A commotion at the stairwell broke their heated stare-down.On the other side of the security guard, Nic spied a panicked Garrett with bruises and bandages on his face.What the fuck had he missed while locked in that courtroom?
“He’s clear,” Nic called to the guard.“He’s with us.”The guard stepped out of the way, and Garrett charged over.“What’s happened?”Nic asked, dreading the answer.
His instincts weren’t wrong.“Lette’s gone.”
Sixteen
Cam had never been in a louder silent room.
Aidan loomed at one end of the conference table, hands braced on the edge like he was about to roar into the speakerphone.
At the opposite end, Moore stood with his arms crossed, his huge body and presence filling the room.
Lauren fidgeted behind her computer, compulsively swiping at the bangs that kept falling into her eyes.
Garrett practically thrummed, holding up one corner of the walls, propped foot bouncing.
And Nic stalked the length of the room like a caged animal from Garrett’s corner to the one where Cam stood, arms outstretched, letting Jamie sweep him for bugs.
Jamie had had the unenviable task of checking all of them, only the fact that he was as big as a giraffe keeping him safe from an outburst.He stepped back from Cam with a nod.“All clear.”
Aidan slapped the Mute button on the speaker.“Unmute Mel.”
The silent conference room was at once awash in noise, the organized chaos of a hospital on the other end echoing over the line.Loudspeakers called for doctors, wheels squeaked and doors banged, muffled conversations rose and fell, and in the middle of the cacophony, Mel’s “I’m here.”
Aidan, calming slightly, lowered into his chair.“What happened?”
Earlier, outside the grand jury room, Garrett had opened his mouth to tell them, but Cam had slashed a hand in front of his throat—cut it—and mouthed,Wait.Garrett was a new variable, as were all the people in the crowded courtroom lobby, any one of whom could have brushed up against them and deposited a bug.
“I was moving the Sares,” Mel said.“From the hotel to the boat.”
They’d agreed last night that daytime traffic in the city would provide more cover than being one of only a few cars out in the wee hours of the morning.Clearly it hadn’t been cover enough.
“We were almost there,” Mel continued.“And then we got T-boned south of Third and King.”
“Injuries?”Cam claimed the seat next to Aidan.
“Yes, just some scratches for me and Eddie.Victoria took the worst of it.”
Nic, practically vibrating, came to stand next to where Cam was seated.“Is she?—”
Garrett shot out of his corner, moving to Nic’s other side.“Would I be here if she weren’t?”
Nic hung his head, hand raking over his jaw.“No, of course not.”
Mel corroborated.“Victoria’s got some bruised ribs and a broken wrist.They’re setting it now.”
Nic’s blue eyes swam with worry.Cam had seen a version of that look before, last spring when he’d been anxious about their informant’s safety.Now, however, the worry was amplified exponentially.“How’d they get Lette?”
The desperation in his voice matched the distress in his eyes.This wasn’t Nic the federal prosecutor; this was Nic the brother.Cam reached out a hand under the table and cuffed Nic’s calf, letting him know he was here for him.
Grounding him, like Nic had done for Cam time and again.
“I was pinned,” Mel said.“I told her to stay put, but she was desperate to get to her mother in the front.The kidnapper held a gun on Victoria and snatched Lette from behind.I couldn’t get a shot off without further compromising their safety.”
“I was on the side that was hit,” Garrett said.“I was knocked out for a few minutes while all this was happening.I wouldn’t have let her...”Garrett cast aside his gaze, Adam’s apple bobbing.
Drawing out of Cam’s grasp, Nic inched closer to Garrett, eyes sweeping him up and down.“Are you okay?”
