“Yes, Sir.”
“Put him on, we don't have time to waste.”
“Are you trying to get me and Oliver killed?”Lachlan hisses.“If the Senator finds out…”
“He won't. Have you seen Cole?”
He lets out a harsh breath.“Yeah, I've seen him. Poor kid is fucking terrified. I hope you have a good psychologist on deck.”
“Don't worry about our business. I need you to hand the kid over to Oliver. What’s the Senator’s schedule look like? The sooner we get him back, the better.”
“Now I know you’re trying to get me killed. What the fuck, Leandro? He’s going to know it was me!”
“I do not fucking care about your feelings, Lachlan. You allowed a child to be taken.A child. He’s fucking four, for fuck’s sake! I know you’ve been hiding shit from me, but I didn’t think you’d stoop this low. So you will listenvery fucking carefully, or you will wish I let the Senator kill you, got it?” The cracks in my façade break open at the thought of Cole being left with his kidnapper for any longer than is absolutely necessary.
I might not actually care about the kid, but Roman does, Carter too. And I am a lot of things, made worse by the Martellis’ misplaced distrust in me, but I would never go after someone who doesn’t know the rules of the game.
“Oliver has a burner phone and a USB cable for you. As soon as you get an opening, I need you to plug it into his computer—or any computer inside wherever he’s holding Cole—so I can loop into the system and erase what you’re doing. Then you getCole, and you get the fuck out of dodge. Oliver already has all the instructions for the handover point, etc.”
Lachlan sighs, and when he speaks again, it’s weary.“I told Kieran we never should have gotten you involved.”
I smile, a true one even though he can’t see me. “Way too late for that. You will do every-fucking-thing necessary to clean up this fuck-up of yours, and I will do my part to make sure you stay alive.”
“How are you going to do that?”
I grimace, well aware Hollis and Tennant are hanging onto every word of this conversation, and they’re going to hate what comes next.
“Oliver has an earbud for you. It’ll connect to a different burner phone he will give you. You’ll wear it and connect with me every single time you speak to Dowing. Understand? If I can save you, I will.”
As...numb to the whole situation as I am, I truly don’t want Lachlan to die. He got himself into this mess because he wanted to help his best friend and Boss escape the hell he was in. I can admire that, even if I think both Lachlan and Kieran were idiots. With Kieran dead, Lachlan is all that’s left, and what a fucking position to be in.
“So, when can you get the kid?”
Lachlan sighs.“Tomorrow night. He has a meeting with some other Senators, so he’ll probably be late. His staff won’t question me being there. I have no idea how many of them know about the kid, as he’s…been very quiet and docile.”
“What does that mean? Dowing isn’t drugging him, is he?”
“No, no,”he’s quick to say.“Nothing like that. He’s just… Look, I don’t know anything about him, or his home life, but are you sure his parents are good?”
“What does that mean?”
“Just…he hardly speaks, and when he does…he just repeats that he’ll be quiet and good. Like it’s a mantra that’s been drilled into his head.”
I look over my monitor to meet Ten and Hollis’s eyes, and they both look as confused as I am, because Cole…he’s a good kid. Great even. Yes, he does kid things, and can be a little hellion sometimes, but that’s normal. It’s only been within the last few months—most notably around the time Carter got shot—that he’s withdrawn a little more. The last few weeks, he’s stopped speaking around most people, but his dads hoped it was a phase that would pass—especially, now that Carter is out of the medical wing.
Lachlan’s concerns…they paint a very different, very terrifying picture. I wonder if Keegan, Marcus, and Carter will let me take a stab at torturing the nanny…
“He’s very loved—by everyone. So you can imagine why it was imperative for me to send Oliver out…”
“Yeah, I got that. Which…risky move on your part. Everyone here thinks this fucker is dead.”
“Yeah, well, we’re all going to be dead if we don’t get Cole back. So, tomorrow night.”
“You’ll have him back before midnight, that’s the best I can do.”
“Keep me updated—and Lachlan? Go ghost on me again, and I will turn you into one.”
I hang up and sit back in my chair, letting out a breath.
