Chapter Three Reed #3
“This isn’t just a tattoo. The ink’s laced with nano-tracer filaments we can monitor anywhere in the world.
The tattoo constantly transmits a faint baseline signal, like a biometric heartbeat.
” He fixed his shirt and removed a silver chain from his pocket with an oval-shaped pendant attached to it.
“This is the disruptor. When it’s active, it syncs with the lattice in the ink and creates a localized interference field.
Masks the signal completely and makes the tracker look dead. ”
“And Hollis has this tattoo? Chain?” I shouldn’t have been surprised her family had their own built-in spy gear. Rich-people shit.
“She does,” he confirmed. “Her tattoo is on her back.”
“Well,” I began, “clearly your sister put the chain on to keep whatever she was doing a secret from you. Sounds exactly like something she’d do.”
Gideon pocketed his chain. “She’d never go dark without giving us a heads-up. And she doesn’t run solo missions. Not ever.”
His rejection of that idea flatlined my heart.
“When I tell you my sister is in trouble, I damn well mean it,” he hissed, and his words were the final nail in the coffin of what was left of my wishful thinking.
“Is there anything else you can tell me? Anything that may be helpful that I should know so I can figure out what in the hell happened to her?”
When I checked on Audrey, it was clear the fog of denial had lifted, and she was currently stuck in worry mode.
And now I was about to join her—on a runaway train, going headfirst into worst-case scenarios.
But I hit the brakes when an important detail slammed into me: Hollis isn’t just anyone, she’s a force to be reckoned with.
A Category 5 hurricane. She’ll be okay. She still may have gone dark on purpose.
“Um, well, she showed up on Saturday acting a little off. Already had a few drinks before she came over.” Audrey stole a quick look at me, clearly knowing Hollis had had those drinks at my place.
“Maybe she was stressed about something.” I barely recognized the sound of my gravelly, strained voice.
Hollis was like me when it came to open books. One page turned. Not even to the copyright section. She as much as admitted that to me. So it was hard to know what was going on beneath the surface when it came to her, and the truth was, I was worried she’d think I gave a damn if I—
Gideon derailed my thoughts, pressing, “And how do you fit into this night my sister had?”
“Audrey wasn’t home, so she showed up to visit my dog.” I motioned to Ranger, and he lifted his head as if vouching for me. I decided to leave out the fact Hollis had broken in (like always).
Gideon removed his shades and tipped his head. His assessment was slow and controlled. Inch by calculating inch as he observed me.
“I’ve been out of town since Monday. Arrived home before sunrise this morning.” I leaned closer. “In case you plan on asking where I was, I sure as hell wasn’t in Italy.”
“And the night she was drinking?” He kept his glasses in his hand as he waited for me to answer.
“Your sister has good taste in bourbon. Offered it to me. We spoke barely five words. About four more than I’d have preferred.” That may have been an exaggeration, but he’d get the message that I wasn’t close to Hollis.
Gideon put on his glasses. “So, you don’t like my sister.”
I kept my mouth shut because now wasn’t the time for this—not with Hollis out there somewhere.
“Why would she lie to me about being on a trip with a guy after finally opening up to me this year?” Audrey asked softly. “I—I just don’t believe it.”
“I don’t know anything, or I wouldn’t have flown here, now, would I?
All I know is she checked in to a hotel in Rome under an alias, and that was the last place the signal on her phone pinged before it was shut off.
” He ran a hand over his mouth, jaw twitching, like he wanted to say more but chose not to.
Audrey asked what I’d been a second away from asking him myself. “Are you going to Italy to look for her?”
“Of course,” he grunted as if offended.
“Then my husband and his team are coming with you. We’re in this together, and she has to be okay, you hear me? I can’t be mad at her for lying to me again if she’s not. So bring her back safely so I can hug her before yelling at her. Don’t argue with a pregnant woman, and—”
“Why do you think I came here instead of picking up the phone to talk to you? As much as it pains me to ask, I need help. Most of my team is currently off-grid.” Gideon jerked a thumb toward his helo.
“My younger brother is on our plane at the airport. Meet us there in an hour. We should make it to Italy before the sun sets.” He started to turn, then paused and tossed out, “And yes, Secretary Chandler’s already aware you’re joining me. ”
Alex’s phone rang just as Gideon took off. “It’s Ryder,” he said before stepping aside to take the call.
“Are you okay?” I asked Audrey as Chase quietly distracted himself with Ranger.
“I—I can’t go through this again.”
Lies. Betrayal. Secrets. People she loved in danger. Yeah, I got it.
“I need to hear you say that you’ll do whatever it takes to bring her back to us,” she whispered.
“I promise we won’t come back without her.” I did my best to smile. “Besides, you know your best friend. She’s a stubborn pain in the ass. She won’t let anyone knock her down. If someone did take her”—I lightly squeezed her shoulder—“she’s probably driven them so nuts they’ve already let her go.”