Page 56

Tory

The room erupted like a cockpit alarm at forty thousand feet, chaotic and urgent.

Everyone was moving at once, talking and planning.

But I was still grappling with the fact that Beatrice Holloway had been a staff member at the orphanage.

All the staff that I’d dealt with when I lived in an orphanage were lovely.

I flipped through the roster, skimming the handwritten pages until I found her name.

“Maybe,” Jaxson said, his brow furrowing. “Would explain a lot.”

“But why didn’t she get the hell out of there once she was an adult?” Whisper asked. “That’s what I’d do.”

“Being an orphan comes with a whole set of emotional complexities,” I replied, shrugging.

Whisper gasped. “Oh, jeez. I’m sorry, Tory, that was insensitive?—”

“It’s okay,” I said, brushing off her apology with a wave of my hand. “I’ve made peace with my parents’ deaths.”

For the benefit of those who didn’t know, I added, “I was orphaned when I was nine. ”

“Oh, Tory, I’m so sorry,” Yasmin said quietly, her eyes brimming with sympathy.

“Shit, babe,” Maya said. “I didn’t know that. I hope your childhood wasn’t like . . . like this .” She gestured to a row of kids’ photos she’d spread across the table in front of her, each one a haunting glimpse into the lives of children who’d been through hell.

I shook my head, my gaze dropping to the photos before finding Jaxson. He gave me a lopsided smile.

“I was lucky. I got adopted by a wonderful, loving family.” I gave Jaxson a faint smile. “So no, I didn’t experience anything like this. And it horrifies me to think anyone could do this to kids.”

“And it seems like there were heaps of bastards involved.” Ryder’s face twisted into a scowl as he gestured to the mountain of paperwork surrounding us.

“Once we catch Beatrice, we’ll hunt down the rest of them,” Cobra said with his attention glued to his laptop and his fingers flying across the keyboard like he was possessed. “Beatrice Holloway, let’s see where you’ve been hiding.”

“She called herself Triss,” Ryder said, shaking his head slowly. “She was a pain in the ass, but I never expected this .”

“And to think we were worried about her boss,” Whisper added, crossing her arms.

“I wouldn’t write him off just yet,” Ryder said. “Roger’s been running that wharf for fifty years. There’s no way he didn’t know something was going on.”

“No, don’t say that,” Whisper shot back, her scowl deepening. “I like Roger. Besides, Triss fooled everyone. On the surface, she was just a grumpy old lady. Nobody would peg her as a mass murderer.”

A mass murderer. And a woman many of us had actually met. I’d crossed paths with her a few times when she arranged space at the wharf for Chui’s yacht after it was salvaged. She’d been cranky, but never in a million years would I have pegged her as someone capable of killing.

“How many people do you think she’s killed?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I really wanted to know the answer.

“Cooper Heathcote, for starters,” Whitney said with a cringe. “I saw her shoot him. She didn’t even hesitate. ”

“And you didn’t recognize her?” Ryder frowned at Whitney.

“I’ve never met Triss Holloway.” Whitney shrugged. “So no, I didn’t recognize her.”

“The way you describe how she shot Cooper, my guess is she’s murdered plenty of people before,” Xander said, his tone grim. “It’s not that easy to kill someone in cold blood.”

“Don’t forget Grant Hughes,” Cobra added without looking up from his screen. “And he was already suffering after that amputation.”

“Hey, don’t feel sorry for him,” Maya said. “He nearly killed Lacey Brooks, remember? He blew up his house on Amber Island when Lacey was still inside. That bastard got what was coming to him.”

Aria clicked her fingers. “We need to call Lacey and Detective Tyler Kingsley. We’ll need their help when we go in after Beatrice. But we can’t let Watts find out. Not until we know for certain that he’s not involved.”

“But even if we know where Beatrice lives, do you really think she’ll be there?” I asked.

“Yes!” Cobra let out a triumphant cheer. “Got her address!”

He put Google Maps on to the massive wall-mounted monitor, and his fingers moved fast as he typed in the location. We all crowded around behind him as he zoomed in on the satellite view.

“Here it is,” he said, pointing to a house perched on stilts with a tin roof. A narrow pontoon stretched out from the house into the water, and a small tinny was tied up at the end.

“That’d be bloody right,” Ryder muttered. “That’s the house at the entrance to the Everglades.”

“Jeez, that explains a lot,” Maya said, glancing at Piper.

Piper’s pale skin seemed to turn gray. “That’s near that drug den where they took my daughter.”

“Perfect spot for a criminal mastermind,” Whisper said. “Remote, swampy, and fucking creepy enough to keep most people away.”

“I’d bet good money she’s disposed of a few bodies using that boat,” Cobra said, pointing at the tinny on the screen.

Aria pulled her phone, pressed one number, and held the phone to her ear.

"Levi, where are you?" Her tone was sharp enough to cut steel.

Her scowl deepened as she listened to his response.

"We need the chopper. We've found Beatrice's house in the Everglades at Rosebud. So get your ass back here ASAP."

She nodded, her jaw tightening.

"Roger that. Twenty minutes? Fine. We'll be ready." Ending the call, she turned to Cobra and pointed. "We need intel on that place."

"Copy that," Cobra said, spinning back to his keyboard, his fingers flying across the keys.

Onyx ran into the room with Charlie on her heels, and the two dogs careened around our tables like furry missiles. Everyone smiled, enjoying the light reprieve for a couple of moments.

My thoughts drifted to my cats at home. They had enough food and water in their automated feeders to last days, but I would text Tracy next door later and ask her to check on them anyway. She knew where I hid my key because she’d helped me out a few times when I got stuck at work.

"Now that we have Beatrice’s name, I'll dig into her background," Piper said, pulling her laptop closer and settling into her chair. "Let's see what I can find."

“Piper found Alice Turnur for us,” Ryder said, flashing her a quick, loving smile. “Before B snatched Alice from the hospital.”

Maya snapped her fingers. “That’s another murder we can pin on Beatrice, that doctor she killed at the hospital.

She shot him in the back. Though it looked like he helped her kidnap Grant Hughes.

” She frowned, her gaze narrowing. “I wonder if he helped her take Alice last time, too. Or is there another bastard working with her in that hospital?”

“She’s got her damn fingers in everything,” Parker said, his voice simmering with frustration. “The wharf, the hospital, corrupt cops. It’s a fucking nightmare.”

“At least, we might finally get some answers to all your cold cases that are forever piling up,” Whitney said, tapping a pen to his chin.

“Except one,” Parker muttered before clamping his mouth shut.

I had a feeling that he wished he could take those words back.

Jaxson's gaze swept to his brothers, and a deep, unspoken sadness passed between them.

When Jaxson turned to me, sorrow lingered in his eyes, but there was something else too; a silent plea for me not to press him.

I didn’t. But I tucked my questions away for later.

If there was something between us, and I had a good feeling there was, I needed to know that he wasn’t hiding any skeletons in his closet.

“Well, this is weird,” Piper said. “There’s no birth record for Beatrice Holloway that matches her age.”

“She could’ve changed her name,” I suggested, leaning back against the table.

“If she did, she did it over forty-five years ago,” Cobra said, shaking his head.

“Or she was abandoned as a baby at the orphanage,” Ryder added, crossing his arms.

“There were a few like that,” Jaxson said. “That ledger we found detailing the Kincaid brothers’ intake mentioned plenty of kids with almost no details. Makes me think a lot of them were just dumped on the orphanage steps.”

“Okay, team, listen up,” Aria said, stepping forward with her hands on her hips. “The chopper can fit five of us. Levi and I are in for starters.”

“Count me in,” Jaxson said. “And Onyx.”

"Hold your horses, Jaxson," Aria said, raising a hand to cut him off. "I'm taking Maya and Xander from my team, plus Ryder, as he's our most senior officer here. I won't risk anyone else."

Ryder straightened and gave Aria a quick nod, pleased at being chosen. Beside me, Jaxson clenched his jaw as frustration etched in every line of his face, but he kept his silence.

"We already know Beatrice can rig a place with C4," Aria continued, her voice hardening. "And I'd bet my life her house is no different. I need my team on this."

"What am I?" Cobra scowled, crossing his arms, yet his smile confirmed he wasn’t as disappointed as Jaxson for not being chosen.

"If Tory's right, and that bitch isn't holed up there," Aria said, "I need you here, tracking down every detail about her life, finding any other connections or places she might've run to ground."

He nodded. "Understood. Just watch yourselves out there. If she can take down that warehouse, imagine what she's got rigged up in there." He gestured at the screen, where the weathered house stood isolated among the marshland.

“We need Viper,” Maya said. “He’s going to be pissed he’s missing this one.”

“You got that right,” Cobra muttered. “Hey, I’ve got the body cams ready to go. You could film it for us.”

“Now you’re talking,” Whisper said, wrapping her arm around Cody’s neck. “We could watch it later with a bucket of popcorn.”

Whisper and I had spent many nights watching true crime shows together, devouring our favorite snack. Watching our own special ops team in action would be next level.

Aria nodded at Cobra. “I won’t wear one, but if anyone else wants to?—”