With the reminder of the time when Reagan and her mother, Traci, were kidnapped by someone obsessed with Traci, Jackson nodded. “It’s not the same situation.”
“Did you feel panic? Did you feel helpless? Did you wonder what the point of all those years of training and helping people was when you couldn’t help the one person who needs you the most?”
“Yes,” Jackson responded honestly.
Ben stood with his arms crossed over his chest, staring at the crime scene as if the missing piece that would lead them to Paige would jump out at him. But nothing about the abandoned car or the gas station or the patrons that came and went revealed anything to him. They had been without contact with Paige for going on an hour. The transmitter in her earrings had gone offline soon after she was abducted, leaving them with no idea of how to continue.
“How did you deal?” Ben’s voice caught, and he pressed his lips tightly closed while he tried to get his emotions under control.
“Tell me about her.”
Ben glared. “Are you shitting me right now? Now’s not the time for a gossip session.”
“Fine. Then I’ll tell you. She’s a coward. It’s her own fault that she’s in this mess. She’s lucky she’s made it this long because she’s too stupid to know how to avoid trouble. She’s weak—”
Ben’s fist flew out at lightning speed, connecting with a satisfying crunch to Jackson’s jaw. His brother’s head jerked to the side, and he backed up a couple of steps from the force of the blow. Ben lunged at him, but Jackson caught his brother in a bear hug, trapping Ben’s arms at his side. Then Jackson shoved Ben away, squaring off.
“That’s how I dealt. I focused on all the ways Reagan had it in her to survive. That’s what you have to do too. Paige is strong, smart, and a complete wild card. She hid from these people for over a year, not an easy task, but she did it. She’ll hang on until we find her, and we’ll find her because that’s what we do. So get your shit together, brother, or you’re benched.”
“Like hell!” Ben thundered.
“There are three of us and one of you. If I decide to bench you, you’ll be benched.”
Jackson’s phone rang. He turned his back on a seething Ben to take the call.
“Gish.”
“Put it on speaker,” Ben ordered, struggling to get a hold on his anger.
English’s voice came through the phone’s speaker.
“I called a buddy of mine. Asked some questions about Boyd. His son is squeaky clean, but Darius is scum. He’s on the radar of every alphabet agency our government has, but his hands are clean. My buddy says Darius has a partner who does his dirty work. No one knows who he is or what he looks like. All they have is an alias. Mars.”
“Mars? Like the planet?” Jackson rolled his eyes.
“Like the Roman God of War from mythology,” Ben muttered.
“Word is the guy is deadly, but he doesn’t act without orders. Mars won’t make a move on Paige without Darius’ directive. Count on it.”
“Got it. Thanks, Gish.” Jackson started to end the call when English spoke again.
“Ben, you there?”
“Yeah, Gish.”
“Hang in there. We’ll get her back. They’ll pay for this.”
“Thanks, Gish.”
Easton came running out of the gas station where he was questioning the clerk and checking out the sorry excuse for security footage the station had. Ben stiffened, knowing from his brother’s sprint that he had news.
“Hey, Alex texted. Darius is on the move. Remi and Ridge are still tracking him, and he’s heading in this direction.”
Ben’s heart raced. “She’s still around here somewhere. She’s close by.”
Easton nodded. “That’s my guess. And I have a description. The guy who took her showed up about fifteen minutes beforePaige did. He paid the clerk to shut off the security cameras. The guy thought there was about to be a drug deal, so he took the money and shut down the cameras. Then, to cover his own ass, he noted the guy’s description and the plate number on the car the guy was in. The clerk didn’t see the abduction or which direction the guy went when he left because he didn’t want to be a witness to whatever was going down. Cost me a hundred bucks, but the clerk gave me the intel he wrote down.”
“So what now? We get Luke to hack into traffic cams and see if we can track the car?” Ben asked.
