REBECCA #3
His gaze shifts to Alessio. "And by extension... on Rachel’s." He gestures between us. "Before you came along, the Collector didn't know Beccs existed."
I open my mouth to defend Alessio, but Charly gently raises a hand, then turns back to Alessio. "I'm not saying it's your fault. I'm saying..." He searches for the words. "If she wasn't standing beside one of the most powerful men in Nevada... would this madman even know her name?"
Alessio doesn't get defensive. He doesn't make excuses. "You're right."
I blink. He looks directly at Charly. "My world found her because of me. There's no denying it. If she'd never met me... the Collector wouldn't know her." He tightens. "And I hate that."
Charly nods slowly. "I figured you would."
"But..." Alessio's voice turns thoughtful. "I don't think Rachel was ever invisible."
Charly frowns. "What do you mean?"
"I think the Collector knew about her long before any of us did." Alessio slowly rolls the bourbon glass between his fingers. "Rachel wasn't just another missing woman. She is a piece on his board."
I sit up. "Oh shit..." Three pairs of eyes turn toward me. "You think he had something to do with that entry in the database?"
Alessio frowns.
Charly gets curious. "What entry?"
I give him a quick rundown about Alessio's raid on the warehouse and freeing the trafficked women. Charly stares at Alessio as if seeing him for the first time.
"Anyway. There was a database, and Valentina, his in-house computer guru, found an entry about Rachel that looked tampered with.
She said whoever hacked into the trafficking database to mark Rachel as dead wasn't some script kiddie.
They knew exactly what they were doing. That they were...
sophisticated." I swallow. "If the Collector knew where Rachel was... why make her disappear?"
Alessio slowly shakes his head. "I don't know. But I don't believe in coincidences."
"Neither do I."
I stare out the window. Rachel. What aren't you telling me?
Because there is something. I can feel it.
The missing years. The escape. The truck driver.
The fake death in the database. Now the Collector.
None of it fits. It all points to something Rachel still refuses to say.
Anger and resentment reel inside my stomach.
I spent years looking for her. I crossed half the country.
Nearly got myself killed, more than once.
If she's protecting the Collector... or protecting someone connected to him...
that ends now. I love her. She's my little sister.
Nothing will ever change that. But she's no longer the only person I have to protect.
My gaze drifts to Alessio. He's sitting beside me, quietly planning how to keep Rachel safe...
without asking for a damn thing in return.
He didn't hesitate. Didn't complain. Didn't ask whether she deserved it.
He simply made it his problem because she's my family.
Warmth settles in my chest. Family. That's what he's become.
And if Rachel is keeping secrets that could put him... or any of us... in danger... I'm going to get to the bottom of it. Sister or not. Because this time... I'm not just fighting for Rachel anymore. I'm fighting for all of us.
"I don't know what part she was meant to play." Alessio shrugs once. "Or if he never intended to use her." His eyes meet mine. "But the moment Beccs started looking for her... she became a piece too."
A chill crawls up my spine.
"So you're saying..." Charly trails off.
Alessio picks up the thread. "If the Collector knew where Rachel was... he would've known someone was still searching for her. Eventually..." his gaze lingers on me, "...he would've found Beccs. Whether she ever met me or not."
The cabin falls silent. I hadn't thought of it like that. All those years. The flyers. The private investigators. The online databases. The questions. The phone calls. Every trail I'd followed. Every breadcrumb she'd left behind. Maybe... I'd been leaving a trail for someone else, too.
Charly rubs the back of his neck. "So either way... she was always going to end up on this bastard's radar."
Alessio doesn't look happy. "Yeah, unfortunately. He knew about Rachel; through her, he would have found Beccs and you. He just wouldn't have found me standing between them."
Charly rubs a hand over his chin. "I don't know whether to thank you... or punch you."
A corner of Alessio's mouth lifts. "I've had both reactions before."
"I'll bet." Charly exhales. "I still don't like what you do."
"I don't expect you to."
"But if what you're saying is true..." He glances at me. "Then walking away from you doesn't make her any safer."
Alessio holds his gaze. "No. It makes her vulnerable."
That answer hangs heavily in the cabin. Because everyone knows it's true.
Charly holds out his empty glass. "Any chance I can get another one?”
"Absolutely." Alessio takes the glass and refills it himself.
Charly sounds thoughtful. "You know… I really don't care for chess."
Alessio laughs. "Neither do I. But I'm pretty damn good at it."