Page 37

"Yeah." Her voice lost its playful edge. "Blade and Viper.”

"Jesus. I hope they’re okay."

"Yeah, me too. They're trying to get some cranes in, but that section of the wharf is older than my gran's knickers." She forced a chuckle.

At the counter, the teenage clerk kept sneaking glances my way while restocking cigarettes.

“Jaxson is coming with Onyx to help search."

"Great idea." She paused. "Everyone's gonna flip when they hear you're alive."

"About that . . .. You can’t tell anyone. We need B to think we're dead."

"Oh right . . . sneaky sneaky. I like it. But I'm telling Ryder. He’s been wearing holes in the carpet worrying about you."

I sighed. Jaxson wouldn't be happy. "Fine, but just him. And make sure he understands why we need to keep it under wraps. Do you know if my parents have been told about my plane crash?”

She sucked in air. “I don’t know. Ryder would have handled that.”

“Okay. I’ll get Parker to call you so you can tell him where we’re going."

"Copy that, secret agent. Give me five and ring me back. And Tory? I want every juicy detail about being rescued by Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding.”

"Goodbye, Whisper." I couldn't help smiling as I hung up, though it faded when I caught my reflection in the window. Jaxson was watching me, his face half-hidden in the shadows.

The couple had finished their burgers, and as they slurped massive thick shakes, the husband's eyes narrowed at me. I had a feeling his suspicion of me was growing. My stomach growled at the sight of their leftover chips, reminding me I hadn't eaten since God knew when.

"Would it be okay if I made one more call?" I asked, trying to look pathetically grateful. "My brother's been searching for me."

The lie slipped out smoothly, which probably should have worried me more than it did.

"Of course, dear," the woman said, though her husband's frown deepened as he wiped his chin with a napkin.

I dialed Parker's number, painfully aware of their attention.

"Parker Foster." His voice was clipped and professional.

"Oh hi, Parker, it's your sis!" I chirped, watching the couple from the corner of my eye.

Silence crackled over the line.

"I'm with Jaxson and Whitney. You know me, nothing like a bit of mud to get me lost!" I forced a laugh, praying he would catch on.

"Tory?"

"Yes, silly!"

A truck driver eyed me suspiciously as he passed, coffee in hand. Outside, Jaxson had shifted back from the glass, but I could still feel him watching me.

"You've got company listening?" Parker asked.

"Exactly! A nice couple loaned me their phone. Mine's completely dead." I forced cheerfulness into my voice while the husband collected their rubbish with sharp, irritated movements.

"Where are you? Are my brothers okay?"

"We're at the BP on the Bruce Highway." I kept my smile plastered on as the wife meticulously folded her napkin, watching me like I might steal the salt shakers. "Jaxson said he'd meet you at the warehouse. He's bringing Onyx to look for his friends."

"Rosebud Wharf warehouse?"

"That's right!" I giggled again, feeling bloody stupid.

Through the window, harsh fluorescent light carved shadows across Jaxson's face as he watched me. Onyx sniffed the bushes behind him, her lead connecting them. Something twisted in my chest. He’d already risked his life to save me .

. . and his unwavering attention gave me no doubt he'd do it again.

"Could you call Whisper?” I said into the phone. “She'll tell you where the party is. That's where Whitney and I are heading. You know, just to be safe."

"Whisper from Border Force?"

"Mmhmm! We've got loads of boxes to unpack. Whitney saved everything." I silently willed Parker to decode my meaning as the husband pushed to his feet, his patience expired. "Anyway, sorry for worrying you! We'll be there in about fifty minutes."

"Copy that. And thank you. I'm glad to hear you’re all okay."

Outside, Whitney had joined his brother, and I couldn't help noticing how the lights played across his bare torso. The thought of Jaxson being equally well-built sent heat crawling up my neck.

Bloody hell! Focus, Tory.

"See you soon." I ended the call under the husband's increasingly hostile glare.

"That's enough." He stepped forward, hand outstretched, his bulk casting a shadow over my table.

"Please, just one last call?" I channeled every ounce of desperation I could muster. "Just a quick call to my sister. One minute, I promise."

"Frank." His wife touched his arm. "Let her make one more call."

I smiled at her. "Thank you so much."

Frank's scowl deepened, and as guilt raced through me for causing friction between them, I dialed Whisper again.

"Hey, sis," I said the moment she answered.

Frank loomed over me.

"I’m short on time here. Do you have that address?"

"4 School Road, Risky Shores,” she said. “The team's meeting you there."

The team? My stomach clenched. I wanted to ask who exactly she meant, but Frank's crossed arms and thunderous expression suggested that wasn't an option.

"Perfect! Thanks, babe. Will you be there? "

He took another step closer, keys jingling in his pocket.

"You betcha ass I am. I need to give you a big squishy hug."

I giggled.

"Great. See you in twenty minutes or so. Love you." I ended the call and handed the phone back, mustering my most grateful smile. "You've been absolute lifesavers. Seriously."

"Yeah, looked like it." Frank's tone dripped skepticism as he turned to his wife. "Come on, Rose."

Rose's kind eyes crinkled as she adjusted her handbag on her shoulder. "Hope your night improves, love.”

I rolled my eyes dramatically. "God, me too. It's been . . ." I gestured at my mud-caked pants and single shoe. "A bit of a night. No fun getting stuck in the mud, I tell you."

Rose nodded toward the table they’d been seated at. "The chips are still warm, and I left my chocolate chip cookie and the shake's barely touched. Vanilla's not really my thing."

My stomach clenched at the sight of food. "Oh, wow, that's incredibly kind of you."

"You look like you need it more than I do, love." She winked, then hurried after Frank with her shoes squeaking on the linoleum.

Through the window, Jaxson's expression had shifted from vigilant to urgent.

Time to move.

I waited until the couple disappeared through the automatic doors, then gathered the food and raced toward the exit. Outside, the night air carried the scent of diesel as I sprinted toward the window where the brothers had been standing, but they were already moving toward the cop car.

My bare foot stung against the gravel as I ran, juggling the precious food in my hands.

As Whitney held the door open for me, Jaxson started the engine.

Onyx shuffled aside as I tumbled into the backseat with the milkshake sloshing dangerously.

The door had barely clicked shut when Jaxson threw the car into gear, tires spinning against pavement as we slipped away from the service station's harsh lights .

"What happened?" Jaxson asked, eyes flicking between the road and rearview mirror.

I summarized the calls between bites of salty chips, which I shared with them and Onyx, and the food hit my empty stomach like a blessing. As I finished with details of the calls, ending with the address Whisper gave me, I broke the cookie in thirds, passing pieces forward

"Risky Shores?" Whitney's voice carried a note of concern. "That's Alpha Tactical Ops territory."

"It's not their office," I said, though worry gnawed at me as I kept Whisper's mention of 'the team' to myself. No point adding to the tension in the car.

"You told Whisper not to tell anyone, didn’t you?" Jaxson's eyes found mine in the rearview mirror, searching.

"Of course." At least that wasn't a lie. "She told me it was Blade and Viper who were in the warehouse when it collapsed,” I added, desperate to shift focus.

“Fuck. I hope they’re hanging on under that building.”

“Me too. She said they've been trying to get cranes onto the site, but the crumbling wharf is so old it’s making it difficult.”

“They’re probably removing rubble by hand,” Whitney said.

“That will take forever,” I said.

“Yeah. Time they don’t have.” Jaxson's jaw clenched as he pressed the accelerator and the cruiser's engine growled as we merged onto the highway. The speedometer crept past the limit, but thankfully, at four o’clock in the morning, the roads were just about empty.

I leaned back in the chair, and Onyx's warm head settled in my lap again. Questions tumbled through my exhausted mind, each one darker than the last.

“I hope Whisper or Parker don’t tell anyone about those boxes in the trunk.” Whitney’s raspy voice broke the silence. “B wanted to burn those files and that skeleton. If she finds out we have them, she’ll come for all of us.”

Jaxson and I had already figured that out.

Yet the weight of this threat settled over us like a storm cloud.

But I was certain we were right. B had probably killed Cooper to keep her secrets buried. The evidence we carried could bring her world crashing down. And she would kill anyone who got in her way.

B didn't leave loose ends alive.

Revenge was her motivation.

And if it was her who left that man to rot in the basement of the orphanage forty years ago, it terrified me what she would do with us now that she had fresh rage and four decades of practice fueling her veins.