The bright light shone directly into her eyes. A flashlight?
“You’re awake. Perfect. This way, he gets to see how scared you are before you blow up into millions of pieces.”
Seth studied the photos he’d taken as the others streamed into the kitchen. He tried to study the background for clues, but he kept returning to Mara’s unconscious face.
Unconscious, not dead. She couldn’t be dead.
Despair welled within him, and it took all his self-control to shut it down.
She was alive. This asshole wanted to freak Seth out, and he couldn’t let him. He sure as hell wasn’t risking Mara’s life because he wasn’t in control.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
Seth lifted his head to see Kadek, one of the bodyguards, looking at the group with concern.
“We can’t locate Mara.”
“The baker?”
Seth nodded, but went back to studying the photos while Gray explained.
Gray touched Seth on the shoulder. “Nash and Lawson are organizing a grid search starting at the back of the orchard.”
Kadek pulled out his phone. “I’ll call my buddies, and we’ll help. Just show us where you want us to look. Is there any known threat to her?”
Seth frowned. “An asshole harassed her back in New York.”
Amber sat beside him. “I checked his social media page. Anson posted a live video of himself in New York this afternoon talking about a new baker.”
Seth closed his eyes to tune out the noise. Something wasn’t right. The threat was aimed at him. Through Mara, but because of him. It wouldn’t be Anson.
Three other bodyguards arrived in the kitchen, armed and prepared. Stone Face wasn’t one of them.
Seth’s blood chilled. “Where’s the other guy?”
Kadek shrugged. “No clue. He’s in the same training as we are, but we don’t know him. He stays separate.”
Dread curled low in his belly, and all Seth’s instincts flared. “What’s his name?”
“He’s called himself Neil, but it’s MacNeil. Blake MacNeil.”
Seth froze for an instant, and then his stomach reared up in his throat, trying to cut off his air.
Maki’s brother. It had to be. The same name couldn’t be a coincidence.
The facts fit. The name, the way the man had glared at Seth.
Now, he wanted Seth helpless while someone he loved died. Shit.
The man had never replied to Seth’s emails after Maki’s death. He must blame Seth for Caden’s death. And now he was looking to exact revenge, with Mara as the focus.
Where the hell did he have her?
Gray nudged him. “Babs. Stay with us, man. What’s your connection to MacNeil?”
He wanted to run, to save Mara, but he didn’t have a direction, didn’t have an aim. “A kid on my team was killed overseas by an IED. Maki. Caden MacNeil.”
Gray’s gaze traveled to Seth’s leg. “Same explosion that banged you up?”
