“If anything happens to him, I’ll die, Drew. I’m so worried.”
“We’ll figure this out and get him back.” I’m as worried as Athena, because Amos Martin is clearly a psychopathic asshole and nothing is off-limits. If he suspects we know the truth, then my son’s life is in danger. We need to find Arlo and find him fast.
“Ares is setting up a specialist team to interrogate those closest to the family and their technologists will use every piece of tech at their disposal to find leads,” Xavier says.
“It’s not enough,” I growl, standing and bringing Athena with me. “They don’t get to call the shots this time. Arlo is my son, Athena’s brother, and we’re not sitting around twiddling our fucking thumbs. We tried it their way and look what happened?”
“I’m with you. We need to head to Cali and search for them on the ground,” Athena says.
“They could have already left the state,” Xavier says.
“Or us running off without thinking it through is something Amos is banking on. It could be a trap,” Kai adds.
“We have to do something.” Athena smooths a hand across her chest.
Charlie eyes the evident bruising and finger marks around her neck and lifts an eye in my direction. I shake my head, because now isn’t the time to get into all that.
“Keven and Zayn are at the office with a few trusted colleagues to conduct our own recon, but I’d like to speak to Ezra,” Xavier says. “We should bring him in on this.”
“He’s at the hotel.” While I couldn’t tell him everything about the Luminaries and the things they confided in us, I did confirm he wasn’t in danger and it was safe to go home. But he’s really spooked, and he wanted to stay at the hotel. He can move there permanently for all I care. It’s not like I’m going to have much use for it going forward. “Why don’t we all reconvene there? Tell Keven and Zayn to meet us at these coordinates.” I send a pin to Daniels.
“I suggest we pack a bag and come prepared,” Charlie says. “That way if anyone gets a lead, we’re ready to head out.”
* * *
“How are you holding up?” I ask Athena as we walk from the parking lot of the hotel along the corridor toward the old lobby.
“I’m not, but at least we’re taking action. I need to do something to distract me. I’ve been writing down places that asshole might go and listing some of Arlo’s friends. I thought I could check them out while you update Ezra and the tech teams.”
“Sure. I’m worried too. Scared your father will hurt him to hurt me.”
She lifts her face to mine as we walk across the lobby. “Or hurt him to hurtme.”
I lead my friends to my basement lair, securing the door behind Keven Kennedy as Ezra steps out of the office and says hello.
“You should audition to be the new James Bond, dude,” Kai says, smirking as he slaps a hand on my shoulder.
“I am seriously fucking impressed,” Kennedy says, stepping into my large office and scanning all the tech and evidence boards.
“Same.” Athena plants her hands on her hips. “I was dying to get inside for a look, and it doesn’t disappoint.” She’s dressed in a black bodysuit with a gun belt strapped around her waist and knives secured around each thigh. Her hair is tied up in a ponytail, and she wears an expression that tells everyone she means business.
She’s my every wet dream come to life, and that’s definitely not an appropriate thought to be having at this time.
“You should ask for a tour of the interrogation room,” Charlie says, waggling his brows.
“No, thanks,” my sister says. “I don’t need any nightmares.” She insisted on coming with us, and as Demi has taken the kids, there was no logical reason Anderson could use to keep her away. I don’t mind. Abby has a cunning mind we could use, but I know there’s no way Kai will let her step foot on a plane to come with us.
Ezra has cleared the maps from the table so everyone can sit down. Charlie comes with me to grab coffee and water from the kitchen and then we join the others at the table and update Ezra before discussing options. My gaze wanders to Athena. She’s seated at my desk making calls to Arlo’s friends on a secure line while searching location coordinates on some specialist Luminary tech site.
Getting up, I grab a fresh mug of coffee and take a seat beside her. “Any luck?” I ask, sliding the mug to her as she ends a call.
“None of his friends have seen him since yesterday morning. Everything was normal, and he gave no indication anything was going on.”
“It’s possible Amos took him under false pretenses.”
“Manning!” Xavier shouts, and I glance over my shoulder. His cell is out in front of him, and his eyes contain a new spark.
Athena and I get up and walk over.
