Page 33

CHAPTER 33

KENNEDY

N ot a word has been spoken to me since that phone call.

When I’d arrived at the car that was waiting for me, someone got out, patted me down, took the thumb drive, then shoved me into the back seat. All without a single word.

Hands tied behind my back, I’m in another car now after riding in a private plane for four hours on our way to California—something I only know because of the billboards I saw when we drove from the airport into Alexander Brown’s massive house.

Even with as good of friends as we were, Olivia never brought me here. I wonder now if she was always trying to protect me because she knew what kind of sinister life was led behind these stone walls.

My body aches from being tied to a chair in what appears to be a study. Leather-bound books line the walls around me, and a massive mahogany desk takes up most of the room. The décor is impersonal, just empty photographs and random items, including an old globe and what appears to be a few rusted chain links. The fireplace has no fire in it, and curtains have been drawn over the windows.

I’m completely shut off from the outside world.

My thoughts drift to Bradyn. Has he found the note? Was anyone hurt in that explosion? So many questions that I’m going to die without having answers to. Fear tries to claw its way to the surface, but I beat it back down. I made my peace with dying a long time ago. I always knew this was how it was going to end.

At least, I tried.

The door opens behind me, but I remain staring straight ahead.

Alexander Brown comes into view and leans back against the desk. “Well, well, well, Kennedy, we meet face-to-face. Again.”

I don’t speak.

“You know, I thought we had a deal. You come here. Bring the thumb drive. And I won’t kill your boyfriend and his whole family.”

“And I followed through,” I snap. “I’m here, aren’t I? You have your precious thumb drive.”

“But do I?” he asks, moving to sit behind the desk. As he does, he sets the thumb drive down on top of the desk.

“It’s literally right there.”

“We both know that’s not the right drive.”

I gape at him, that fear coming through again, though this time, it sneaks past my quiet resolve. If that’s not the drive, and he thinks I have it, then this was all for nothing.

He’s going to go after the ranch anyway because he’ll think it’s there.

“That’s the one Olivia gave me.”

He lifts the drive. “This is not the drive she stole from me.” His cheeks redden. He reaches into his pocket and withdraws a drive that looks exactly like mine. “This is the key that unlocks it. One is completely useless without the other, yet this one”—he points to the one I brought—“is useless regardless.”

The key.

It’s right there.

Renewed purpose fills me. If I can get the key and somehow get out, then I can finish this once and for all. But how?

“I despise having my time wasted, Kennedy, and right now, you’re proving to be one massive waste.”

“I’m telling you, Olivia handed me that drive. It’s been around my neck ever since she gave it to me—” Until we got back to the ranch and Tucker took it to download a copy of the data.

He’d had it for a few hours.

What if?—

“You seem to be elsewhere now. Remembering something?”

“Just thinking back through my steps over the last two years. Things are a bit hazy, given the whole running for my life.”

“You’d better think hard. My associate is counting on this being what he’s looking for. And if you don’t have the information I need by the time he gets here, he’ll make everything I’ve done look like a walk in the park.” Alexander pushes back from his seat.

“Why did you kill her? She was your daughter.”

“She was not my daughter,” he replies. “And she proved to be just as much trouble as her mother—if not more.”

Olivia had told me that her mother committed suicide. That it was sudden and she still harbored anger over it. In fact, she struggled to even tell me that much. But the way he’s speaking—“Did you kill Olivia’s mother?”

“Not personally,” he replies. “I have people for that.” He walks around the desk then stops in front of me and leans back against it. “People you’re going to meet a lot sooner than planned if you don’t get me the information I need.”

“I don’t have the information you need,” I insist. “Why would I knowingly walk in here with a useless piece of metal? Why trade my life if it wasn’t going to do any good?”

He studies me. “I’m honestly not sure. Stupidity, perhaps? Olivia wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed. It seems fitting she’d run with someone just as dense.”

“Olivia was the smartest person I knew,” I growl. “She was ambitious, friendly, and you ruined her!” I scream it, so furious that I don’t even see the hand before it cracks across my cheek.

Pain sears the side of my face, and copper fills my mouth.

“You’ll do good to remember who you’re speaking to.”

“I won’t,” I reply, hoping it comes across as a threat rather than compliance. “So, tell me, Senator, what is it you’re wrapped up in? What about this lifestyle wasn’t enough for you that you had to go and get into something so illegal it’s worth killing over?” I consider mentioning that I know they’re shipping logs, but if I do that, he’ll know that I had the real thumb drive at some point. So I keep my mouth shut and hope he believes Olivia gave me the wrong one.

“I only have this lifestyle because of the generosity of my associate. He gives me support and status, and I make sure he can do his business unbothered.”

“Dirty politician. How original.” I spit on the floor, blood splattering onto the white rug. “Oops,” I say. If he’s going to kill me, which he’s made clear he is, I won’t go out without a fight. Even if it’s just bravado.

God, if You can hear me now, I’m ready. Please help me find my way to You. I need You. I won’t survive this alone. Please, God.

“What, you’ve got nothing else to say?” he asks.

“Nothing that matters.”

He shakes his head. “You act as though the cards are in your pocket. I could have that entire ranch wiped out before breakfast, and there’s not a single thing you can do about it.” He considers. “There’s a thought. If you don’t give up the information I need, then perhaps that’s the route we’ll go. You can watch them all die in HD.” Alexander gestures to the TV on the wall. “It’s where I watched your old cabin go boom.” He grins. “Think about it. I’ll be back.”

At some point, I must have drifted off because, as I open my eyes, the sunlight that had crept through the closed curtains is gone. What time is it? My entire body aches, my neck stiff from being in the same position for who knows how long.

Fear creeps up my spine. How long has it been? Have I been out only a few hours? Or an entire day?

The door opens behind me, and I jolt in my seat. “So this is the troublemaker, then?” a deep voice booms as a man I’ve never seen steps into view. “She doesn’t look all that intimidating. Pretty too.” Reaching forward, he runs his finger along my cheek. I try to pull away, but he grips my face, holding it hard enough that I know my cheeks will bruise.

If I’m alive long enough for that to happen.

Wearing black jeans and a leather jacket, he looks every bit like someone willing to tear me apart for the information he wants.

“Hi, darling, it seems we need to have a talk.” He releases my face, slams both hands down onto my strapped-down forearms, and squeezes.

I wince, tears burning in my eyes as pain shoots up both arms. “I already told him, that’s the drive Olivia gave me.”

He flings me backward, chair and all, and my head hits the ground with a hard crack. Pain explodes behind my eyes. He comes into view above me. “I don’t play the same games Alexander does, something he should have warned you about.” Walking around, he grabs a fistful of my hair and jerks, setting my chair back up.

Some hair rips free, and I scream.

“There we go. Now we’re getting somewhere. So I’ll say it again. We need to have a talk. And I’m not leaving here until you’ve given me every answer I need.” He slips out of his jacket, revealing a large gun sheathed in a shoulder holster.

Crossing his arms, he leans back against the desk across from me.

My blood goes cold, and that fear turns to panic.

But even as it tries to overtake me, a sense of peace settles in its place. A thick blanket telling me to just hold on a little longer.

Just a little longer.