"She's strong," Banshee says, breaking the silence that's stretched for twenty minutes. His voice is quiet, reassuring. "Grace is strong. She'll hold on until we get there."
"He said he'd cage her." My voice is hoarse from not speaking, from holding everything in. "Like an animal. Like property."
"Then we get there, kill him, and get her out. Simple."
"If he's touched her—" I can't finish the sentence. Can't even think about Flint's hands on Grace without my vision going red. "If he's hurt her beyond just the kidnapping?—"
"Then you make him pay. Slowly. Painfully. However you need to." Banshee's voice is matter-of-fact. "I'll help. Phantom will help. Every brother on this ride will help. Whatever you need to do to him, we've got your back."
My hands tighten on the wheel until my knuckles are white, until the leather creaks under my grip.
That's exactly what I plan to do.
Flint is going to beg for death before I'm done with him.
My phone rings, the sound jarring in the quiet of the truck's cab. Ghost.
I answer, keep one hand on the wheel, thumb hitting speaker. "Yeah?"
"Found the ranch." Ghost's voice is calm, professional. This is a man who's done this before. "Old cattle property off Highway 247, about fifteen miles outside Barstow proper. Isolated. No neighbors for miles. Saw bikes outside when I did the first pass. Counted eight. Could be more inside the buildings, but eight visible."
Eight. Not ten. Where are the other two?
Doesn't matter. Focus on what we know.
"Is she there?" My voice is rough, desperate. "Can you confirm Grace is there?"
"Can't confirm without getting closer, and I'm not tipping them off that we're watching." Ghost pauses. "But there's a structure in the back—an old barn. Looks like hell from the outside, half-collapsed, but there's lights on inside. Fresh tire tracks leading to it. If I was keeping someone, if I wanted to hide someone, that's where I'd do it."
A barn.
Just like I thought.
Just like I knew in my gut.
That's where she is.
"We're an hour out," I say, checking the GPS, calculating. "Don't engage. Just watch. Keep eyes on it. We're coming in force."
"Understood. My boys and I will be ready. You need anything, you let us know."
"Just keep watching. Make sure they don't move her."
"On it."
Ghost hangs up, and I press harder on the gas even though we're already going ninety-five.
Grace is in that barn.
I know it.
Feel it in my bones, in my soul, in every part of me that's connected to her.
And I'm coming for her.
"Almost there," Banshee says quietly, like he's trying to keep me grounded. "Hang on, brother. We're almost there."
But an hour feels like an eternity when every second your wife is in danger.
