“He understands, sir.”
“Good,” Donovan Prescott huffed. “Then he knows what to do, and how to track her.”
Track her. Like she were a piece of property, instead of his bride. Not his wife though, because she never uttered a single vow. Peyton, unlike the rest of us, had been smart enough not to do that.
“Bring her back Colson,” my boss reiterated, firmly. “Alive and unharmed.”
Alive.My stomach twisted into a knot. The word was so unnecessary it was jarring.
“Yes, sir.”
The satellite phone’s speaker crackled as he abruptly hung up. The only sound left was the howl of the wind, andthe crash of the not-so-distant ocean. When I looked up again, Theo and Ripley were already by my side.
“She’s not going to come.”
Ripley’s words were stoic, and dripped with resentment.
“No,” I agreed, shaking my head. “Not willingly, anyway.”
Theo scratched uncertainly at the back of his head. He looked troubled, and not just by what he saw on the computer screen.
“Are you prepared for that?” Ripley demanded. “Are you ready to do what needs to be done?”
My jaw tightened as I looked to the sky. Lazily, in the distance, seagulls circled.
“Because she’s not going to stop running,” pressed Ripley. “We could drag her back here, kicking and screaming, or even sedate her if we have to. But once he has her again…”
Theo’s flustered expression said everything. If he had his hands free, he’d be covering his ears.
“He wants the locket,” I offered. “More than her.”
“Yes, but he wants her too,” countered Ripley. “She’s always been a possession to him, but now she’s a liability. And after this morning, an embarrassing one at that.”
Theo frowned. “You don’t think—”
“I don’t get paid to think,” Ripley cut him off. “I get paid to obey. To act. To retrieve.”
There was that word again. I fucking hated it.
“And so do you,” he added coldly.
Pain flared through the lower half of my face. I realized it was because I was clenching my teeth so hard, they were in danger of shattering.
“C’mon,” he urged. “We’re wasting time.”
With that, Ripley stormed back to the SUV. Theo and I watched him go, knowing full well that he’d be slamming on the horn if we weren’t quick to fall in behind him.
“W—What do we do?”
The apprehension in Theo’s voice made me nervous. I needed him sharp. On point. Focused.
“Youcantrack her,” I pointed to the laptop. “Can’t you?”
He stared back at me for a long moment, as if deciding something. Eventually, he nodded.
“Then we do our job.”
I took off after Ripley, leaving Theo to work out his own thoughts. Whatever those thoughts might be.
