I opened my mouth to protest, but he shook his head and tipped his chin forward in the direction he wanted me to go.
“Fine,” I relented, then hooked my arm around his back, careful of his bad side, in case he was the one who would need support but never ask for it.
We made it to the office a moment later, and the man Alex had gone after was now tied to a chair at the center of the room. Ryder was currently crouched in front of him, a knife in one hand, anger etched into every line of his face.
Reed stood off to the side, pistol drawn, jaw tight as he gave us a nod and the door closed behind me. “He says he’s military.”
Why’d that possibility feel so much worse?
“What do you want from me?” I asked him, freeing myself from Alex’s hold to draw closer. “Who do you work for?”
The man’s lips curled in a sneer as he spit out blood. “You won’t kill me,” he said instead of answering me.
Ryder pressed the blade against his neck. “You’re a traitor. The second you turned on the uniform, you stopped being one of us.”
The man laughed, a wet and broken sound. “You don’t know who I am or why I’m here.”
“Then enlighten us,” Ryder barked out. “And don’t lie and say you’re here on government orders.”
“You don’t think he’s been watching you?” His voice turned almost conversational, laced with something cruel. “He tried to be nice, you know. Planned to take you Friday when your son wasn’t home. Keep things quiet and neat.”
He?A rush of heat worked up into my face with feverish intensity.
“Then you ran straight into your ex’s arms. Predictable. So, here we are.” He tried to laugh again but wound up coughing up more blood.
Alex clearly had done a number on him outside, and Ryder must’ve finished the job in those few minutes I’d stolen with Alex in the hallway.
Ryder drew back slowly, his expression too hard for me to decipher as he glanced at Reed.
Alex stepped alongside me, keeping close.
“He said if we got caught ... if plan B failed, then ...” He groaned, doubling over slightly. “That we move to plan C.”
“What’s plan C?” Alex demanded.
The man lifted his head. His lips peeled into a grotesque smile.
I couldn’t look at him any longer, so I forced my gaze away. It landed on the bookshelf and the spine of the book I’d held in my hands only yesterday.Silence of the Lambsvibes going strong here. It made my stomach turn.
“He said to give you a chance to surrender peacefully. If you want to keep your family safe, he’ll text you with a location where he needs you to meet him with the key.”
My heart lodged in my throat, and I blinked my way back to him.
“There’s a phone in my pocket,” he continued. “He’ll make contact; then he’ll tell you where to go.”
“Who?” I repeated, louder this time. I stepped forward, fists trembling at my sides. “Who?”
Alex mirrored my movements, closing the distance in lockstep. His presence at my side gave me enough courage to stand tall.
The jerk shot me a smile again. Slow, deliberate, and full of satisfaction. “Your husband.” His blood-smeared teeth flashed. “Mitch Langston. He’s alive.”
Chapter Fifteen
Alejandro
Be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.
My father’s words growing up slipped through my mind as I stared at the traitor.
