Before she could dart past me, I wrapped my arm around her waist.When she started to struggle, I pulled her closer.“Shhh.You can’t go rushing out into the hangar before we’ve had a chance to clear it.We’ll ask the team if they’ve seen her, okay?”
Wide eyes met my gaze.“I’ve got to find them, Dax.Layla andMako.”
She was killing me.“We will, baby.We will.”
This woman had me making promises I wasn’t sure I could keep.
“Let’s go show Burn what you found.She’s getting worried.”
Lacy took a shaky breath in, a calmer breath out.“Okay.You’re right.I’m okay.You can let go now.”
I didn’t want to ever let her go, but I did.
Before Burn could say a word, Lacy thrust the bobblehead shark at her.“My sister was here, Burn.This is proof.”
Concerned, Burn looked at me before responding.
I gave her a subtle nod.It wasn’t 100 percent, but the handwritten MAKO on the side certainly made it seem less circumstantial.
“That’s great, Lacy.What is it?”
“It’s the figurehead from my ship,Mako.Which means my sister has been using my ship.Did you see her while you were clearing the hangar?”
“Um, nothing that saidMako.What does it look like?”
“Exactly like theFortuna,” Lacy said.“Unless they’ve stripped her for parts.Then she would look more like that.”She gestured toward a ship that looked uncomfortably like a skeleton, only a few structural metal pieces left.
Burn winced.“Nope, I didn’t see anything that looked like our ship.”
We had to find her sister.Even more so now than before.If Lacy had lost her beloved ship, she deserved to have her sister returned, alive and well.And I’d do my damnedest to make sure that happened.After this conversation, I thought Burn would too.
Mercer and Orion approached our position, hauling a conscious but tied-up worker with them.
“Thought it’d be easier to get some answers this way.”Orion’s deep voice sounded menacing.The bound guy shivered.
Good.That might make this easier.
I maneuvered the entire team into the shadows, keeping Lacy behind me.
I hoped the interrogation would go easy, that the man would tell us what we wanted to know quickly and without bloodshed.I didn’t want Lacy to witness this.Didn’t want her to see this side of me, of the team.I thought I’d left this behind when I’d left the corps, but for her, I’d get my hands dirty again.
Mercer and Orion had let the man fall to his knees, so I crouched in front of him.“We have some questions.You’re going to give us the answers.If you don’t, if you try to call for help, it will not go well for you.Nod if you understand.”
His head bobbed up and down.
“Good.Let’s get started.”I pulled down the gag.“Who owns this place?”
His mouth opened wide.When Orion nudged him in the back of the head with his weapon, the guy reconsidered his plan to yell.
“The Farrows and the McMillers.”
“And what do they do?”
He opened his mouth, closed it.Orion prodded him again.
“Hey, man, stop it!”
I gave him a look.
