Page 47 of Stolen Rival (The Stolen #1)
Nausea spreads through my gut, fear an acrid taste in my mouth. I can’t lose her. Dammit, I won’t fucking lose her. Not now. I’m a bad man in many ways, and maybe I deserve to suffer, but she doesn’t.
First I take her family, then I take her, and now, because of me, her life is on the line.
Whatever I have to do, I’m bringing her safely home, and I will never let anyone hurt her again, including me.
Especially me. I’ll build a fortress, a panic room on every floor.
I’ll hire twenty more guards, fifty, a fucking hundred.
I knew Andrew was dangerous, yet I let my ego convince me I had it all under control. Now he’s taken my wife, and it’s all my fault.
Once again, my actions, or in this case, inactions, have put someone close to me in danger. Grief punches me hard in the chest. I take several deep breaths, wrestling with my emotions. I lost my parents because I lost control, but I won’t fucking lose Sorcha.
A tenuous hard-fought calm settles over me.
Bracing my arm around Darragh’s waist, I help him to his feet and half carry, half drag him to the living room.
I leave him there to recover and return to my study.
Liam is perfectly capable of putting a rescue team together, but until I figure out where Andrew’s taken Sorcha, we have no instructions to pass on.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes.
Think . Andrew has only been back in Ireland a few weeks, and he’s never even left the property by himself.
Wherever he’s taken her, he won’t have gone far.
He wouldn’t risk one of my captains or soldiers spotting him out and about.
They all know he’s under surveillance, so driving around on his own would be a colossal red flag.
Firing up my computer, I pull up a map of the area and study possible locations. He’ll want somewhere remote to hole up. Somewhere Sorcha’s screams won’t be overheard. An abandoned farm building, maybe, or a warehouse. I print out several maps, and I’m circling potentials when Liam appears.
“Team’s mobilizing. I found Dan and Jeff. Same thing as Darragh. They didn’t even see him, just felt a sting in their neck and went down like a sack of spuds.”
“They okay?”
“Yeah. I’ve left them with Maeve. She’s making them something to eat to help push the drug out of their system. Darragh, too.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey.” Liam plants both hands on my desk. “It’s gonna be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I fucking do know that. We’re Mahoneys. No one fucks with what’s ours and gets away with it.”
“Yeah. But we know ‘what fucking with what’s ours’ might look like to our enemies.” I give him a look.
“You can’t think like that. For all you know, she could be fine.”
I raise an eyebrow. His tone suggests he doesn’t believe it anymore than I do. I push a couple of the maps across the desk. “I’ve marked a few possible places he might be keeping her. Start making a list.”
“On it.”
My knees quake as I push up from my chair, too much adrenaline coursing through my veins. “Gonna go talk to the gatehouse guard. See what he can tell me.”
“Good idea.”
The rare Irish sun beats down on me as I make my way to the gatehouse.
I’ve carried a heavy load for years. Ever since my parents died, leaving me in charge of a business I wasn’t ready to lead, I’ve felt the weight of it.
And now here we are again. Another person I care for, whose life could be snuffed out because of me.
The fear is crushing me. If she dies I’ll… I’ll…
I will never forgive myself.
When I arrive, my driver and bodyguard are still at the gatehouse. Like Darragh, Dan, and Jeff, he’s come around, although he looks a little worse for wear.
“What can you tell me?” I wish there was time for niceties, but I don’t have a minute to spare if I’m to stand a chance of getting my wife back in one piece.
He blinks slowly, the drug making his movements sluggish. “Andrew stopped the car, got out, and came into the gatehouse. He moved that fast, sir. I don’t even remember him saying anything.”
“Was my wife with him?”
“No, sir. He was alone.”
A fresh deluge of anger flows through my veins. He put my fucking wife in the boot.
“I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.”
I nod. “Go on up to the house. Maeve will make you something to eat.”
“Thank you, sir.”
I jerk my chin at my bodyguard. “Go with him. He’ll be unsteady on his feet. Gerard, stay here and guard the gates. I’ll send someone to relieve you shortly.”
The two men head for the house. I follow them, but as I near the front door, my throat clogs up. I need a breath, a moment to pull myself together. Everyone will be looking to me to lead them. I can’t fall apart. Not now. Not until she’s safely back in my arms.
Veering to the right, I skirt the side of the house. The garage doors are wide open. Little wonder. It’s not like Andrew would have bothered to close them after stealing one of my cars. I head over and peer inside.
Where is Sorcha’s Saab?
It isn’t here. It isn’t here.
Elation courses through me. Andrew, you stupid fucker.
You could’ve taken any car other than that one, and I wouldn’t have had a clue where you were.
Knowing how stubborn and hotheaded my wife could be, I didn’t trust she wouldn’t ignore my warnings and take the car out alone, so I had a tracker put in it.
I slide my phone from my pocket and pull up the app. A red dot blinks, showing a location about a thirty-minute drive from here. Breaking into a sprint, I race into the house and go looking for my brother.
“I know where he’s got Sorcha,” I announce to Liam the second I lay eyes on him. “Get the team ready. We move tonight when darkness falls.”