Chapter 7
Devlin
Walking into the conference room on the third floor of my building, I found a team of faces looking back at me.
James lifted his chin and stood from his chair as Aubrey, Lucian, Regan, Rhys, and Freddie, our head of communications, along with at least eight other people, returned to their work.
Everyone was typing away, looking for any sign of who took Elise.
“I heard Hawk threatened the doctor to get him to release you,” James said as he moved me to the side of the room.
“I’m not dying, so I need to help.” Looking at the table, I asked loud enough for everyone to hear, “What have you uncovered?”
Lucian lifted his eyes. “We found the video of your ambush.” He shook his head and explained, “They were bush league, at best. The only reason they got the drop on you was because they came in ready to shoot.”
“Who are they?” I inquired, moving slowly over to where he was sitting at the large wooden table. “Show me.”
He looked at James, and I yelled, “I said show me.”
My brother’s cold blue eyes lifted to me as he stood from his seat. He pointed his finger at me as he said, “I know you’re worried and low on blood, but watch your fucking tone with me, little brother.”
“Fuck you, Lucian,” I returned, and James moved to step between us.
“Everyone calm the fuck down,” James yelled, and Lucian took a step back, holding his hands in the air.
“I’m going to get some fresh air,” Regan stated. “Does anyone want to join me?”
Everyone vacated the room except Lucian, James, Skid, and Rhys.
I’d guess they didn’t want to be around when one of us started swinging, and I couldn’t blame them, but I needed them to get back to work.
They were the only ones who could find my Lamb, and by the time on the clock, she had been away from me for almost nineteen hours.
That was nineteen hours of her being subjected to God knows what by someone brash enough to come after me. I felt the ice fill my chest as I raked my hands through my hair while I took a seat. Lifting my eyes, I simply said, “I’m sorry.”
I hated to apologize, but I was being overbearing in my demands. I needed to give them a chance, so I sighed and asked again, “Can you show me what you uncovered?”
Lucian retook his seat and began typing as James took a seat beside me. I knew they were giving me grace, but I couldn’t speak of that right now. I needed to know where Elise was so I could go and rescue her.
The large monitor that hung on the wall lit up as Lucian’s video began to play. I saw Elise from the back, and I asked, “Which camera was this?”
I didn’t have cameras mounted directly on any trees, afraid they would be spotted by the locals enjoying the park. Lucian began to explain as he typed. “I found an angle that I could zoom in. It was from a camera the city installed near the playground.”
Elise reached out to me, and when I saw a man walk up behind us with a gun trained on me, I felt my head gripping into the armrests of the chair.
The man fired a round at me as someone stepped behind Elise and snatched her off the ground.
I couldn’t see his face, but I could see the man who shot me step over me, saying something to Elise as she was dragged out of the frame.
Lucian stopped the video and turned to face me. “I couldn’t find an image of the man who took her, but I was able to run the man who shot you through your system. It’s still working on a comparison, but . . .” He paused and looked at James for guidance.
Lucian might be my brother by blood, but James was my brother by choice. He knew me better, and he knew how to speak when I was being unreasonable.
James explained where Lucian left off. “Lucian, Rhys, and I have been talking and none of us think this is syndicate business. We—and I mean I—believe this is Kendra and Bradon’s little production.”
“How can you be sure?” I asked my brother.
“Because of what the man who shot you said to Elise.” I gave him a confused look since I didn’t hear him say anything. James explained, “Freddie can read lips, and he said something about the madman. The Syndicate wouldn’t refer to you in that way, but those two definitely would.”
“And that gets us where?” I asked. “We still don’t know who they are or where they took her.”
I felt like we were going in circles and were powerless to stop it. The siblings were always an enigma to James and me, and that’s why I felt like we were missing the key pieces to locate them and where they took Elise.
It was Rhys who spoke first. “What do we know about Kendra and Bradon Mills?”
James answered, “Nothing, and that’s always bothered me.”
“What do you mean nothing?” Lucian asked and looked at me. “I thought they worked for you after you dealt with Marco.” I nodded, so he asked, “So, who are they?”
“Honestly, I’ve never known where they came from or who they are. They showed up one day, looking for jobs, and I was stupid to let them into our inner circle. But back then, I was fighting for every ounce of power and respect I could get, and they gave it freely.”
“Then we need to start with them,” Rhys stated and asked, “Do either of you have a photo of them? That will give us a place to start.”
“I have a small box of pictures upstairs in my office drawer,” I said and looked at James. “I can’t go up there without . . . can you ask Amaya to grab it for me? It’s a brass and mahogany box in my bottom left drawer near the back.”
He stood and pulled out his phone, typing into it before he lifted his eyes. “She’ll be down in a few minutes.”
A knock sounded into the room, and James opened the door before stepping to the side, allowing those who’d left back inside.
Without speaking, they retook their seats, and everyone got back to work.
James placed a laptop in front of me and with some pain pulling in my shoulder and chest from the gunshot, I started working through my system, looking for a trace of who took Elise.
“Found him,” Skid exclaimed, typing away as his computer overtook the large screen.
A grainy still shot from the video showing the man stepping over my body filled half the screen, and when he pressed a button, another image appeared alongside it. It was a mug shot from the Memphis Police Department dated two years ago.
I stood, feeling the first glimmer of hope since I’d awoken in the hospital room. “Who the fuck is Timothy Bartlett?”
The sound of furious typing filled the room as another knock sounded. James opened the door, and when he closed it again, he was holding the case I’d asked his wife to grab for us. He handed it to me, and I placed it down, focusing on the mugshot on the screen.
“He’s a low-level pickpocket and conman from Memphis. He’s been in prison twice for a year each time and has a mile-long list of petty crimes on his record,” Regan answered.
“He was registered for college in Knoxville six years ago, but it looks like he never attended” Freddie added.
“Timothy was in an accident three weeks before he was supposed to leave for college. He broke his left leg, and from all indications, he got hooked on pain killers, which caused the rest of his problems,” Skid reasoned.
“Where the fuck is he now?” I asked and heard more typing.
Regan answered, “His last known address was in east Memphis.”
“How did they get Elise out of there without being seen?” Rhys inquired.
That was a good question. Carrying an unconscious woman out of the park over your shoulder should have drawn attention, even in the evening. So, how did they get her out?
“I think I have something,” Aubrey interjected, pointing at her screen.
Skid leaned over, looked at her monitor, and nodded.
She sent her image to the large screen, and a rental contract appeared on the monitor.
“It looks like his license was used to rent a truck from Nashville the day before yesterday. He has to return it to the dealership by noon tomorrow.”
Her eyes lifted to me, and I looked at James. “We’ll get someone over there to sit on the dealership.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Aubrey stated and pulled out her phone. She dialed a number and put the call on speaker.
After two rings, it was answered. “Thank you for calling Third Steet Rentals. This is Bill.”
Aubrey’s voice turned sweet and bubbly as she spoke.
“Yes, sir. I’m hoping you can help me. My boyfriend rented a truck a few days ago from you to move some furniture, and I lost my cell phone which had his number in it.
I need to touch base with him and don’t have the number memorized. Is there any way you could help me?”
“Normally, we can’t give that information out, but I understand not remembering anyone’s numbers.” He paused and said, “If you’ll verify some of his information, I’ll be able to give you his number.”
“Oh, thank you so much. You’re my savior,” she gushed.
She verified all the information he requested before he gave her the phone number.
It was highly entertaining to watch her smile and bat her eyes during the call, putting on the full act for the clueless man.
When she disconnected, she lifted her eyes to the room.
Regan was chuckling while the rest of us were in shock.
“How . . . how did you do that?” Lucian asked. “That’s confidential information he gave you.”
Aubrey shook her head and smiled as she simply stated, “Men are easy to manipulate. You all want to save the girl, even if she’s capable of saving herself. By playing clueless and praising his assistance, he folded, just like you all do.”
As Aubrey began to type into her computer, I thought about what she said and realized she had hit the nail on the head. We all wanted to save the girl in some way or another.
A map overtook the screen and a dot appeared, moving slowly along a road. Aubrey pointed and explained, “I hacked into his phone and turned on the location tracker that’s secretly installed on every device, making them tracible even if the phone is powered down.”
I stood, pushing the chair back with my legs as I asked, “Is that where he is now?” Aubrey nodded, and I asked, “Can you send a link to my phone so I can track him in real time?”
“Where are you going?” James inquired with that familiar twinkle in his eyes.
I smiled deviously and replied, “I’m going to find the man who shot me and took my Lamb from me. Then I’m going to pull his skin off in ribbons until he tells me where she is.”
“Holy fuck,” Regan said, and I looked at my newfound sister.
“Welcome to the Nightmare, little sister.”