39. Reath
39
REATH
I n the PSS control room, I watched Noah searching traffic cams.
“Weare can’t have just disappeared,” I clipped out.
“I’m looking for his vehicle, but he could be anywhere.” Noah looked up, face serious. “He may not even be in New Orleans anymore.”
“Auclair is in New Orleans.” I knew he was. He wouldn’t run.
My brothers were all there. Beauden, with a fierce scowl, and Dante leaning against the desk. Colt stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, while Kavner was studying data on the screens.
My brothers. These men had saved me. My last foster father would’ve killed me if it hadn’t been for them.
But they hadn’t just saved me physically. They’d become my family—by choice. They’d saved me in more ways than one.
Now, when I needed them, they’d dropped everything.
“I’ve got extra intel on Trent Weare.” Linc spun in his chair to face me. His fingers were flying over the keyboard. I knew he liked Frankie and wanted her back.
Not as much as I did.
My fingers curled. Had Auclair hurt her? Because of me?
I knew she’d be so afraid. I’d promised to keep her safe, and I’d failed.
Auclair had a snake in DARPA and I hadn’t thought of that. I had no fucking clue why a man of Weare’s experience would take Frankie to Auclair.
“What have you got?” I asked.
“Weare’s ex-wife,” Linc said. “They divorced two years ago. She’s French.”
I straightened. “Is there a link to Auclair?”
“Not at first glance. But she has a brother who lives in France. He got himself mixed up in the wrong crowd. Guns, drugs. Weare helped to get him in the clear and then into rehab.”
I frowned. “Is the brother linked to Auclair?”
Linc shook his head. “Nope, but for a bit of time, he ran with a Maurelle Deschamps.”
“Auclair’s wife,” I breathed. “Auclair must have helped Weare, and in return, he must’ve owed Auclair a favor for extracting the brother.”
“And now he’s called it in,” Dante said darkly.
“Find her, Noah. Auclair is planning to kill her.” I bowed my head, fighting back the pain.
A hand pressed my shoulder. It was Kavner. “This is not your fault.”
“It is. Auclair wants revenge against me. Frankie is his ticket.”
“We are going to find her,” Beau said.
My cell pinged, and I pulled it out. I stilled. I had a message from a blocked number.
I swiped the screen and opened it.
My gut clenched. It was a picture of Frankie tied to a chair. Auclair stood behind her, holding her chin.
I cursed.
My brothers crowded around to look.
“Well, it confirms Auclair has her,” Colt said quietly.
“She doesn’t look afraid, Reath,” Kav said.
No . There was a fierce glint in her eyes, that familiar sass.
But I knew that inside, she’d be terrified.
I dragged in a deep breath. “Noah, I’m sending you this photo. I need a location.”
Noah tapped and a second later, the picture of Frankie and Auclair filled the screen on the wall.
Beau frowned. “In the background… What is that?”
“It’s a Mardi Gras float,” Dante said.
“There’s metadata on the image,” Noah said. “She’s in a warehouse not far from here. Down on the Mississippi. It’s used to store Mardi Gras gear.”
A map popped up on the screen with a red dot by the water. My jaw was so tight it hurt.
“It’s a trap,” Colt murmured.
I nodded. “He wants us to go there.”
Beau stepped forward. “We need to prep—”
I cut him off. “There’s no time. Auclair is going to kill her.” I strode to a cabinet at the far end of the room and pressed my hand to the lock. It beeped, then opened to the weapons locker.
Inside, weapons were lined up neatly and backlit.
“Whoever is coming with me, grab a weapon.” I pulled out a rifle.
“Reath.”
At Dante’s voice, I looked up. My brothers all stood in a row.
“We’re all coming,” Dante said. “We’re helping you bring Frankie home.”
My throat felt tight. “Then let’s move.”
I charged through the side door of the warehouse, my weapon up. Beau was right beside me.
We moved fast, working in sync.
We went down a row of half assembled floats, searching for Frankie.
“There are lights on over there,” Beau murmured. “Back corner.”
I nodded and changed direction. I knew that Dante, Kavner and Colt were coming in from the other end of the warehouse.
There was no sound. Nothing.
I turned a corner. Hold on, Frankie.
Suddenly, music started. I spun. Beau and I whipped our guns up.
Lights blinked on one of the floats, music pumping from it.
My brothers appeared.
“Turn that off,” I gritted out.
No doubt another of Auclair’s games. I moved toward the lights. Then my chest constricted.
The lights were illuminating an empty chair.
And the body of a man on the ground.
She wasn’t here.
I lowered my weapon and struggled to control the emotions fighting inside me.
“Dammit,” Dante muttered behind me.
I strode forward. I stared dispassionately at Trent Weare’s dead body. The bastard had killed Axe and abducted Frankie. I couldn’t dredge up much sympathy. “It’s Weare.”
“Not how he expected this to end,” Beau said.
“You can’t trust a man like Auclair.”
I studied the ropes tied to the arms of the chair. They were hanging loose, and I saw blood on one.
She’d struggled so much to get free that she’d bled.
“Look,” Colt said.
There was a polaroid photo and a voice recorder resting on the chair.
I picked up the photo. It was the same as the one Auclair had sent to my phone. My Frankie, defiant and brave.
I lifted the recorder and hit play.
“You’re too late, Fury,” Auclair’s voice rang out.
“Smug bastard,” Beau muttered.
“I’ve taken her where you’ll never find her. She’s locked up tight…and running out of air.” He laughed.
I ground my teeth together.
“You killed Maurelle fast, but Francesca’s death will be slow. And she’ll know that you are to blame.” There was a shuffling noise. “Plead for your life, so he can hear you.”
“Screw you!”
At Frankie’s sharp voice, my pulse leaped.
“Ow, she bit me,” another man said.
Beside me, Beau chuckled.
“Enough,” Auclair snapped. “Get her out of here.” There was a pause. “Fury, enjoy the helplessness of knowing she’s dying, and there’s nothing you can do. I know you’ll try to find her, but you won’t succeed.”
The recording ended.
I had no clue where he’d taken her.
We were at a dead-end.
I looked up at my brothers. “I don’t know where to look next.”
Colt lifted his phone. “I’ll update Noah. They had to have a vehicle to transport her. He can check traffic cams.”
Frankie .
I felt pressure building in my chest. Images flowed in my head like a movie—Frankie smiling at me, the way she sang off-key in the shower, the way she got lost in her work.
I could lose her.
No . I dug deep and found my control, my focus.
She needed me. I wouldn’t let her down.
I glanced at the chair and touched her blood. Then I spotted something on the dirty floor.
“Wait.” I shoved the chair away and switched on the flashlight on my phone. I held it up.
“Scuff marks,” Colt said. “Someone scuffled.”
“Look at this.” I crouched.
Kav leaned over. “Are those…letters?”
“Yes.” I grinned. “Written in smudged blood. Smart girl. She left us a clue.”
“It looks like C-R-Y-O.” Colt frowned. “Cryo? What’s that mean?”
“Maybe Auclair’s putting her in the fridge somewhere?” Kav suggested.
I snapped several pictures of the letters. “I’ll get this back to PSS. It means something.”
And I needed to work it out fast.