Chapter Forty-One Reed
Chapter Forty-One
Reed
Sebastian set the phone on the table in the dining area and hit the speaker button as we all gathered around. Julian was still MIA, but Hollis could fill him in afterward.
I stared at the black rectangle between all of us like it might explode if the wrong word was said, then took Hollis’s hand in my own once again. She grounded me in a way I didn’t know how to put into words.
I still couldn’t believe I’d wanted to kill her brother not even thirty minutes ago, and now it was looking like he was innocent. I wasn’t so sure I’d ever believe my own eyes about anything going forward.
“Carter Dominick is also with me,” Sebastian announced, knowing that would hopefully seal the deal on getting Benjamin to talk. The two men weren’t known for using butter knives when it came to peeling back information.
My team was lucky we had their assistance. Then again, was it really luck? More like the Almighty had our backs and had brought us here together for a reason.
“What do you want to know? You’ve already sent the Costas after my son to question him. The Wyndham d’Aragons, too,” Benjamin responded, his voice notably shaky.
“The men who attacked Gideon’s sister, Celeste, were with you. You were at the rave. It was a cover for something. What for?” Sebastian asked, locking his arms over his chest.
Gwen shifted her laptop aside but kept it open, and the blinking cursor on her last line of code caught my eye as I waited for the answer. She was probably two keystrokes away from digging into Benjamin’s whole damn life if Carter or Sebastian gave the word.
“I need promises. Immunity from you all. Protection from anyone coming after me before I’ll speak,” he finally responded, and good, we were getting somewhere. He had to know something if he was shitting his pants and wanting us to save him.
Carter spoke up. “That depends on what you have to say. If you’re holding anyone hostage or had anything to do with Celeste getting taken, then—”
“Celeste is missing?” Benjamin cut him off.
“I’ve been found,” Hollis said in a low voice, not correcting the use of her other name. I had to assume most of the world knew her as Celeste, which was why they’d gone with that one.
“What happened to the man who was with me?” she pressed. “Your men fired at him, but he didn’t leave with you.”
“I don’t know. Seems to me we were both set up.
Used as bait to be drawn together for some reason.
” The line crackled from a deep breath. “A man messaged me claiming he had something of value that belonged to your family. He offered to sell it to me. Pages from a book. I didn’t believe him or think it was worth my time, but then he sent me two encrypted pages.
The original in Aramaic and the translated version in English, so I could make sense of it. ”
“And?” Hollis edged closer to the table.
“It proved to be of value, like he said.”
“How so?” I asked before anyone else could, tightening my hold of her hand, my pulse racing.
“It was an experimental drug. A truth serum on steroids. I tested it on a few subjects, and it worked.”
I leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Thought the drugs only worked on your mom’s side of the family?”
“Only the memory-loss one,” she clarified.
Great. This damn book really was dangerous in the wrong hands. Maybe it should have been destroyed in that fire.
“I was offered five more pages at a steep price,” Putcheski continued.
“He sent the location for the transaction to take place. He already knew my son was throwing a rave. I didn’t even know about that beforehand.
I was in Naples at the time, so I discreetly made my way to Rome that night.
But then I showed up, and the second I saw Celeste, I realized it was a trap.
I ordered my men not to kill you, just to scare you off.
I knew what would happen if we . . .” He let his words go for a moment.
“When Constantine and Gideon began asking my son questions and poking around, I knew something was fucked up, but I told my son to keep his mouth shut to protect him.”
“I think I believe you,” Hollis said, remaining even-toned and steady. “And you have no idea who sent you the pages and offered to sell you more?”
“No, but I can forward you the encrypted messages if I have your word my family is safe from being hunted by you all,” he responded a few quiet moments later.
Carter exchanged a quick look with Sebastian, then Ryder, before turning toward the phone.
“That fine line between good and evil you’ve been walking lately .
. .” The threat was loud and clear. “I need you to find your way back over to the side of good if you don’t want to make an enemy of us.
And destroy that drug, ensure it’s never used again by you or anyone. ”
The man cleared his throat. “I can do that.”
“I believe in redemption. Everyone can be saved, even the worst of us. I’m a living testament to that.” I wasn’t sure why Carter’s words hit so damn hard, but they slammed into me.
Gwen joined in without introducing herself. “Texting you the email to send us the information.”
“I’d strongly advise you to stay put until this situation is resolved, am I clear?” Carter ordered, then didn’t wait for confirmation and killed the call.
For a moment, no one moved. The air became heavier, like Benjamin’s admission (and semi-innocence) had dropped a new weight onto all of us.
Hollis broke the quiet first as Gwen pulled her laptop in front of her to begin working.
“Putcheski was manipulated and used for one purpose: to draw me out. I clearly thought he was there to buy or sell the book, because that’s what I was after.
Someone expected it to go down exactly as it did.
Kylo would protect me, and I’d attempt to escape using our preplanned exit route. ”
“Does this mean what I think it means?” she whispered. “Kylo set me up that night—right down to my escape plan into those tunnels—didn’t he?”