“On it,” Smoke says.
Raven offers me a plate. “It’s just a beef stew and rice. Figured it would be hot if you were cold and quick if you were in a hurry. You need to keep your strength up, because Isla and Shade are going to need you when you get them out.”
There’s something about Raven’s quiet confidence in me that reaches through the panic. “Where’s Wren?”
She points to the ceiling. “Upstairs. They got pissed at all the noise and said they needed quiet to focus.”
Butcher appears and moves to Grudge. “I came over as soon as you called. Took charge of the prospects while you were riding because they were walking around like lemmings. Once I knew Isla’s home was unrecoverable, I sent them out in a circle from here. They’re in pairs, working together on the same stretch of road. They have an image of the truck, and they’re checking rest stops, hotels, anything. You might want to call them back if you have other plans. And I stopped by the clubhouse and grabbed all the weapons from the armory. They’re in the kitchen.”
Grudge shakes Butcher’s hand. “Good thinking. Without anything else to go off, Jackal, I want you to work with Wren, give them every fucking detail you have. Pull Paltrow’s history, as you remember it. I called King on the ride home, and he’s spoken to some people who know Paltrow, including Knox, whonominated him for his cut and issued the order to strip him of it.”
Greer steps in. “I’ve been doing hourly calls to the hospitals. I don’t know what this guy’s plans are for the two of them, but I’m worried about Isla having issues from smoke inhalation and Shade for loss of blood. In the event he really only wanted one of them, I’ve been seeing if anyone matching the descriptions of Isla or Shade have made it to a hospital.”
“Thank you,” I say as she walks by and squeezes my hand.
Grudge looks to Wraith. “Work with Butcher to map where all the prospects have checked, then hand out new areas to those of us here.” Then he looks to all of us. “Brothers. Shade and Isla are ours. Nothing matters more than that. It’s gonna be a long night. They could be hidden in plain sight in front of us, or they could already be in another state. I’ve asked the presidents of the states around us to put a watch on all the major interstates. Chances are, if Paltrow is smart, he’ll want to get away from here as quickly as he can. So, Nebraska is watching the 80, Kansas the 70, Wyoming the 80 and 25 north, and New Mexico the 25 south and 285.”
I had no idea he’d been working so much on the ride home to give us a head start.
“Eat quick,” Grudge commands. “Now.”
I force myself to eat a few mouthfuls but carry the plate with me as I head upstairs to Wren.
As soon as I’m in the doorway, Wren looks up. Their eyes are red rimmed, focused past exhaustion. Surprisingly, they leave their laptop, walk over to me, and hug me tightly. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
I put the plate down on a shelf, grab hold of Wren, placing my forehead onto their shoulder, and let the tears I’ve been trying to hold back go. Keeping it all in is distracting.
I’m wasting energy, trying to remain strong.
Wren lurches, but I realize it’s so they can kick the door to the room shut to make sure I have the privacy I need. They rub circles on my back. “They’re together, Kai. They’ll look out for each other. And there’s one thing you seem to have forgotten. As much as you have fallen in love with the Isla who lives across the street, while you’ve been gone, some of the old ladies have been talking about their memories of Isla.” They nudge me back a little. “It sounds like Isla can hold her own. In fact, the women downstairs would bet their lives on it. They might even have a little tight-lipped admiration for her spirit.”
I huff at that and drag my hands over my face to wipe away the tears. “Thank you.”
“I’ve found a few things out, piecing things together. I found a flight in Paltrow’s name. He landed the day that truck was stolen from the airport. But I’m surprised he’s still using it, because that’s a risk, given it’s been reported stolen.”
I blow out a breath. “I’ve messed this up. I thought it was Isla’s uncle or that douchebag she works with. It didn’t occur to me that I was the problem.”
Wren huffs. “Stop. You aren’t the trouble. Paltrow is the problem. Keep the blame where it belongs and focus on doing what you do best. Find them.”
The words are spoken sharply and cut through the fear-cycle I’m in.
Wren tips their head in the direction of the bathroom. “Go wash your face. Take a breath. Then, put your game face back on.”
I do as Wren says. The water is cold as I cup my hands and splash it on my face. I repeat it, over and over, until I feel better, then run my hands through my hair to brush it back off my face.
Focus on doing what you do best. Find them.
The towel is soft and I rub it vigorously over my face. The past is an odd thing to mine for information. Things that seemedinnocuous at the time could be vital in the present. And I try to sift through my memories of Paltrow, and our friendship, that might clue me in to where he’s gone.
The guy was lazy, at times, and needed motivating. Maybe that means he’s staying close because controlling two people over any distance would require effort. But he flew all the way here to find me, which suggests he might have changed.
He loved the outdoors and had survivalist-level skills. He could have them outdoors, somewhere. I pray not, because neither of them were dressed for cool temperatures. Hell, Isla didn’t even have shoes on. But I also think it would be harder to contain Garrett.
While I’m thinking about what else I know about Paltrow that might be useful to Wren, they suddenly hammer on the door. “Quick. I just realized something.”
I yank the door open. “What is it?”
“They both had their phones. Eventually, we lost them, and I just assumed their phones died. But looking at them both, they died within a minute of each other. And what do we know about Shade?”
