And Bones, the stubborn, intractable man, added, “You helped more than you know.”
Hannah broke again, but this time it wasn’t terror—it was relief. As she cried, leaning forward until her forehead touched my shoulder, I held her as Voodoo slipped around me to free her wrists. Then he touched my shoulder and motioned to the door. We needed to withdraw.
I gave her a tight hug. Then Bones set a slip of paper on her lap with the number.
“Count to thirty,” I told her. “Then take the blindfold off and go.”
“Senorita,” she said as I made it to the door. I glanced back at her and found her smoothing the piece of paper over and over, but she still wore the blindfold. “You are not the woman from the law office.”
“No,” I told her gently. “But I am here to find her.”
A pause. “I will pray for you both. I will pray for Mrs. Sinclair too.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, then slipped out with Goblin trotting quietly behind me. It didn’t take her long at all to leave. She didn’t look back, not once. I watched as her car pulled down the long drive, then glanced at them. We still had Ignacio to deal with.
“Is she going to be all right?”
“I don’t know, Dollface.” Bones didn’t sugarcoat it—he never did. “But she’s safer now than she was this morning. We’ll keep eyes on her, and the farther she is from this place, the better.”
“I’ve got a lock on her phone and her address,” Alphabet added from behind me. “I pinged a couple of guys I know. They’ll keep a quiet perimeter on her and the family for a few days. Just in case Sinclair’s friends get stupid.”
My chest loosened. Just a fraction, but enough. I crossed to Alphabet and rose onto my toes to kiss him—quick, soft, an exhale of gratitude against his lips.
“Thank you.”
He flashed that crooked grin of his. “Ma’am, I am but a humble employee following orders.”
Voodoo barked a laugh. “Sure, Romeo. Okay, we’ve got, what? Maybe thirty minutes before Lunchbox bags our boy like it’s Garbage Day.” He glanced toward the ceiling. “So. Trash upstairs. Time to take it out?”
Three sets of eyes landed on me.
My stomach dipped. “I don’t think I can take the lead on this one.”
Alphabet laced his fingers through mine and tugged me a little closer. “You don’t have to. Not even a little. Let Bones and Voodoo dismantle him. They’ll consider it an afternoon hobby.”
That absolutely should not have made a warm, molten swell curl in my chest, but there it was anyway.
“What will you be doing?” I asked.
He squeezed my hand. “Cuddling you and eating popcorn, obviously. Multitasking genius right here.”
It was ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. And yet?—
I laughed.
God, I actually laughed. After everything. It spilled out of me sharp and bright and shaky, but it was real.
“Okay,” I said, drawing a steadying breath. “Let’s get this party started.”
Chapter
Six
VOODOO
We’d dragged Ignacio down to the basement because the concrete floor didn’t care what got spilled on it. The old bulbs overhead buzzed with that sickly yellow glow that made everyone look jaundiced, but it was Grace I kept glancing at. Her skin was ash-pale, eyes hollowed from reliving what this man had done. She hugged her elbows like she was trying to hold herself together.
I wasn’t a fan of torture—never had been. But I was less of a fan of watching Grace flinch every time Ignacio breathed.
