clench. I feel like I’ve been transported back in time to a seven-year-old boy clutching his mum’s hand as she led him up this same unpaved road.
“Be sure to stand up straight, Leon. Shoulders back. Your father doesn’t tolerate slouching.”
“But Mum, I don’t want to—”
“Please, love. Just for today. Be the young gentleman I know you can be.”
Jasper shifts beside me, pulling me back to the present. “Security looks tight. Motion sensors on the perimeter, cameras every fifty feet.” He points to the barely visible devices mounted along the fence line. “Guard shack by the main entrance, but I haven’t seen movement since we pulled up.”
Now Jasper’s more alert than me. I need to pull myself together. One fuck up and we could be in trouble. I gesture for them to stop, and head a few steps away from the road. “Let’s call Falin, see if she’s found any more blueprints of the layout. Maybe there’s another way in.”
I pull out my phone and dial Falin. She answers right away.
“Tell me you’re not in trouble already.”
“Define trouble,” I answer, getting a snort from Jasper.
“Leon, I’m serious. I’ve been digging deeper into your father’s estate, and this place is locked down tighter than Fort Knox. Professional security, rotating guards, the works. You were right… something’s definitely going on there.”
“What about entry points?” I ask, crouching behind a fallen log as headlights sweep past on the main road behind us.
She huffs, and I hear her fingers clacking along the keyboard. “There’s a main entrance, gated. And it looks like there’s some kind of maintenance entrance on the eastern perimeter of the estate.”
I repeat the information to the guys. But Falin cuts in.
“I doubt the second entrance is clear. I’ve been digging… Your father is paying an elite security company, and not just chump change, a lot of fucking money, Lee.”
“It’ll be fine, we’re just checking it out. I promise we won’t go charging in.”
“Right,” she says, her tone cynical. “You three never do that.”
I ignore her sarcasm. “How far is the second entrance?”
“About half a mile east from the main gate. Leads to some outbuildings according to the property records. Otherwise, it’s the middle of nowhere.”
“Thanks,” I say, ending the call. She’ll be pissed at my abruptness but I don’t have time to sit around and chat.
I push up from the log and study the estate through the trees, paying extra attention to the precise spacing of the security lights, the way the cameras are positioned to eliminate blind spots. Falin’s right, this place is a fortress. If we get any closer, we’ll set them off.
I feel ill.
“Let’s head in that direction,” I say, pointing toward the secondary entrance. “There may be less security.”
“So through all these trees?” Damon asks. “You sure you don’t want to come back in the morning?”
“We drove all this way, might as well see what we find.”
“I love a good night hike,” Jasper says, starting to trek between tree trunks.
Damon follows, and I take up the back. “We just need to stay far enough away to not set off any motion detectors. I wish I brought my signal jammers… I don’t have all my gear from back home.”
“Aww, he’s calling New York home,” Jasper says.
“Yes, well, don’t get all sentimental on me. I—”
Suddenly, alarms shriek across the estate grounds. Floodlights blaze to life, transforming the darkness into pools of glaring white. Not pointing toward us. Pointed within the grounds.
We dash behind a nearby tree, guns aimed, frozen. My hand shakes on the grip.
“Something’s happening,” I breathe, watching as armed security guards pour out of hidden positions across the estate.
“Holy fuck,” Jasper says. “I count at least five.”
“And that’s only what we can see,” Damon adds.
“They’re not coming this way. Why aren’t they coming this way?” Jasper asks, sounding just as bewildered as I feel.
“Movement!” Damon points into the distance. “Two figures, running!”
Through the chaos of lights and alarms, I catch sight of them. Two people sprinting across the open lawn, heading far from our view. One stumbles, and the other immediately turns back to help.
A guard isn’t far behind, yelling for them to get down. More of them are advancing from multiple directions.
Through my pounding heart and adrenaline-fueled mind, a singular thought surfaces.
“We have to help them,” I say, already moving toward the fence.
“Lee, what the fuck—” Damon starts, running after me.
“Let’s go! ” I tuck my gun away and grab the iron bars. “Someone’s running for their lives in there.”
“Bro, think for a second!” Jasper says, catching up. “Those cameras will snag us the second we cross this gate.”
“Good. Let them come.” Maybe my father will see me, there’s no turning back now. I pull myself up, finding footholds in the ornate metalwork.
Behind me, I hear Damon curse under his breath. “You’re going to get us all killed.”
“Probably,” I admit, swinging my leg over the top of the fence. “You coming or not?”
The sound of Jasper’s boots hitting metal tells me his answer. “Fuck it. I’m in.”
“This is insane,” Damon mutters, but he’s already climbing.
I drop to the ground on the other side, my boots sinking into the damp earth, and immediately sprint toward where the two figures disappeared. The estate’s alarms are deafening, blocking out the sound of the guards, but I hear Jasper and Damon’s labored breathing behind me.
“Where?” Jasper murmurs, asking the same question I’m thinking. Did they manage to hide, to get away?
The grounds are massive. Rolling hills and sprawling green, gardens and pruned hedges, random stone paths leading in the opposite direction of the treeline. I remember this place looking like something out of my fairytale picture books, too bad the reality never matched the vision.
We crouch and take slow steps forward, eyes peeled for guards. I hope they didn’t get caught… that’ll make this so much fucking harder.
“There.” Damon points toward a stone fountain ahead. “Something moved.”
“Might not be them,” I say, but head in that direction anyway. The fountain provides good cover while we catch our breaths. Its trickling sound blocks out our voices.
“This is nuts, bro,” Jasper says. “Your dad lives like a king.”
“Not my dad,” I correct. Dad implies he’s a part of my life. He’s been there from the start. “Sperm donor is more like it.”
Jas nods, dropping the subject.
“What the fuck do we do now?” Damon asks. As the words leave his lips, the alarms stop wailing.
“Shit,” I whisper.
A twig snaps to our left, and within seconds a guard jogs down a path right toward us. I hold a finger up to my lips, and pull my gun out. The guys do the same.
His radio crackles, and a voice comes through. “Check in.”
Holding it up to his lips, he says, “No visual on the escapees. Circling the fountain garden for the trespassers.”
Bloody wonderful. They know we’re here. I guess I knew that was bound to happen.
“Escapees?” Jasper mouths.
I knew it. They’re running away from here.
The guard’s flashlight sweeps in our direction. We press farther against the fountain, hiding in the shadows, but it’s only a matter of moments before he finds us.
“Shit,” Damon whispers. He raises his gun an inch and I know what he’s thinking.
We’re fighting our way out of here.
The beam catches the edge of Damon’s jacket. The guard holds the light there, his hand moving to his weapon.
“Go!” I cry.
We scatter in different directions as the guard shouts into his radio. “Multiple contacts near the fountain! Requesting backup!”
Damon’s on his feet first, circling wide to get behind the guard. Jasper goes left, using the fountain for cover. I stand, dropping my gun and putting my hands up, keeping his attention focused on me.
“Stay right there!” the guard yells, his weapon pointed at my chest.
I take a step forward, into the light. “Easy, mate. Just out for a walk.”
“Get on the ground,” the guard calls.
I lower myself, keeping my eyes trained on Damon, who’s slowly creeping behind the guard. This is exactly what we wanted.
“Look,” I tell him. “There’s been a misunderstanding. I’m a guest. I—”
Damon attacks from behind, wrapping his arm around the guard’s throat in a sleeper hold. The man struggles, thrashing, but Damon’s done this move before, and within seconds, he’s gone limp. Damon lowers him gently to the ground.
“Nice,” Jasper says, stepping out of the shadows.
I tuck my gun away, and grab the man’s radio, switching it off. “We don’t have long before that backup he called for comes our way.”
“So let’s move,” Damon says.
But where to? The estate ahead, or back toward the treeline?
Damon starts heading toward the trees, so I don’t put up a fight. There’s more coverage in the canopy of oaks… more shadows. We walk with careful but brisk steps, continuously scanning our surroundings.
“There,” Jasper points ahead.
Voices carry through the trees, now. Sharp and commanding mixed with pleading. We move toward the sound, our footsteps muffled by fallen leaves and overgrown grass.
Through the brush, I spot movement. It looks like a small clearing ahead. People… at least four. We get low, stepping closer.
There’s two guards in full tactical gear like they’re in a war zone. They’re standing in front of two figures. Women, by the looks.
“Let’s go!” one of the guards says. “Back to the house!”
They grab hold of their arms, dragging them while they cry and plead. One of them loses their footing, earning another sharp remark from a guard.
A flashlight beam shines directly at her face.
My world stops.
Those eyes, ocean blue and wide with fear. The same nose, the same round chin I’ve memorized from a thousand sketches. The same long brown hair, but tangled with leaves and debris. So much thinner than I remember, and without that sun kissed glow of summer, but unmistakably, impossibly...
“Bailey,” I exhale.
Jasper grips my shoulder, a ragged breath escaping his lips. Damon murmurs a curse, repeating her name. On instinct, I step toward her, but Jasper’s hand anchors me.
It’s been eighteen months of searching, of guilt, of wondering if she was even alive. Eighteen months of rereading her last text message, letting those words sit like a brick on my chest. Eighteen months of replaying every detail of our summer together knowing I’d never feel whole again.
And here she is, not twenty feet in front of me, being dragged through the woods by Alfred’s private army.
Every rational thought ceases to exist. All the careful planning, all the caution, all the strategy—none of it matters anymore.
She’s here. She’s alive.
And we’re getting her out.