Page 31

thirty-one

Miles

L achlan insisted on riding with me to Virginia Beach. His father has connections within a SEAL team, and he reached out, gathering some information and calling us back to say that he thought he knew who Quinn was.

According to him, there is a Quinn Walker that might be Quinn Miller who works for a security company run by all former SEALs, with offices in California and Virginia. He is married and has a son, and Lachlan thought it could be him based on the other name I gave him—Liam.

Lachlan clears his throat as I stare out the window, counting trees. “You know we’ll find her, right?”

I nod. “I just don’t know in what state. If someone took her ...”

“Don’t go there. We’ll find Quinn, somehow, someway. If the guy my father found isn’t her brother, then maybe he knows of him. I thought Penelope’s last name was Walker?”

“That’s what she told me,” I say, and my voice sounds dead, even to me.

“Maybe there’s an explanation?”

“There is.”

She would’ve had to change her name several times to keep on the run. Penelope’s brother wouldn’t take any chances.

We go over a bridge-tunnel and come out on the other side of the water, where there are large ships and more military members in a square mile than anywhere in the world.

“We’ll be at the security company location in about ten minutes. Do you have a plan?”

“Yes, find Quinn and find out where the fuck Penelope went, and then I bring her home to me.”

“That’s definitely one way,” Lachlan says and keeps driving.

We weave through the streets and pull up to what looks like an old factory. The brick building is inconspicuous and appears to be vacant.

“You’re sure it’s this one?” I ask with disbelief.

“Yeah, this is what my dad said.”

“I’m going to check it out.” I’m out of the car before he can say anything else.

As I approach the front door, two men exit the building. “Can I help you?” a tall man with dark-brown hair asks.

“I’m Miles Anderson. I’m here to see Quinn Miller.”

“I don’t know anyone by that name,” he replies.

“Tell him it’s about his sister and nephew. Penelope and Kai.”

The man pauses and then says something through a radio. A minute passes, maybe two, and I’ve assessed a lot more about the building than from my original glance.

There are two posts on the top where snipers would be perched. I’m pretty sure there’s at least one there now, but I can’t tell for sure. All over the doors and windows are cameras. They’re small, hidden very well, and anyone would miss them, but I see the lens moving now.

This isn’t an abandoned building.

This is a fortress.

After another minute goes by without a word being spoken between anyone, Quinn exits the building. He looks slightly concerned, but also a little irritated.

“What do you mean it’s about Penelope? What about my sister?”

“Where do you have her?” I ask.

His eyes widen just a smidge. “What?”

I shake my head, not wanting to play games. “She left me, and I know you have her hidden. I just need to talk to her. Tell me where she is.”

Quinn looks to the other guy, who shakes his head. “Miles, I’m going to say this very clearly, and I’m not fucking around. I didn’t move Penelope from Ember Falls. So if she’s gone, she either moved herself, which she would never do without telling me, or someone has her.”

“Everything is gone,” I say quickly. “Everything. Not a single item was left in that house.”

He shakes his head and looks to the other guy. “Go!”

Quinn starts to walk away, but I grab his arm. “I’m going wherever you are. I love her, and I’m not going to sit around doing nothing. You can either let me help, which as a recon guy, you know I can, or I’ll do it my fucking self.”

“Let’s go then, but you didn’t see anything when you were here, understood?”

I follow him inside, pulling out my phone to text Lachlan that I’m staying and that I’ll meet up with him later.

When we enter the building, it’s almost unbelievable. There are monitors in a row against the back wall and people walking around. It reminds me of the inside of our tents on a mission. Start-up company, my ass.

Quinn stops at a desk. “Penelope and Kai were taken. Find anything you can. Traffic cams, receipts, anything, ping the burner as well.”

“She has a burner?” I ask.

“She does. Hopefully she has it on her.”

There is so much about her that I don’t know.

I sigh, pointing out the obvious. “If someone took her, they’d have searched her.”

Quinn nods. “I’m aware, but I’m going to hope we find something.”

“Will you let me do something? I want to dig into her ex. Maybe there are some common-tie names. She mentioned his partner was there that night,” I remind him.

“That’s one of the guys we keep tabs on. He’s in Chicago still. ”

“You don’t think that someone with his reach and money could send someone to get her?”

He rolls his neck. “He does, but I have to go with what information we have, so I can’t just jump that she’s in Chicago. Now, if you want to help, this is Liam and Ben, and we have a lot of work to do, so we’d appreciate any help you can give.”

The four of us work together, going through hours of video data. There’s so little, it feels overwhelming and frustrating. Each minute that passes, my fear for what’s happening to her grows.

I’ve been trained to not let my emotions overwhelm me, but this is different. This is Penelope and Kai.

After another hour, we finally get our first break. “There!” I yell, looking at a video from the small airport west of Ember Falls.

I reach out to the sheriff, and he is able to get them to turn the tapes over when I explain part of the situation. He gets them to us in fifteen minutes and wishes us luck.

“That’s not ...” Liam starts to say, and I cut him off.

“That’s her. I know her. I’d know her anywhere.”

And I do. I know it in my gut. Not just because I want it to be her. To have a lead, somewhere to start looking, but because it is her.

We continue through the coverage. The first fifteen minutes was too grainy to see anything, but I know her body. I know her shape and how she moves. I know it’s her.

Liam turns to Ben. “Let’s get the flight logs.”

Ben goes to his computer and pulls up the information. “At that time there were two planes. One went to Oklahoma, and the other went to a small town in Illinois.”

She’s in Chicago. She has to be.

I turn to her brother. “Where is the book?”

His eyes widen just the smallest amount, but I catch it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Penelope told me she gave it to you. She said it was her last-ditch effort to save her and Kai, if ever it came to that. I need that book, and I’m going to get the woman and child I love.”

Quinn stands still for half a minute. “The book is worthless.”

“What?”

He runs his fingers through his hair. “It’s filled with nothing but riddles. There’s nothing that ties anyone concretely. The book is, however, powerful in the hands of someone who has the key. We’ve had every analyst we know try to work through it while we’ve kept Penelope and Kai away from the people who want it.”

“So what? They want the book back. We’ll exchange her for it, and ...”

“And what? You’re going to run with her? You realize that if we give the book back, it changes nothing. She still had access to this information. They will never stop hunting her until the book has value to someone outside of the group of people in it.”

“Let me look at it,” I say.

He huffs out a laugh. “And what?”

“Let me try. Either way, we have to go to Chicago. So let me study it, see what I can find my way. I will do anything to protect your sister and nephew from anyone who wants to hurt them. I’m going to find out who has her, and I’m going to get them out, with or without you. At least with the book, I have a fighting chance.”

Quinn looks to Liam, who shrugs. “I’ll give you the book, and we’ll play this out the best way to keep them safe. You can go in to negotiate their release, but my team and I will be standing perimeter. I’ll breach if I have one moment of doubt that anyone’s life is in danger.”

As much as I’d love to go in there half-cocked, I know this is the best way to protect my family.

“I hate to be the bearer of bad news and all, but Chicago is a big fucking city. We have no idea where they are and who even has her,” Liam chimes in.

“I’ll find her,” I say, not doubting I can. “I just need to get to that airport and read that fucking book.”

“If that principal job doesn’t work out for you, I’m sure I can get you a job here,” Quinn says as we’re in the building across from where we believe Penelope is being held.

I was able to get enough information and track her here. It took us two days to narrow it down to three possible locations to run surveillance on for any sign of Penelope .

All three buildings are owned by one of the names in that book. I spent the entire flight reading, making notes, mulling over possibilities, and coming up with a strategy that would allow us to get answers as quickly as possible.

While we have been watching each one for a sign of them, I reached out to Ainsley for help. She’s a journalist for a newspaper, and there was a name in the book that she’d mentioned once in regard to a story she’s working on in Washington, DC, about a senator.

It wasn’t the same one, but the name I gave her was heavily involved. She asked me to give her a day so she could do some digging. She called this morning with information that makes this book far more dangerous.

It wasn’t long before we could figure out the bigger names—high-ranking judges, police who were being paid off, and the senator who was definitely making money off all of it.

He has the most to lose, and I will make sure, once Penelope and Kai are safe, he does.

I speak to Quinn, staring up at the skyscraper. “I’m still not sure this building is right.”

While we didn’t see the senator or anyone, I entered the other two buildings we were watching, posing as a member of the janitorial staff. I did a scan of the floors, hoping I’d just stumble upon them, but there was absolutely no sign of them. The other one that Ben was sitting on, I can’t explain it, but I just felt they weren’t there.

When we arrived here, where Quinn has been doing surveillance, I felt it. My instincts were ringing, telling me they’re here.

“It’s your call,” Liam says.

“I can go in, scope it out, be sure,” I suggest.

Quinn shakes his head. “It’s too risky. You’ve been in two buildings, and if someone recognizes you, then this will be over before it starts. No, we have to play this right, and my gut says they’re here.”

I’ve made the wrong choice before, and it almost cost someone their life. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of this, but at the same time, each minute we spend out here, second-guessing things, is another minute Penelope and Kai are in danger.

Please let them be here .

For five days they’ve been gone. Five days of enduring God only knows what. Feeling like it’s now or never, I make the call. “I think we should go in. We have a plan, we’ve gone over contingencies. The only thing I think might be better is if we release what’s in the book in smaller doses. That way, it could give us a chance if he doesn’t kill me.”

Liam looks to Quinn. “He’s right. If Penelope and Kai are alive and Miles goes in, there’s nothing saying that they won’t just shoot him immediately. If that happens, we can enter and inform them that something will be breaking soon unless they give us your sister and nephew.”

“Fuck,” Quinn grumbles and looks to me. “You realize you’re putting your life at risk right now.”

“I don’t care about me,” I say.

Quinn stares at me. “She does.”

“Then she has to trust us. We’ll figure it out, but my only goal is to get them safe.”

“Then let’s roll.”

I’m coming for you, Penelope.