“You don’t think the judge will tell us the location?”
As she came around the table, Eve shook her head in response to Chase’s question. “No. Everything he’s done to this point has been to protect Bryan. He’s not going to give us any damning evidence.”
“What about Bryan?” Adam asked, moving aside and placing his hand on the small of her back as she stepped up to the table.
Her brow furrowed with her frown. “No. Bryan is…unaware of most things going on around him. He won’t even know about the CCTV, never mind where it’s located.”
“Okay. So, we have three hours to get in. Secure the occupants. Find the system. And get out before we’re discovered. Any idea where we start looking?” Adam asked.
Her eyes on the schematic of the manor and grounds, Eve felt the first hint of doubt shudder through her chest. The house was huge, five floors from the attic to the basement, the possible hiding spots were endless. Not to mention, the outbuildings and garage located on opposite ends of the property.
Trying to find something the judge wanted hidden wouldn’t be an easy task in the short amount of time they had. Tears welled and her vision blurred as panic set in. Why? Why hadn’t she thought of a surveillance system beforehand? It made perfect sense. Exactly the kind of thing the judge would do.
Damn it. There wouldn’t be enough time for Adam and the JTT to get in and out without being discovered. These were men who had to stay off the radar to be effective. Their jobs depended on their anonymity. They couldn’t be captured on a recording, or their covers would be blown.
She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t put them at risk. Not after everything they’d done for her. Not after—
“Breathe, Eve.” Adam’s hand smoothed up and down her back. A slow and steady caress that brought focus back to her body as her lungs complied with his command. With her next deep inhale, her chin lifted, and his eyes met hers, his gaze confident and steady. “It’ll be tight, but we can do this.”
“I’m coming,” Chase said, tapping his index finger on the plans. “You need me on the CCTV problem. Grant’s not fully recovered, he can stay here to cover Gray, Davis, and Jay.”
“Fat fucking chance you’re switching me out, asshole.” Crossed arms dropping, Grant popped off the wall he’d been leaning on, his hands balling into fists. “Teams have been set. They’re not changing now.”
The two men locked stares, and an undercurrent Eve didn’t understand filled the room with tension.
“Oh, for fuck sakes,” Gray grumbled, throwing both hands in the air and smacking them down on the arms of her chair. “We don’t need a fucking babysitter, and you guys are idiots. We’re all going.”
“Gray,” Adam said in warning.
“No,” she replied, standing so quickly her chair careened sideways on its casters. “To pull this off, you need all of us. We’re a team. We do this together. For Eve.” With a stab of her finger, she pointed at the pictures of the murdered women. “And for them.”
“I’m with Gray,” Davis said, his voice quiet but unwavering as he took to his feet.
“Me too,” Jay added from over by his bank of computers. “Easier for me to troubleshoot on site.”
Adam’s dark gaze swept the room. Heads nodded. He looked at Chase last. The silence stretched, and the moment held the palpable sense of significance.
Fascinated, Eve watched the two men communicate without words, until decision made, Adam nodded sharply—once. “It’s unanimous then. We go together.”
“Halle-fucking-lujah,” Gray mumbled as a collective sigh traveled the room. “Who’s making dinner? I’m starving.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SEVEN
After a nightof restless flipping and flopping, Eve had given up on sleep and slipped out of bed and into the shower. The warm water failed to soothe her raw nerves as she rinsed shampoo from her already clean hair.
The prospect of facing the judge and Bryan had her insides twisted. They needed to be stopped. Brought to justice. But returning to LA, the manor, the cell where she’d been imprisoned, alone and in the dark, had her on the verge of tears.
How was she going to make it through? The crimes they’d committed sickened her. Broke her heart and left her in pieces. She didn’t understand how anyone could inflict such pain and suffering upon another person.
Why?
Why would the judge allow such a thing to happen? He believed in the justice system. She knew he did. She’d watched him dedicate his life to upholding the very laws he’d broken behind the manor’s high walls and closed gates.
Lord. She wanted to hate him. Hate Bryan. Wanted them to suffer like their victims had.
She wanted to rail and cry and beat her fists against their chests for the ten-year-old orphan they’d deceived and the twenty-eight-year-old woman they’d discarded. And still, the only family she’d ever really known, she wanted their forgiveness for what she was about to do.
Fear and guilt ate at her even as their victims’ faces haunted her.
