Page 22

On my way home from work, I picked up some flowers and chocolates for Audrey and Claire. I wanted to do something nice for them. Everything seemed to be going well. After relaying Audrey’s information to Declan, we had enough to mount a plan against Reacher, and Audrey and I were on the best terms we’d been on since meeting again. After months of stress and tension, it was a relief to feel like things had taken a turn for the better.

That good mood lasted for the span of the car ride home. The instant I got home and registered what I was seeing, it evaporated in an instant.

The front door was open.

I stopped, staring at it for a long moment. Then I ran, the flowers and chocolates I had brought forgotten in the car as I sprinted toward the house.

Stale, unpleasantly familiar scents hit me when I crossed the threshold. Reacher’s and Saul’s. They’d been here.

A low, angry growl began to resonate in my throat, rage and fear vying for dominance. If they had been here, that meant trouble. My mind raced with all the possibilities as to what they could have done, none of them pleasant.

“Audrey? Claire?” I yelled.

No answer.

That was when I saw the crumpled heap on the ground.

I raced forward, trying to hold in my panic. Audrey didn’t move as I approached, my heart pounding. She’d been hurt. I hadn’t been here, and she’d been hurt. Please let her be all right.

“Audrey? Audrey!” I bent down next to her, lifting her halfway in my arms. She was breathing. As I lifted her, her eyes fluttered open, and she let out a soft groan.

“Thank God.” I finally breathed, some of the tension and panic leaving me.

She stirred, her hand going to her temple, where a large red mark was already darkening into a bruise.

“Jackson?” she muttered. “What…?”

“It’s all right,” I said, stroking her hair. “You’re all right.”

She pushed herself up until she leaned against the wall. “My head,” she groaned.

I cupped her cheek. “Stay here,” I said as I got to my feet. I raced to the kitchen. As I did, I kept an eye out for Claire, but there was no trace of her, or of any conflict outside of the front hall. Maybe she had gone over to a friend’s after school or had stayed back for some reason. I could worry about calling her in a moment. Right now, I wanted to make sure Audrey was all right.

I pulled an ice pack from the freezer and hurried back to the hall. Crouching in front of Audrey, I put the pack gently to her head. She sucked in a breath and tried to flinch away.

“I know,” I said, trying to sound soothing. “But this will keep the swelling down. Are you okay?”

“I think so,” she said, taking the pack from me. She shifted, pushing more of her back against the wall, and the light caught her neck. Dark lines of red and purple wrapped around her throat as if someone had been choking her.

A new surge of anger slammed into me like a tidal wave. Whoever did this to her was going to pay.

“What the hell happened?” I demanded.

Audrey closed her eyes, as if trying to remember. Then her eyes flew open, wide with terror. She reached for me, grabbing a fistful of my shirt.

“They have her,” she said, her voice quaking. “They took Claire.”

The words rang in my ears, sounding impossible.

“Who?” I snarled.

“Reacher. And Dad,” she said. Tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“It’s not,” I said, shaking my head.

She shook her head. “No, it is. When I first came here, they made me work for them. They wanted me to keep tabs on you and give them information to ensure you wouldn’t interfere with their plans. Today, they came by, and I told them I wasn’t going to do it anymore. Then Claire came home from school, and they… they…”

She trailed off, seemingly unable to finish, though from rage or fear, I couldn’t quite tell.

“They what?” I prodded her.

She took a deep breath, steadying herself. When she looked at me again, the tears and fright were still there, but I could see an ice-cold rage beginning to form in her as well. In her eyes, in the way her shoulders stiffened, in the hard expression on her face.

“They told me to tell you that they would hurt Claire if you or any of the Gold Wolves tried to interfere with their plans,” she said.

Blind rage took over. They had kidnapped Claire and hurt Audrey. It was all I could do to stay rational enough to know that I had to come up with a plan before I stormed into their pack and tore out their throats.

“Don’t worry,” I said, my voice low and hard. “They’re going to pay for this. I swear.”

“What are you planning on doing?” she asked.

“What do you think?” I growled as I helped her to her feet. “I’m going to get our daughter back. There’s no way in hell I’m letting her stay in that pack, especially as a bargaining chip. Those assholes don’t know who they’re messing with if they think I’m going to let them get away with that bullshit.”

She stared at me, her expression unreadable. I half-expected her to tell me no, to tell me it was too risky. I wouldn’t have blamed her, not after everything she had been through. But letting Claire stay with Reacher and Saul and bowing to their will was infinitely worse on so many levels. And you don’t use kids as hostages. I was going to rescue Claire no matter what. Still, I prepared myself to argue my point.

Instead, she asked, “How certain are you that you can get her out safely?”

“Very,” I said. “And if I’m not able to, it’s because I’m dead. She’s coming back.”

Audrey took this in. I could see her shoulders quivering and the tremors in her hands—not out of fear, but pure rage. She glanced up at me, her jaw set.

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

I shook my head. “No, you’re not. It’s too dangerous for you.”

Her eyes flashed, that old spark from when we were kids fully reignited. She straightened her shoulders and met my gaze, seeming to tower over me despite being much shorter.

“I don’t care,” she said. “And I happen to know the town a hell of a lot better than you do. I’ll know the spots he’s most likely to keep Claire.”

“I can figure it out on my own,” I said. “But I’m not going to put you in danger. Stay here.”

“No way in hell.”

I stepped toward her, my hands going to her shoulders as I met her gaze. “I know you’re angry,” I said evenly. “And you have every right to be. But these guys already hurt you once. I’m not going to give them the chance to do it again.”

Her lips pursed, the rage in her eyes burning so bright that I could practically feel the flames.

“Those two kidnapped my daughter,” she said. “And all of this is my fault. I’m not staying back.”

“Audrey—”

“I’m going,” she nearly shouted. “And I swear, the only way you’re going to stop me is by knocking me out again, tying me up, and keeping a guard on me. And I’ll still fight every step of the way.”

I growled. Despite everything, I had to admire her determination. This was the Audrey I used to know. And I knew just by the look in her eyes that she was prepared to move heaven and earth to get Claire back, and I wasn’t going to be able to stop her.

Part of me wanted to try, anyway. I didn’t want her to go and put herself in danger. I cared about her too much. I wanted to find a way to keep her here, even if it meant locking her in her room. It was the same selfish bit of me that had thrown away a mission when she walked into Reacher’s office. That same selfishness that was half the reason we were in this mess in the first place. I wanted to protect her, to keep her safe. But in order to do that, I knew I would have to take away her free will again. And if I did that, she would never forgive me.

She deserved to make her own decisions. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to protect her daughter. I couldn’t take that away from her, no matter how badly I wanted to for my own selfish reasons. I couldn’t be self-centered this time. I had to let her do this.

The only thing I could do was help her and make sure she stayed safe.

“All right,” I conceded. “We’ll do this together.”

She blinked, taking a half-step back as if she hadn’t expected me to go along with it. “You mean it?” she asked.

When I nodded, she flung her arms around my neck, her head burying itself in my chest. I pulled her close, stroking her hair absent-mindedly as I breathed in her scent.

“Thank you,” she murmured. When she stepped back, her eyes burned with that old fire. “Let’s get going.”

She turned toward the door. I reached out and took her bicep. She turned to glare at me.

“If we’re doing this, we’re going to need help,” I pointed out. “If Reacher has half the weapons and men you think he does, we need more manpower than just the two of us.” I smirked as I pulled out my phone. “Thankfully, I happen to know a group of retired yet highly trained spec-ops shifters, and I happen to have their numbers on speed dial.”

It took all of five seconds for Declan to answer. “What’s up?” he said. “You find some more information?”

“Reacher took Claire,” I said.

“He what?” Declan demanded.

“He kidnapped Claire to use as a hostage,” I said, practically growling. “To make sure we stayed on our best behavior.”

I gave him a brief overview, trying to rein in my rage enough to stay coherent. Declan listened in silence, not speaking until I had finished.

“We’ll be there in ten,” Declan stated. I could hear him standing and moving around already. “Don’t worry. We’re going to get her back.”