“Zee, you know we are doing everything we can.”
He wobbled on his feet, too choked up to say anything but he followed Logan into the house.
His mouth filled with copper as he bit the inside of his cheek.
Regret burned through him.
He wished he never took the damn job.
He desperately wished he’d got Ella on the plane to see their daughter’s performance and that he sent her to Nora’s.
But he was a selfish, demanding bastard and though he had good reasons for not giving into those requests, now with Ella out there somewhere and not at home where she belonged by his side, he wished he could have done anything to prevent it.
Telling her about the security breaches from the past weeks would have done it.
Ella would have operated on the highest of caution if he’d told her what was going on.
Every time he heard the door open through the night, he braced himself for news.In the middle of the night, River found him pacing in circles.
“Zee, I still have a team out there looking.We are going to work till daylight.
There’s nothing you can do right now.I’m not going to try and tell you to sleep but at least sit down.”
He flopped on the couch, drifted off only to be startled awake.
The instant the sun hit the window, his guilt churned his stomach, and he could barely breathe.
Harper quietly entered the room, leaving a cup of coffee by his side and a sandwich.
He didn’t touch either, his mind churning with the same mantras.
If only he had taken Ella on this trip.
If only he had told her about the incidents and urged her to use extreme caution.
If only she had stayed inside and hadn’t left the house.
“Zee, come talk to Carter,” Xander’s gruff voice made him turn.
The man’s usually neat hair was coming loose out of his braid and his clothes looked like they had been slept in.
“Xander, I don’t know what I’ll do if…” Zee shook his head.He couldn’t utter the words.
“Next step, Zee, that’s all we can do.Focus on the next step.”
He didn’t know what the next step was but followed Xander to the dining room.
Quinn Walsh and his brother-in-law Erik Knight were looking over Carter’s shoulder, Nick beside him and Dax across from them.River leaned against the doorway with his arms crossed against his chest.
Gabe sat at the head of the table and Logan’s big hulking frame took up the far wall.
Every face in the room glanced at him as he entered, all their expressions stony, but he felt sympathy from the room.
River pulled out a seat for him and his bloodshot eyes told Zee his friend hadn’t slept either.
The air was thick with expectation.
Quinn fought off a yawn.
