“Understood.” He felt changed already. Lighter than before.
He’d been alone because he wouldn’t let anyone in. But he’d meant what he said. Kenzie was his priority, and he would leave Manny Huisman to Ian Taggart. He would trust this man to take care of the situation.
“Then we should get back to The Garden. I’ve got a plane waiting. We caught Kenzie on CCTV at a private airport outside of London. Tris is working on figuring out what plane she took and where it went,” Taggart explained.
“Uhm, Tris isn’t doing any of that.” Tristan held up his tablet. “Tris has been following the trail of breadcrumbs our princess has beenleaving behind. She’s in Bulgaria. The location hasn’t changed in six hours, so I think that’s her final destination. I connected her location to an old castle purchased by one of the Huisman Foundations’ many companies. I have her.”
“Breadcrumbs?” Taggart asked.
“Nanites,” Tris corrected. “Lou was working on this project, and Kenzie figured out how to drop them in single units…”
“Which would then send out their location, but only if you’re looking for it.” Taggart’s head shook. “Kenzie planned this. She knew her sister’s heart can’t handle another of Huisman’s sessions and so she found a way to get us Lou’s location. And she brought you in.”
Tris winced. “She did, but she asked me to keep quiet until I had the final location. Which I now do and yes, I know I’m going to get my ass kicked.”
Taggart walked right up to Tris and hugged him. “I think you’ll find a lot of forgiveness if we get our people out, Nephew.”
“I know I should have stopped her, but she’s right. This is our best bet,” Tris whispered.
“Then let’s go get her.” Taggart stepped back, a light in his eyes. “And she’s grounded. Forever.”
Tristan moved in behind Taggart as they started out of the cell. “I don’t think you get to do that now. I hope my parents can’t do that anymore. You know shrink wrapping a person gives you time to think. My dad’s an expert.”
Ben followed, desperate to get to her, to save her, to be with her.
Chapter Seventeen
Kenzie shivered in the cold stone cell she found herself in. She was finally in a castle. A princess in need of rescue.
Yeah. Her fairy tale kind of sucked.
Bulgaria. She was pretty sure that was where she was given the distance and the language she’d heard being spoken at the private airfield. Not that the pilot would tell her, and there hadn’t been a nice flight attendant who gave her champagne. Nope. She’d had three guards and was lucky they hadn’t tried anything. This was where her trail would end since she’d been forced to change into a hospital gown when they’d arrived at this cold, stony, seemingly rundown castle. She’d been careful about it, treating the jumpsuit made from some of the most technologically advanced material in the world like it was nothing more than polyester and Lycra. If they looked closely they would likely figure it out, but she had to take the chance.
She was taking a lot of chances today. Including the one where her fucker of a kidnapper had other things to do with his time.
She was being held in the part of the structure that looked like a rundown castle. She’d had a glimpse of the lower floors and realized they resembled the compound in Nepal. A door had come open, and she’d caught sight of stark white walls with strong lab vibes. The manwas into white and seemed to want a world that looked sanitized. Which was odd for a man who also loved chaos.
She’d been here for hours. Which when one was facing torment and torture was a plus, but she hadn’t seen Lou. She needed to put eyes on her. She needed to know that this hadn’t been for nothing.
Her heart felt twisted at the thought of Lou fighting so hard he killed her.Please let her be fine. Let her be alive.Lou was smart. She would know how to slow down the process. She would play things right and wait to be rescued. Lou would know they would never leave her behind.
She took a deep breath and prayed.
Let Tristan have found her trail. He would give it some time before announcing what they’d done. They’d agreed they wanted to be sure she was at the final destination before racing to a spot where she might only be held for a brief time.
But it was over. She didn’t have access to her breadcrumbs anymore. She was on her own if they moved her again.
Where was Ben now? She knew he’d been taken to France. Had her team gotten him out yet? They should have reached the chateau and extracted him…maybe yesterday. Had Ben figured out Kala was playing a role? Or did he hate her for tricking him again?
She felt heavy. Weighed down. She wondered if she always would now that it was over between them. A door had closed, and it wouldn’t open again.
Would he miss her if she died? It was a pitiful thing to think, but she was here, waiting, and her brain was going to a hundred different places, none of them good. She thought about dying and how it would be okay because she didn’t have much of a future. Would he love her if she died and it was suddenly simple? A martyr was always easier to love than a living, breathing, fallible person.
The camera placed in the corner of the room reminded her to keep her expression as closed and cold as possible. Kenzie Taggart might long to weep and mourn her lost love, but Kala was just pissed.
The waiting was probably part of the torture.
The one thing she was trying not to think about was pain.
