Page 51 of Wounded Hearts

Chapter 24

Drew was sittingon the bottom step of the stairs; his phone hanging loosely in his hand when it buzzed, and he saw a text message from Zack.

Open the bottom window that leads onto the alley behind the house and wait.

He stood quickly, moved to the back hall, and flung open the window, not daring to look out in case he ruined whatever they had planned. It had been an hour since he’d discovered Mara gone and heard the sickening message from his aunt.

He went over and over it in his mind, trying to figure out how they got in and how he hadn’t heard them. In hindsight, it wouldn’t have been so hard to break the security on this place. It was minimal because he hadn’t, not for one minute, thought he’d need it.

He’d promised to protect her, and he’d let her down. He let his anger fly, his fist connecting with the wall, the pain calming him as his rage let loose.

The sight of Samson as he jumped in through the window, forty kilos of black beast, made him jump and then smile as the dog ran to him, greeting him with a lick.

“Hey, buddy.” Drew stroked the dog’s soft fur and noticed a pack strapped to his harness. He removed it as Samson lay at his feet waiting, the sense the dog was on guard somehow giving him comfort.

The bag held a burner phone and a note in Zack’s scrawl.

Dump your phone and follow the instructions she gave you. We’ll have you covered from the second you leave the house. Act natural as there are two men on the front but none on the back.

Drew leftthis phone by the door and after placing the burner in his back pocket, he slipped the note back into the pack, reattached it to his harness, gave the dog a quick pet, and walked out the front door. Knowing full well someone would be watching, Drew’s fury as he slammed the door wasn’t an act—he felt it all the way to his soul. Someone would pay for this, for taking her, for any harm that came to a single hair on her head.

Leaving his car, he walked the length of the road, which was busy with the early evening traffic building and turned down the street towards the Koffie Pot. He couldn’t see his team anywhere around him, but he felt them and knowing they were there gave him confidence they would get Mara back. The café he was going to was where his mother had met Rose. Someone he’d never heard mentioned and that made him feel disconcerted.

Stepping in through the door of the Koffie Pot, Drew looked around the space. The barista behind the counter was serving a harried-looking mother and her two young children. A man stood by the back door that led to the kitchens and toilets reading a novel, engrossed in what he was doing. Two teens, on a date by the looks of it, were seated against the left wall.

Drew had no further instructions, so he moved to the counter and ordered a flat white coffee. The barista nodded in acknowledgement of his order and Drew handed the guy a ten, telling him to put the change in the charity collection tin.

“Seat by the window has a good view.” The guy started wiping down the machine as he offered the titbit.

Drew had never been given advice on optimal seating in a café before and nodded, knowing this was part of Rhea’s plan. Picking up his coffee, he noticed a slip of paper hidden beneath the free caramel biscuit.

Moving to the suggested table, he chose the chair with a line of sight to the windows, and both exits. Lifting the biscuit, he read the words.

Put your hand under the seat.

Drew followedthe instruction and felt a padded envelope stuck to the base of his chair. He wondered how they would know he’d take this seat but then dismissed it. Any operator worth their salt would choose this seat.

Opening the packet, he pulled out several sheaves of paper. Unfolding them, he saw the first a note.

Drew,

This could’ve all been avoided if only you’d chosen to join me. Now you’ll be forced to choose between people you love. I’ll give you one slight concession for the pain I know your heart will feel when you make this choice. Inside is your mother’s autopsy report. There was no car accident. Marcus Preedy murdered her like he did so many.

This truth is not free, and the price is this. Bring Elizabeth, Lucy, and Megan to Blaisdon House by six am tomorrow or Mara will die.

The Divine One

Drew let the paper fall,relieved the choice she’d given him wasn’t one he’d have to make. The men and woman at his back would see to that. He wondered if Jace was still reading his mind and what his reaction would be to this new threat, although he didn’t have to wonder. The man would be certifiable.

He picked up the papers and read the words again, rereading the line about his mother. In his heart of hearts, he’d always suspected that his mother’s death was, at the very least, suspect. But his father was all he’d had left and to confront that, he would’ve had to face being alone at fifteen.

He pictured the night she’d died, how they’d eaten together. His father giving him attention for the first time since he could remember. Having dinner like a real family—even Michaels being there hadn’t dimmed his mother’s smile. Drew went rigid, his throat seizing, as he remembered the conversation he’d overheard in the hallway between his father and Michaels.

“Make it look like an accident. I want him closer.”

Drew felt his blood chill at the realisation that as sick and as twisted as his aunt was, she wasn’t lying about this. In this, she spoke the truth. He knew it with a certainty he couldn’t explain. Perhaps he’d always known it but couldn’t face it.

He couldn’t avenge his mother’s death, but he could stop others from feeling the kind of pain he and those in his team had been made to feel at Rhea Winslow’s hands.