Page 112 of Impulse

“We’ll find out once we get to the island.”

But something in his eyes sent off an alarm in her head.“What are younottelling me?”

His narrowed eyes swept the set before coming back to her.“Lex is in trouble and needs our help.Before he got cut off, there was a crash.If we want to find him, we need to go.”

Jillian’s heart had stopped before he’d finished the first sentence, blood draining from her head.Now it rushed back.She had so many questions, yet couldn’t string words together.By the time she was ready to talk, they were in the helicopter.Dom spoke briefly with Douglas, then joined her.She was surprised when Douglas didn’t join them.

She stared out the window without seeing anything, conscious of the deadly silence.Dom was calm, his presence reassuring.She focused on that instead of Lex and what he might be going through.After half an hour, or maybe it was forty-five minutes, all she saw was water.

The island appeared ahead.Three boats were anchored at the docks, and several helicopters were parked like cars in their circles.Mathews landed, and the three of them headed up a set of stairs.If she weren’t worried about Lex, she would have appreciated the spectacular view and the house with private cabanas around the pool.Now she just gave them a sweeping glance.

She waited until she was alone with Dom before asking, “How are we going to find him?”

“This way,” he said, led her down a hallway, and pushed open a door.Several male voices poured out.When he stepped aside, she noticed chairs and a giant screen.

“About time you got here, Dom,” one of the occupants said, but Jillian’s eyes were on the screen, where two SUVs were ramming into a familiar car.

No.She entered the room, her heart pounding.“That’s Lex’s Phantom.”

The picture on the screen flickered and disappeared as the men in the room jumped to their feet.Two of them had laptops.Jillian couldn’t remember who-was-who based on Deedee’s descriptions and Lex’s anecdotes, but that didn’t matter.These powerful men were here to help find Lex.

“Jillian, the guys,” Dom said.“Guys, Lex’s Jillian.Rake, can you reconnect the feed?She needs to see what went down.”

“Are you sure?”a guy with shaggy brown hair said.He looked a lot like Deedee.Same hair color and eyes, but the rest of his face was pure male.Border-line pretty.

Jillian’s eyes met his.“Yes, Sloan.I want to see it.”

Surprise flickered in his eyes.

They all offered her a seat.She took the nearest one, her attention on the blank screen, but she was aware of their eyes on her.The timing sucked, but today was about Lex, not her or meeting his friends.

When the screen stayed blank, she glanced at them.Two of the guys were furiously typing on their laptops while the other four studied her.She gave them a tiny smile and turned to find Dom.He’d taken the seat behind her.

“What’s going on?”she asked.

“What’s the hold up?”Dom asked, glancing at one of the guys with the laptop.“Rake?”

“Someone is fucking up my satellite connection,” he snapped.

“Rake!”the others protested.

Rake shot Jillian a hard glance.“I’m sure she wants Fitzgerald found and doesn’t care about my manners.”He shot the other guy with a laptop a quick glance.“Cade, if you’re messing with my satellites, get the fuck off.”

“Didn’t mess with your babies, Rake,” the second guy shot back, rubbed his hands, and went back to typing.He had some serious tattoos visible on the side of his neck.“I’ve repositioned anEchostar,Anik, andCiel-two.Damn, I’m good.”

Was this one of the pissing contests Deedee had mentioned?No, that was between Lucien—whichever one that was—and Cade.Rake was the genius with personal satellites and a nicely trimmed goatee.His right arm was inked to his wrist.Jillian shot Dom another glance.

“He’s moving around satellites to bounce signals,” Dom explained.

“Then tuning to a transponder and decoding streaming contents,” Cade added.

Jillian didn’t understand a single word he’d just said.“Is that legal?”

Cade grinned.“No, baby girl, but I like to play with other people’s toys.However, some of us just don’t know how to share theirs.”He threw Rake a glance.

“Screw you, Padwick.Found it,” Rake said, and Jillian’s eyes flew to the screen.

The footage showed two SUVs boxing Lex’s Phantom in, smashing into it, and pushing it off the road.Two familiar men hopped out of the second SUV and dragged Lex into the first car.He seemed unconscious, and the Phantom was completely totaled.