I punch him in the face.
His head snaps back, and his eyes widen in surprise. Then he punches me right back, because even though he’s our resident nerd, he gives as good as he gets and he’s as lethal as any of us.
But my anger isn’t abated, and I go after him again. Only to be hauled back. I whirl and see its Bane, the big bastard, who manhandles me.
But I’m not deterred. “I told you to stop fucking looking for her!” I shout at Digits, surging at him again, only to be yanked back by Bane again. I don’t try to break his hold this time; I just glare at Digits, who is supposed to be my fucking friend and someone I view as family. “I don’twantto know where Leeva is, Digits. Because Ican’thave her.”
My shout echoes around the room. My admission isn’t a surprise to them; my closest friends all know of my pain and the reality that stands between Leeva and me.
Digits looks pained, but before he speaks, Ash says from behind me, “Let him explain, Army.”
I pivot to see Ash and Pix joining the party as they crest the top of the stairs. Ash is tall, like the rest of us guys, not as broad and muscular as Bane or as lean and cut as Digits and me, but somewhere in between. Pix looks like a tiny pixie beside him. She’s a beautiful blonde with a cute little nose, but you’re a fucking idiot—a dead fucking idiot—if you underestimate her. She’s fast, violent, and bloodthirsty.
“I don’t want to know,” I grit, suddenly needing to be out of here because I can’t breathe.
“She’s here. In San Francisco.”
I halt and look at Pix, who quietly spoke. She reaches up and cups my face, but the action isn’t sexual or romantic. She’s a sister to us, and she’s tactile with those she loves and trusts. And she’s been a close confidante for me over the years when I needed to talk about the pain that ate away at my guts and soul.
“Leeva would never come back.” I shake my head. “She knows her coming home could bring Guerilla back here to claim her.”
Guerilla had been unhinged when he found out Leeva ran from him, and I know that once he recovered from the beating I gave him in the hospital after Leeva had run, he searched for her. The fact that Digits could never find her all these years, even with his skills and tech, made me relax, knowing Guerilla wouldn’t find her, either.
“If Guerilla does return and tries to claim her, and that’s not what Leeva wants, you know I won’t allow that,” Ash states. “None of us Council members will.”
His words should ease my angst, but instead, they amplify it. Because if Leevaisback, then maybe she came back for Guerilla, because she wants to be with him.
My entire body rejects the thought.
No. She would never want him, not after what he did and made her lose.
But why would she come back after over a decade of being gone?
None of this makes sense.
I turn to Digits and his banks of computer monitors. “Where is she?”
He wipes his nose, the back of his hand coming away smeared with blood. “She arrived by plane thirty-six hours ago. I haven’t been able to find her leaving the airport, so I don’t know where she is. But the private plane she arrived on has already left, returning to where it had flown from.”
“So, she could be anywhere by now.” I don’t know if I’m trying to reason with him or myself. “And what do you mean, private plane?”
Leeva never had money, and the little her parents had left for her had gone to helping her aunt and uncle raise her, since they wouldn’t accept any money from Livewire.
Digits glances at Ash, then back at me, looking wary. “Maybe you should sit down.”
I take a threatening step toward him, but Bane is there again to intervene. He grips my shoulders. “We need you to remain calm, brother.”
I shrug him off and order Digits, “I want all the fucking answers right fucking now.”
He sucks in through his teeth, then nods. “The plane is registered to Wentzell Global, a multinational conglomerate primarily involved in logistics and transportation: global shipping by air, boat, you get the picture. But over the years, they’ve diversified and have other branches of operations which include pharmaceuticals and medical equipment.”
Even though I want Digits to get to the point, I know he has a method to his madness with this intel he dug up.
“The company’s headquarters is in Berlin, Germany, and that’s where the plane both came from and returned to, according to the manifest.”
My throat is parched, and I can hardly breathe, thinking that Leeva may actually be here, in the city.
“The manifest…uh…” He grimaces, “There was one passenger on the manifest. Kathryn Wentzell.”
