Chapter 22
—You know that little voice in your head that says “Punch him in the dick”? Listen to it.—
One hour earlier
Lucy couldn’t go back to sleep after Leighton’s abrupt departure. No way could she rest well—or at all—while worrying about him, so she took the world’s fastest shower before dressing in jeans and a comfortable sweater. Not her normal go-to wear but she was all about comfort right now.
Downstairs, she nearly backed out of the kitchen when she saw a woman sitting there, drinking coffee, but knew that would be beyond rude. She just wasn’t up for a lot of conversation.
The woman, who she’d seen but hadn’t been introduced to, gave her a smile. “Hi. You’re Lucy, right? I’m Darcy, Brooks’s wife.”
“Yes, it’s nice to meet you.” Lucy smiled as she stepped into the room. Immediately she headed for the coffee pot. “Though that seems weird to say, considering the circumstances.”
The other woman laughed lightly. “I know, right? Hadley and I flew in to surprise our men and of course they run right into danger as soon as we get here.”
“So…you don’t have, like, military training or anything?” Lucy asked, sitting across from the pretty brunette. Because she knew Skye did, and she was fairly certain Nova had some sort of training as well.
Darcy blinked then let out a loud laugh. “Not just no, but hell no. I’m a wedding planner. I have combat training if you consider the bridezillas I deal with, but that’s about it.”
Lucy found herself smiling despite the worry winding its way through her system. “This feels like an obvious question, but don’t you worry about your husband all the time?”
“Oh yeah. When he’s off doing whatever they do, yes. I try to block it out, and staying busy with work—which I love—helps.”
Lucy looked down at her coffee, not sure if she felt worse or better.
Darcy continued. “I wish I could say it gets easier but…it doesn’t. Not really. But they’re very trained. Including Leighton, which I’m sure you already know.”
She gave a grateful smile to the other woman who was clearly going out of her way to make Lucy feel better. “He told me a little bit about what he did before, but it helps to hear that he’s trained. I’m still scared for him.” The fear was wearing away at her.
Two other women walked into the kitchen at that moment. She’d met both of them, albeit briefly, and smiled politely.
Nova and Hadley both returned her smile and practically raced each other for the coffee pot. Nova beat Hadley by a second and gave an evil cackle as she started the Keurig machine. “Don’t get in the way of me and my coffee or I will shed blood.”
“That’s mean, woman. My man was just shot. I feel like you should be a little nicer.”
“He was barely grazed,” Nova said teasingly even as she wrapped an arm around the other woman’s shoulders. “And I heard you two going at it a couple hours ago, so I’m pretty sure he’s gonna live.”
“Gah! You heard us?”
Now Nova dissolved into laughter. “No, but you just admitted that you two were getting busy. Which makes your claim even sadder. If your man can handle sex, you get no special treatment.” She picked up her mug with a grin.
“You’re sneaky,” Hadley muttered, a smile tugging at her lips.
It was clear these women had a good relationship, and Lucy found herself almost envious of it. Because of the way she’d been raised, she didn’t have many girlfriends. Sure, she was friendly with most of the staff, but because of her position it was impossible to be actual friends with people you might have to fire one day. She’d always felt like she missed out on having a best friend growing up, and right now only drove the point home.
She wondered if it was weird to hope that one day she’d be friends with these women. Real friends. Then she shoved the thought away as something ludicrous. Despite what Leighton said to her, Lucy was a realist. She wasn’t thinking about the future with him. It would hurt too much to imagine a future where he wasn’t in it.
So she wasn’t going to.
Before her thoughts could get too self-pitying, Senior strode into the kitchen fully dressed and looking fully awake. Damn. She felt as if she was barely functioning but he looked ready to take on an army.
“You didn’t get enough coffee earlier?” Senior’s tone was dry as he looked at Nova.
She lifted a shoulder. “Never.”
Shaking his head, Senior stepped fully into the kitchen. “I’m sick of takeout. I can whip us all up some omelets if you guys are hungry?”
Lucy felt too shy to respond first but the other women all said yes, so she simply nodded.
“That’s what I like to see, a man at work in the kitchen,” Nova said, grinning at the older man.
Lucy had a feeling she was really going to like Nova.
As the other women talked amongst themselves and Senior started making breakfast, she soaked it all in and tried not to worry about Leighton. Though that was an impossibility. Nothing could stop her mind from working.
It was going a million miles a minute. Her thoughts were consumed with Leighton, and of course her uncle. Did her uncle know about her involvement with these people? Were the Feds really going to arrest him? And would the charges stick? That was the main thing. So much was up in the air right now and she had no answers.
Shaking herself out of her thoughts, she nearly jumped when her phone buzzed in her jeans pocket, indicating a text. She’d only brought it downstairs in case Leighton contacted her.
She didn’t recognize the number but clicked on the link.
Her chest tightened when she saw Nathan tied to a chair, one eye swollen shut, his head lolled to the side. Blood crusted the side of his mouth as he breathed in and out.
There was a timestamp on the video, and she recognized some of the labeled boxes. He was being held at the casino.
“Oh my God,” she said aloud before she could stop herself.
Another text came through almost immediately after the video. I have a proposition for you. Meet me at the casino in storage room 6C within twenty minutes or your friend dies. If you involve the cops, your friend dies. If you bring anyone with you, your friend dies.
With shaking fingers, she tried calling the number but it went straight to a generic voicemail. It was likely one of those TracFones.
“What’s wrong?” Darcy asked.
That was when she realized all of them were staring at her.
She slid off her stool and stood up. She felt almost numb. “My friend has been kidnapped. And roughed up. Maybe tortured. He’s at the casino.” She held out her phone and Senior grabbed it before anyone else could.
He frowned even as she was already reaching for it.
“I don’t care what you say, I’m going,” she snapped, preparing for an argument.
Her phone buzzed again. Remember, if you call the cops, I put a bullet in his head, princess.
Ice cut through her as she shoved her phone in her back pocket. Only one person called her princess. Marco. Now he had a “proposition” for her? What the hell was that about?
“You can’t stop me from going,” she said again, looking at Senior now. “I think I know who has my friend.”
“Not gonna stop you. But you’re not going alone,” Senior said, rounding the center island. “And we’re not going unarmed. And you’re definitely not going looking like you are now.”
Surprised by his reaction, she blinked. “You’re not going to fight me?”
“I have a feeling you’re not staying here unless I tie you up, and I’m not keen on that idea.
“Good, because I’m not letting my friend die. But I know that hotel a heck of a lot better than he does,” she said. “I think the man who took him is someone who works for my uncle. He’s the only one who calls me princess. He doesn’t work at the hotel but he has a lot of access there.”
Senior nodded as he took her arm gently. “Come on, we need to get you in disguise so he won’t recognize you on any security cameras.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.” A great one, actually. “Look, I recognize that room Nathan is being held in. It’s not the storage room he told me to go to. So if he wants me to go to 6C, we’re not going there. We should just go to where Nathan’s being held then call the cops.”
Senior nodded even as he pulled a gun out of one of the kitchen drawers on their way out.
She blinked in surprise. What the hell? They stored their guns in the kitchen? Whatever—she’d contemplate that insanity later.
Nova tried to stop them from leaving, but eventually decided on joining them when she couldn’t get ahold of Gage.
Lucy didn’t want to be doing this, but there was no way in hell she was just going to sit back and do nothing while her friend was murdered. And she couldn’t risk calling the cops. Because Marco would see the police coming a mile away. They would have to follow a certain protocol. And Nathan would end up dead.
Nope. That wasn’t going to be on her conscience.
* * *
“Your uncle could be there too,” Senior said as the three of them approached The Sapphire barely fifteen minutes later.
Lucy had worked on her disguise on the way, putting on a platinum blonde wig, fake reading glasses, and a sweatshirt with a pink sequined flamingo on the front. The thing was ridiculous but Nova said it was good as part of her cover.
Since Lucy had no experience with this kind of thing, she was taking Nova’s advice.
Her phone dinged again. Tick. Tock. Time’s almost up, princess.
She swallowed hard, reading the text. “He’s texted me again.”
“He won’t hurt your friend. Not yet. Text him back, tell him you’re caught in traffic. He has no idea where you are right now,” Nova said calmly from the front seat even as she made another phone call.
No doubt to Gage, who she kept trying to call.
Lucy did as she said, texting back, hoping her franticness came through in a freaking text. Nathan couldn’t die. He simply couldn’t. She wouldn’t forgive herself if that happened.
Tick, tock was the only response she got.
Nausea rose inside her but she ruthlessly shoved it down as Senior turned into the employee section of the parking lot. Wordlessly, she handed him a master keycard.
Senior swiped it over the keypad and the arm lifted, allowing them inside.
The keycard wasn’t linked to her specifically, but “management.” Still, she had a feeling Marco would be watching for her. If it was Marco, and if he was working with someone in security. And at this point, she couldn’t rule any possibility out, but she was operating on the thought that it was Marco.
“Go to the second floor,” she directed. “We’re going to use the employee entrance there, then take the closest service elevator to the third floor. It’s actually on the same level with the lobby. Some of the service elevators have cameras—most do, actually—but not all of them. Anyway, we’ll be in a private hallway that leads to where I’m supposed to go.”
“Are there stairs?” Senior asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll take the stairs so we’re not traveling together.”
“I only have this one keycard. You won’t be able to move around freely.”
The older man frowned, but didn’t respond as he pulled into a parking spot. “Nova, sit tight. Call the cops in five minutes.”
“What?” Lucy demanded.
“Look. The police definitely have their purpose. Right now we have no other backup. The cops need to be called no matter what. Nova has Marco’s name and description. She’s using a burner and she’ll tell them he’s waving a gun around the casino. So even if he kills us, he’s not getting out of here alive.”
Lucy couldn’t very well waste time and argue with them. And it wouldn’t matter anyway because she was pretty certain they’d just do what they wanted regardless. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Tick, tock, tick, tock. She could hear the damn clock ticking down in her head.
Heart pounding, she hurried across the half-full parking lot with Senior.
The man might be older, but he was in better shape than her, moving like an athlete as they reached the elevator. He wore a ball cap and kept his head angled down to avoid any potential cameras. Luckily she knew where all the cameras were, so they shouldn’t have a problem. Not until they reached the employee-only hallway. Then…they’d just have to wing it. At least she had on a disguise so it was very likely that if Marco was working with someone in security, he wouldn’t recognize her.
Not at first anyway.
She swiped the card against the reader, then wiped her damp palms against her jeans.
“Breathe,” Senior murmured. “Steady breaths will keep your oxygen flowing evenly. You need to keep a level head.” He didn’t even look at her as he spoke, just calmly stepped onto the elevator.
God, she wished she could be so cool and collected.
“And remember, he’s not going to do anything too stupid while he’s here.”
“Maybe,” she muttered. He’d clearly hurt Nathan at the casino. She felt sick again and suddenly she was glad that Nova would be calling the cops.
When they reached the right level, she took that steadying breath and stepped out with Senior. Almost immediately she saw Carlos, one of the maintenance guys, carrying a small ladder, walking in their direction.
Instinctively, she almost called out a friendly greeting, but then remembered her disguise. So she kept her eyes straight forward and acted like she knew where she was going.
“Three doors down is where I saw him being held,” she murmured to Senior even as they passed a woman she recognized who worked at one of the restaurants.
The woman didn’t even look up from her phone as she walked by, completely in her own world.
“Right here,” she murmured.
“How many cameras are on us?” He didn’t look up as he asked.
“A couple.”
Senior let out a frustrated sound, but reached for his weapon, which was tucked under his shirt. “No way around it,” he told her before opening the door. She knew he didn’t want her with him, but she couldn’t send this man, this stranger, in there alone.
She pulled up short next to Senior, who had his pistol drawn and was sweeping the mostly empty room. Mostly empty except for Nathan.
Who was leaning against one of the storage bins, his cell phone in hand.
“Lucy!” Nathan stared at her in shock, his one eye widening. The other was red and purple and the swelling looked worse.
“You got free,” she rasped out, relief threatening to flood her system. She started to move toward him, but Senior shot out his free hand, nearly clotheslining her as he stopped her.
“I’m sorry,” Nathan said, shame filling his blue eyes.
That was when it registered that…he hadn’t gotten free. He must have never been a prisoner in the first place. Oh, God. “But…your face.”
“It had to look real,” he murmured. “It’s not personal.”
Not personal? Was he kidding?
“We need to get out of here,” Senior murmured. “Toss your phone over here,” he ordered Nathan, his weapon still trained on him.
He’d given Lucy a gun too, but she didn’t plan to use it—didn’t want to touch it.
Nathan threw his phone on the ground even as Senior started pushing her back toward the door.
Lucy froze when she felt the cold steel of a gun at her neck.
Icy talons raked down her spine, freezing her in place.
“I like the blonde wig, princess.” Marco’s evil voice made her skin crawl. “Don’t even think about it,” he snapped when Senior started to turn. “Drop your weapon. Now, old man.”
Senior paused but let the weapon clatter to the floor.
Bins filled with various decorations they used around the casino filled the room, pressed up against the walls in neat little stacks. But there was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
A hard hand gripped the front of her neck as Marco pulled her back to his chest. That was when she felt his erection—and nearly lost it. He must have felt her gun because he pulled it out quickly, leaving her unarmed.
“Tie up the old man for now,” Marco snapped out to Nathan, who jumped to it when ordered. “Your uncle couldn’t even be bothered to kill you himself,” Marco murmured in her ear, his words like an oily film dripping down her spine.
She suppressed a shudder. “My uncle sent you?”
“He told me to get rid of you, to make it look like an accident. For once, I’m not following orders. Because I’m going to enjoy you first. You’ve always thought you were too good for me.” He yanked her even closer now, wrapping an arm around her from behind and grabbing her breast hard.
She cried out in pain, unable to stop the sound.
Nathan looked over from where he was pulling a zip tie around Senior’s wrists, his eyes widening. “You…didn’t say anything about this. You said you were just going to kill her. Not hurt her.”
Oh, so that made it okay. Asshole. She couldn’t believe she’d thought Nathan was her friend. He’d always been flighty and self-absorbed, but this…was insane.
Marco moved slightly behind her. There was a rustling sound then he tossed something at Nathan. A big bag of…ah, cocaine. Nathan jumped on it like a junkie, snatching it up and shoving it in his pocket.
“Get out of here and tell security there’s no problem down here. We’ll be gone by the time they get the cameras back up and running.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nathan muttered, hurrying out the door without looking at Lucy. He kept his eyes cast down as if he was ashamed.
Good. If she got out of this, she was… Hell, she just hoped she and Senior got out of this. “You disabled the cameras?” she asked, hoping to keep Marco talking for at least a little bit. If he was talking, he wouldn’t be hurting her. Or killing them. She hoped.
Ignoring her question, he dragged her over to Senior, who was zip-tied to one of the shelving rails, and kept his own gun up. “Who do you work for?”
“DEA,” Senior said without missing a beat.
And if Lucy didn’t know he was lying, she’d have believed him.
Marco whipped her around so fast, she tripped over her own feet. But he yanked her up by the throat, holding her in place as she struggled.
“Tell me the truth or I bend her over and rape her right in front of you.” Marco’s voice was cold, merciless, and she knew he’d do it if he thought Senior was lying.
No, he’d do it no matter what. That truth registered as her windpipe closed. She clawed and kicked at Marco, but he didn’t flinch. He was so strong.
Black spots danced in front of her vision as Senior yanked on his bindings.
“You’re killing her,” Senior ground out.
“Yep. Tell me who you work for.”
“FBI. We’re bringing your boss down tonight.”
The grip on Lucy’s throat loosened, but not by much. Sucking in a breath, she tried to jerk away from him, but he yanked her to him again, wrapping his arm around her throat this time as he held her close.
She felt wetness on her cheeks and realized she was crying. Her entire body felt numb, so she wasn’t sure how that was even possible.
“We know about the Feds,” Marco snarled. “But I don’t think you’re with them. The Feds would never bring a civilian into something like this. So that leaves a few options.” Suddenly, he shoved her away from him.
Lucy turned, elation punching through her even though she wasn’t free at all. But she was glad he wasn’t touching her anymore.
“Take your sweater off,” Marco snapped, his gaze on her now, his eyes bright with something she didn’t want to think about.
“What?”
“Sweater. Off.”
She wanted to say no, wanted to fight him, but knew that was likely to get her killed. Oh God, now she was really glad that Nova would have called the police. She just hoped they got here in time.
With trembling hands, she did as he said, lifting her sweater up and off. She clutched it in her fingers, holding it tightly at her side as Marco stared at her, his lecherous gaze sweeping over her as if he was imagining…things she didn’t want to think about.
“You’re definitely not a Fed,” Marco murmured, more to himself. “Because you don’t have any backup.” He paused at a buzzing sound. Then he pulled his phone out of his pocket—but his gun hand didn’t waver. He read something, cursed.
When he looked at Lucy, that gleam was back. “I’ll be leaving on a trip with your uncle very soon. Yes, he knows about the Feds. And they’re stupid enough to believe someone in his organization turned on him. So while they’re raiding his home, he’ll be long gone on his yacht.” His phone buzzed again, but he ignored it. “It’s only a shame I won’t have more time with you. Now take your pants off.”
She blinked at the suddenness of his order, at the brutal gleam in his eyes. He was going to rape her, then kill her right here. “No.”
“Take. Them. Off.”
“No.” If he wanted them off, he’d have to take them off himself.
He took a step toward her, then paused and swung his gun at Senior. “Do it or I kill him now.”
“Let him shoot me!” Senior struggled against his bonds, cursing and pulling at the entire shelf.
Tears blurred her vision as she reached for the button of her jeans. She wanted to fight him, but she couldn’t let him kill Senior. Oh, she was certain he was going to do it, but if she could just hold out—
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the door opening slowly. She couldn’t see who was entering, but they were moving methodically.
It was Leighton!
By sheer force of will she didn’t know she had, she didn’t look at him. And she prayed that hope didn’t show in her eyes.
Senior continued struggling, shouting now at how Marco was a “pathetic motherfucker.”
Marco didn’t take his gaze off her, however.
Even though she hated to do it, instead of shoving her pants down, she made a move for her bra instead. She needed all of Marco’s attention on her. And there was one surefire way to do that.
As she whipped her bra off, his eyes widened and he rubbed a hand over his crotch. When he did, everything else seemed to move in slow motion.
Leighton pounced like a lion, taking him down with a savage cry. The sound reverberated through the storage room as the two men hit the ground with a violent thud. Marco’s gun flew across the room and under one of the shelves.
Clutching her sweater to her, Lucy raced for it, trying to grab it, but couldn’t reach it.
“Knife in my back pocket,” Senior snapped out.
She grabbed it and cut him free as the two men continued to savagely beat on each other.
Senior shoved her back as they fought. She saw his fallen gun at the same time Marco must have.
He lunged for it but Leighton slammed his fist into Marco’s back with a resounding crack. Marco cried out in pain, but Leighton wasn’t done.
He slammed his fists into Marco over and over until he wasn’t moving.
“Son, stop!” Senior finally snapped.
Leighton looked up at them, his eyes almost glazed over as he stared between the two of them.
“Leighton?” she whispered.
At that moment, the door flew open. Two of their security team raced in, led by Nick, weapons up. They stared at all of them.
Nick trained his pistol on Leighton. “On the floor, hands above your head. Lucy, are you okay?” he asked even as Leighton complied. Even Senior raised his hands over his head.
“I’m okay. This man saved my life. Marco tried to kill me. How did you even know I was in here?”
Nick paused, but then lowered his gun. The two men with him did the same. “I didn’t. Nathan offered to check down here when some of the cameras went glitchy, but then when I saw him on camera, he was beat to hell. I tried to get him to tell me what was going on, but he blew me off, said he was fine. So we headed down here… Shit.” He turned back to one of the men. “Radio Rick and tell him not to let Nathan off the property.” He turned back to her, but kept a wary eye on Leighton, who’d stood and was now moving closer to her. “You’re sure you’re okay?” His gaze swept over her in a clinical fashion, and she inwardly cursed.
“Yes. Can you…turn around?”
He and the men with him did, and so did Senior, thankfully. Leighton moved lightning fast, grabbing her bra from the ground. She slipped it on with trembling fingers, thankful when he helped her get her sweater slipped over her head.
“I’m dressed,” she rasped out, grateful when Leighton slipped an arm around her shoulders.
She wrapped her arm around him, holding on to him for support, and so damn glad he was okay. She wanted to know how he’d known she was in this room, but held off with any questions.
“What the hell is going on?” Nick asked as he turned around.
Marco started moaning on the ground, though she wasn’t sure how that was even possible.
Before she could respond, Leighton motioned toward Marco. “He needs to be restrained. Are you going to shoot me if I move to grab those zip ties?”
Nick shook his head as Leighton jumped into action. As he moved, she watched as he stealthily snagged Marco’s phone and pocketed it.
“I wish I could tell you what’s going on.” Lucy decided to go with a partial truth. “I got a text from an unknown number with a video of Nathan restrained and beat up, threatening to kill him if I didn’t come here. When I got here, Marco jumped me. He…” Her voice broke and she wasn’t faking it. “He was going to rape me.”
Nick’s expression turned murderous as he glanced down at Marco, and for a moment she thought he might kick the man. Instead, he simply said, “Do you need medical attention?”
“No. He didn’t get that far.” She shuddered, thinking of what would have happened if not for Leighton.
“Who are you?” Nick asked suddenly, looking at Leighton with a sharp awareness.
“Ms. Carreras’s bodyguard. She’s had issues with a stalker and I’ve been keeping an eye on her during off-work hours. The threat escalated, so I came with her to work today and—”
Nick held up a hand when someone tagged him on his radio. He spoke quietly for a few moments, then said, “The cops are here. We’re all going to have to talk to them. I need to go meet them.”
“Would it be possible to go wait in the employee lounge down the hall? I don’t…” Lucy made her voice crack. “I don’t want to be near him,” she whispered, trembling and turning the waterworks on. Which wasn’t too hard, considering she felt as if she was on a wire’s edge anyway. More than anything, she wanted to talk to Leighton in private, and she couldn’t do that in here.
Nick nodded. “Of course. All of you, come on.” He hadn’t questioned Senior as to who he was, but she figured that was coming. Either from Nick or the cops. Or both. “I’ll keep a guy on the door here, not that I think this piece of trash is going anywhere,” he spat, giving Marco a disgusted look.
“I can show them the way,” she said to Nick when he started to walk with them. “I know you’ve got a lot to deal with. Go meet the police.”
He looked as if he wanted to argue, but nodded. “I’ve got my phone on me, but I won’t be long.”
As they slowly headed down the hallway in the direction of the lounge room, she leaned on Leighton. “Marco said my uncle knows about the Fed raid. He said that he’s leaving on his yacht. Soon too. He told me all this because he was going to kill me. He was so smug about knowing what was going on.” And he’d been thrilled about planning to rape her, but she left that unsaid because Leighton already knew that much.
Without responding, Leighton pulled out the phone he’d stolen from Marco and opened it up.
“How’d you—”
“Used his thumbprint when I grabbed it,” he said quietly, scanning Marco’s messages. “And…now I’ve taken off the login security function.”
When his jaw tightened at something he read, she said, “What?”
“Nothing.”
“Tell me.”
He simply tightened his arm around her, but still wouldn’t look at her. Leighton shoved the phone in his pocket. “There’s a message from your uncle. You don’t need to read it.”
“He…really did order Marco to kill me?”
“Yep.” He didn’t look at her as he pulled his own phone out. He made a call then cursed a moment later. “My Fed friend isn’t answering.”
“This is the lounge room,” she said as they reached an open door. No one was inside, thankfully.
“We’re not staying here,” Leighton murmured, glancing back down the hallway. A few men were standing together and talking, but no one was paying them any attention. “We’ll iron out everything with the cops later but I’ve got to stop your uncle if what Marco said to you was true.”
“This way,” Senior said, the first words he’d spoken since they’d left. His wrists were raw, but he didn’t seem to be fazed by it at all.
Leighton simply nodded and they headed back the way she and Senior had arrived. She wondered how the hell Leighton had gotten in, but held off asking. There were more important things to worry about. “I can stay—”
“No.” Leighton finally looked down at her, his expression hard. “I’m not leaving you. I don’t give a fuck what the cops think. You’re coming with me. I need—” He cut himself off as they hurried out into the parking garage.
Nova pulled right up to them. “Thank God you guys are okay,” she exclaimed as they all jumped in. “I heard the police sirens so I’m assuming…you guys aren’t talking to the cops?”
“Where’s the yacht docked?” Leighton asked, typing away on his phone and ignoring Nova’s question.
Nova didn’t seem to care. She just raced out of the parking garage.
“Ah…” Lucy had hoped they’d have a minute to talk or something but knew this was more important. Even if it stung that Leighton seemed so cold and distant. She rattled off the names of two marinas. “He has a couple boats. Both yachts, if you want to get technical. I’m assuming he’d use the bigger one to leave, but I don’t know anything at this point.”
Leighton’s jaw tightened as he looked up both marinas. “Nova, call Gage and give him this info. We’re headed to Redwood Wharf. It’s closer.” Even as he was talking, he tried another phone number. Then cursed.
“Your friend’s still not answering?”
“No. They must be moving on him now.”
“So what are you planning to do? Stop my uncle yourself?”
“If it comes down to it.” He didn’t look at her, and she felt something inside her stomach tighten with dread.
Wrapping her arms around herself, she leaned back against the seat and looked out the window at the passing traffic and scenery. It wouldn’t take them long to get to the marina.
She just hoped they weren’t too late.