If Ingram’s not the monster at the center of this, just the one standing guard at the door, then whoever’s inside that room is still out there…and Freya is the one rattling the handle from the other side without even knowing it.
Fuck, I need to go. I grab my jacket, but before I get to the door, Enzo says three words that slice through the thick air like a blast.
“I found Mace.”
My pulse kicks hard against my ribs. Whoever this son of a bitch is, I need his name before Freya gets any closer to the mess he’s made.
“Name. Now,” Rio demands, already halfway to his brother’s shoulder.
“Michael A.C…Ingram.” He glances up and meets my eyes. “Mace.”
The room fractures. My heart rate kicks into overdrive.
Rio’s jaw goes rigid. “Ingram’s brother? The one who took a job out of town…” he seethes.
Ingram wasn’t shutting down evidence for himself.
He was covering for blood.
Something cold moves through my chest, and it’s hard to swallow.
“Ingram’s trip to Florida”—my veins are ice—“maybe it’s an alibi…”
Ava turns sharply, dread saturating her features.
I head for the door. “He conveniently leaves town right when she’s working highway duty alone?”
Rio’s eyes darken. “An alibi?”
“If Ingram tipped off his brother that someone was on his tail…”
Dread and rage ignite in my bones. I think back to the wrench at the quarry. Mace could have been here watching Freya for weeks.
I need out of here now. Freya’s out there in the middle of nowhere, likely with no reception and blind trust that Ingram being gone means she’s safe.
“I’m coming.” Rio unlocks his desk drawer and pulls out a gun. “I’m not fucking missing this.”
We rush out of the offices, running, not walking.
It’s not measured. It’s not even fully formed. It’s instinct. The oldest, rawest part of me—the part that loves her, that fears for her, lights up like a flare.
Nobody is touching the mother of my child.
Nobody is coming near her.
Not Ingram. Not his brother.
Not the fucking wind unless it has permission.
We move swiftly in the harsh brightness of the winter sun, and it feels like miles before we throw ourselves into my truck and it roars to life.
“If he touches her…” Rio starts.
“He won’t.” My voice is a blade. “Because we’re going to get to her first.”
And if we don’t?
Someone will die.
