Page 108
“I will move heaven and earth to get him happy and healthy and back in your arms. Believe me. Please.”
The terror in her eyes cut deep into his soul.
Finally, Bailey nodded. “Okay.”
“I’m going to call Vivian and tell her what’s going on. She’ll handle that hellhole condo. We’re never dealing with it again. She’ll pull together a team to get Matty. I promise. She was a negotiator, and she’s a planner. She’s disarmed the worst of the worst situations, and she’ll know how to play it. Titan Group’s headquarters isn’t far from here. By the time we get to the Cosgroves’, whatever we need will be there. A SWAT team, a former SEAL team, a fuckin’ gaggle of mercenaries. I don’t know who or what will be there, but I trust them with your lives. All you have to do is believe in me.”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“Okay. Good, baby.” He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “We keep walking. We move the way Angus would expect us to until we know how they tracked you.”
They joined the mix of people strolling down the busy street. “If they could track me here, then they tracked me in Granite Creek.”
“Most people have no idea Titan has an enclave down there.” They stopped at the parking garage entrance. “Keep going. I’m calling Viv. When you pull out of the garage, I’ll be right here to jump in.”
Dread made her look ill as she nodded and continued on without him.
“Fuck.” He called Vivian’s cell and read her in as fast as he could. While he spoke, she called Gage and Dean into her office to listen. By the time Bailey pulled out of the garage, Vivian, Gage, and Dean had all the intel Wes could provide and were organizing his next moves.
“Rush hour traffic is on our side,” Vivian said. “Go as slow as you can without looking like you’re dragging your feet, and we’ll have a plan to you ASAP.”
Wes hopped into the Jeep. Bailey didn’t look worse than when she’d walked away. She was keeping it together. She’d do anything to bring her son home safely. “They’re working on it. We’ll have a plan in short order.”
Bailey turned into traffic. “And until then?”
“Head to the Cosgroves’ like you normally would. Slow down at the yellow lights. Choose the slowest lanes.”
“And?”
“For right now, that’s what I’ve got, but we’ll have more. A plan. A backup. Whatever we need.”
“What if they hurt Matt?”
“They won’t. But if they did, then I’d kill them.”
Her face snapped to his.
“They won’t,” he repeated, “so I won’t have to. But I need you to know that after all this is over, after you’re both safe, I want that happily ever after you were talking about. Take it as slow as you need to. Whatever is best for you and Matt. Just know, you two are it for me. You’re mine.”
“God, Wes.” She half-sobbed. “Don’t say that to make me believe everything will be okay.”
“I’m saying it because it’s true. Everything will be okay for the three of us.”
“I thought you said you didn’t believe in happily ever after.”
“Still don’t believe in magic wands and mermaids—”
“What about singing lobsters and talking birds?” She sniffled and slowed for a yellow light.
“Not those either. But I do believe you’re the person I want to ride out life’s conflicts with.”
Bailey sniffled again. “This is a big conflict to survive.”
“I think you can survive anything. If you’ve lost that belief in yourself, then I’ll believe in you until you find it again. No one’s going to take Matty from us and not have hell to pay for it.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bailey’s sweaty palms slid on the steering wheel. She wiped them on her thighs and strangled the steering wheel again. Her fingers cramped from how tightly she held it. Her entire body ached, vibrating with fear and terror and fury, as she held onto Wes’s promise.
