All three women hugged each other while Alex sighed with relief. He high-fived Shane and they waited for their team and the inevitable debriefing.
Kyle, Wolf, and Jake showed up an hour later.
“Brianna’s going to be all right,” Kyle reported as he sat on the couch and stroked Camo’s fur. “She’s a little banged-up and shaken, but Badger’s got her at his place. He’ll make sure she gets past this.”
Caroline smiled from Wolf’s arms. “I know he will.” She looked up into Wolf’s adoring eyes. “Can we stay an extra couple days to make sure she’s okay?”
“Anything you want, Ice.” He kissed her forehead, then turned to Kyle with a steelier look in his eyes, a look that saidanything you need.
They convinced the women to go to bed, which didn’t take much effort. On top of being exhausted, they knew the drill—their men needed to debrief for real, and the less they knew, the better.
“So, what happened?” Alex asked first.
Kyle gave them the run-down, ending with, “Brock took the guy out. No choice; he was about to kill Brianna.”
“So, it wasn’t Tom Hicks who took her there.”
“Negative, Chief. Tex is running the bastard’s face through a facial recognition program. Brianna said another guy called him Guapo and that’s all we got.”
Wolf shrugged. “Tex’ll find him easy and we’ll know here soon.”
“Disposal?” Shane asked.
“Done.”
Alex nodded.RIP Guapo, or whoever he was. “So, Tom’s in the wind.”
“Again, not for long,” Wolf said. “Tex is looking for him too.”
And is Sylvie looking too?Alex wondered. He tried not to clench his fists or give any indication that he was upset beyond what he was listening to. All he wanted to do was find her, make sure she was safe, and compare notes.
Be patient. Let her work. And you cannot fucking tell her what happened tonight.
He tried to concentrate on the rest of the debriefing, which included what Glass had told Gina, but his thoughts continually went back to Sylvie. It was four in the morning before he and Shane left, though Kyle invited them to stay.
“I need to check on Mac, Champ, and Chewie back home,” he told Kyle. “Then, I’ll probably just head for the kennels.”
“Try and get some shut-eye at least,” Kyle said as they walked to the front door.
“You gonna sleep after this, Pup?” Alex half-joked.
“Like a baby, knowing my people are safe now,” he replied.
Alex envied him.
* * *
And now,after a sleepless night, Alex stood in Kyle’s office along with his boss and his teammates staring at the horrible warning sitting on Kyle’s desk and trying not to rip the place apart.
Because the further they dug, the worse it looked for the woman he loved.
“Kyle,” Alex said. “We need to talk.”
Kyle looked him dead in the eye. “Yeah, Chief, we do.” He tapped a key on his laptop and turned it around for everyone to see the screen.
“It was Sylvie,” Kyle said quietly. “The log shows a timestamp in and out of here last night tagged to the sticker on her car.”
“Kyle—” Alex warned.
