Page 21 of Brave Horizons (Barrington Billionaires #19)

ALEX

He sat at the kitchen table, sipping his coffee and watching the steam rise from the cup.

If the situation was different, if he was different, this could have been his view every morning.

But he knew waking up in the cot next to Topeka brought him a thrill he wouldn’t trade for any could-have-been possibilities.

The farm was beautiful. Miranda was special. But he did not regret walking away.

Miranda, busy getting ready for work, had given them strict instructions: if they saw any staff or customers, they were to say they were Miranda’s second cousins visiting from out of town.

It was a simple cover, but it made him feel uneasy.

He hoped they wouldn’t cross paths with anyone who’d be curious or ask questions.

Miranda and Charlie finished getting ready and headed out to get their work days started, leaving Alex and Hillary alone in the kitchen. Topeka and Russ were still sleeping and Alex had decided to let them rest .

He glanced at Hillary, noting the way she fidgeted with her coffee cup, clicking her nails against the porcelain. She seemed antsy, which he had expected. This forced inactivity was grating on her nerves.

“Thinking about spending some time with the horses today?” Alex asked, trying to make conversation. “Or maybe checking out the creek at the back of the property?”

Hillary’s eyes flicked to him, and he could see the frustration simmering below the surface. “Alex, why haven’t you left the property to try to contact Kenan or anyone else at Kinross? We can’t sit here and do nothing.”

Alex sighed, setting his coffee cup down. “I know it’s frustrating, Hillary, but we have to be smart about this. If we leave and get caught or tracked, it could compromise everything. Right now, we’re safe here. I’m going to go out today but I’m waiting until the afternoon.”

Hillary crossed her arms, her gaze sharp. “Or maybe you want to stay here because you’ve got a harem of current and ex-girlfriends to keep you company.”

Alex couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the accusation. “Trust me, Hillary, that kind of complication would normally have me running in the opposite direction. This is about keeping everyone safe, not about personal drama.”

Hillary didn’t seem entirely convinced. “It feels like we’re sitting ducks here. We need to be proactive, not reactive.”

“I get it,” Alex said, his tone soothing. “But we have to play this smart. You know your stuff. You talked about code black so you’re well trained in an operation like this.”

“No,” she said, hanging her head in what he read as shame. “I’m not trained. My sister is. She’s worked with the Kinross family for over five years. She’s incredible in every way. I’ve helped her out on a lot of things because she trusts me. That’s how I know the protocols.”

“You don’t work for the Kinross organization?” Alex felt a sudden pang of deep concern. This was a curveball he wasn’t sure he could catch.

“Not directly,” Hillary admitted, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. “Not at all.”

“Are you a lawyer?” Alex pressed.

“Yes. I am. That part is true. And everything I gathered from Russ and Topeka was done correctly and stands. My sister should have been there to do it. She’s never missed a call from them, always showed up when they need her. She’s tougher than I am. She can do it all.”

“So how exactly did you end up there?”

“My sister had the flu. She knew how serious the situation was but thought it was secure. I took her phone and coordinated with the two members of the security team that were supposed to be coming. Then the storm threw everything into flux. They called and said they were held up. It was supposed to be in and out. I was only trying to help my sister. Do you think that I...?” She covered her mouth with her hand as she gathered herself.

“Do you think I screwed something up and compromised the security team? Or led them somehow to us? ”

“Security was reaching out to you, not the other way around. There is nothing to indicate you did anything to bring this on. Does Kenan know you’re here instead of your sister?”

“No. And my sister doesn’t have any idea where I am right now either. She must be absolutely freaking out. I want to be able to get in touch with her. That’s why we need to make contact again. Explain to Kenan what happened and he can notify my sister.”

“You’ve never done this work before?” Alex asked, still shocked by the revelation. “I’m shocked you had the guts to pull this off. It’s a lot.”

“Obviously,” Hillary agreed. “I’ve always wanted to take on more but my sister has kept me at arm’s length. She never wanted me getting too deeply involved. Now I can see why.”

This was a major liability. Hillary would feel immense pressure to reach out to her sister and let her know she wasn’t harmed.

That had the potential to cloud her judgment.

Worse, she wasn’t quite as thoroughly trained as Alex would have hoped.

Anyone he’d ever interacted with at Kinross was a seasoned battle-tested asset.

The whole point of everyone they brought in was that they were coming from fields where they’d had to endure challenges most people couldn’t imagine.

Hillary had been so stern and rigid when they’d arrived and now he understood why.

She was likely spiraling with panic. The very cut-and-dry job was turning into something out of her control.

“You know enough about what is done to understand that your desire to notify your sister is less of a priority than everyone’s safety.

The mission is to make sure Russ and Topeka can be kept safe while the indictment is drawn up and all the pieces fall into place.

Your sister might be worried about you, but she would understand mission integrity coming first.”

“I know,” Hillary said weakly and it gave Alex very little comfort. “Just let me know when you’re going to try to make contact.” She stared off out the window as she cleared her throat nervously. “If we survive this, she’s going to kill me.”

“I thought you said you were an only child?” Alex asked, raising a brow at her.

“Just trying to throw you all off a little. I wasn’t sure if you’d worked with my sister before.

I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not built for this spy stuff obviously.

I can’t even keep my lies straight.” She covered her face with her hands and groaned.

“I was supposed to be home already. This was supposed to be easy.”

“Rule number one in this game is it’s never as simple as you hope it’ll be. But staying calm is the most important part. I’m going to get us out of this. You’ll be home before you know it.”

“To be murdered by my sister.” She didn’t look up as she reported this. Russ’s voice was the first thing to get her looking up.

“I thought you were an only child,” he said, moving groggily to the coffee pot. “You have a homicidal sister you didn’t tell us about? ”

“It’s a long story,” Hillary said, blushing again with embarrassment.

“Think Parent Trap but with higher stakes,” Alex joked, smiling behind his mug of coffee. “But it’s all going to work out.”

“Interesting,” Russ said, intrigued. “What’s the plan today, boss? Are we making contact?”

“I’m going to try.”

“I was thinking,” Russ began, slouching down into the chair next to Hillary.

“What about your truck? Do you think they’ve got a way to track that?

If it were me, I’d hack into the satellites and see which vehicles were running LoJack or GPS in the area.

It was pretty remote. They could end up with a pretty short list, then if they kept tracking based on that list they’d see your vehicle was high-tailing it out of town. ”

“Have you seen my truck?” Alex laughed. “It predates such fancy technology. I do know they’re pretty adept at monitoring traffic cameras though, so I did my best to avoid those.

There’s a chance they have my plate number if they got lucky tracking in the area but they couldn’t have kept up on these roads.

No traffic cameras for hours. But I like the way you’re thinking.

We’ve got to try to stay one step ahead of them. ”

“Alex,” Topeka called from the other room, the fear in her voice enough to send him to a standing position almost instantly. “You need to see this.”

He moved quickly toward the living room, the urgency in Topeka’s voice pushing him to act without hesitation.

She stood in front of the TV, her face pale as she watched the news broadcast. Hillary and Russ followed behind him, their earlier conversation forgotten in the face of whatever new crisis had arisen.

The news anchor’s voice filled the room, detailing a report of a massive manhunt in the region. Alex’s stomach tightened as he listened.

“Authorities are searching for several individuals believed to be involved in a high-profile case. They are considered armed and dangerous. If you have any information, please contact local law enforcement immediately. A reward is being offered for any information.”

A series of photos flashed on the screen, including one of Topeka, Russ, and even a grainy image of Alex himself.

His license plate and name were the next things on the screen.

He was suddenly wanted in the abduction of Topeka.

The main suspect. Alex’s mind raced, considering their options.

This kind of exposure was disastrous. Staying put might not be safe anymore, even with Miranda and Charlie’s generous hospitality.

“That’s not good right?” Hillary asked, her hand perched over her heart and quivering. “They have your license plate. They know who you are. They think you kidnapped her. The police in the area will be all over this. There is a BOLO out on your truck.”

“They’re trying to put the screws to us,” Russ said, shaking his head. “They want to smoke us out. They know we don’t know who to trust. It’s not like we can just go turn ourselves in. ”

“Why not?” Hillary asked. “The local police here have nothing to do with this. We go in and tell them what’s going on. How your father is not searching for you but hunting you. They can help protect us.”

“They’ll arrest me,” Alex said flatly. “They’ll call the powers that be down in Texas and the federal agents her father is in control of.

We’ll be dead by morning. They’ll spin some story.

Pin Topeka’s murder on me and my murder as self-defense for them.

Even if every cop in this town is a saint and wants to do the right thing by us, they’d be outgunned and outnumbered by the army he can send. ”

“We can’t stay here,” Topeka said with an urgency that seemed to unsettle Russ and Hillary more. “Miranda stuck her neck out for us when we could assure her we were relatively under the radar. Your face is all over the news. Your truck. We need to go and you know it.”

Russ waved his hands animatedly. “We can’t hop in that truck and wait to get pulled over by some over-excited cop who thinks he’s just nabbed a bunch of kidnappers.

And where else are we going to go anyway?

This isn’t exactly a very populated area.

People are going to spot us as outsiders.

They’ll piece it together quickly. Unless you have another ex-girlfriend willing to put us up.

Some kind of network of brokenhearted women willing to let you in. ”

The joke didn’t lift anyone out of the darkness they were sinking in. Alex ran his hand across his forehead as he thought through their options. “You could stay, Hillary,” he suggested .

“What?” she looked taken aback by the option. “Just me?”

“You weren’t mentioned on the news. They don’t know you’re with us and they don’t know anything about you.

You’d be safe to stay here. Wait a day or so and then contact your sister.

You can be back home by the weekend. Take the statements and everything you gathered from Topeka and Russ.

Your sister will know what to do with it all.

There is no reason you need to keep going like this. ”

“Oh,” Hillary said, furrowing her brow as she thought it over. “Is that what you think I should do? Is that what my sister would do?”

“I don’t know your sister,” Alex admitted. “I don’t know what training she has and how she could be an asset as we go forward. But that’s not something you have to carry. It’s not at all what you signed up for. All of us understand. You did your part.”

“If you get arrested, you’ll need a lawyer.

You’ll need someone right there able to make sure all the things you mentioned don’t happen.

You’re right, a local police force might look at you as a big fish for them to catch.

Something impressive. That can make them impulsive and dangerous.

Nothing keeps them in check more than some legal babble that scares the hell out of them. That’s my specialty. You need me.”

Alex looked at her for a long moment. “I can’t say for sure there will be another safe opportunity for you to go. Getting those documents and recordings to the right people is very important. If you feel like you aren’t doing your part?—”

“My part isn’t over yet.” Hillary stood more confidently now, her mind clearly made up.

He wouldn’t argue the point any further.

He’d given her the option and she was smart enough to make her own decision.

And she wasn’t wrong. If they did get arrested a fast-talking lawyer with an edge would be an asset.

If they all lived long enough to get a word out.