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CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

LEENA

I don’t know how long I’ve been crying.

I feel numb.

I can’t even consider the possibility that Jace is gone too. He risked his life to save my sister, and it was all for fucking nothing. So we’re getting him out.

That’s it.

We have to get him out. Because I can’t erase the images rolling through my head of that yacht, torn into a million flaming pieces. The yacht that Ryan confirmed was the same one Colton was trailing earlier. The yacht that my sister more than likely–

Colton grabs my hand, pulling me from my thoughts. Jace is like a brother to him, I realize. A mutual understanding of sorrow passes between us as his fingers interlace with mine and we hold each other tight.

We stare out the front window as he takes us inland, to where we will load up every single fucking weapon we brought. My stomach drops, realizing the risk we’re all about to take getting Jace out of there. But I don’t fucking care.

We’re not losing anyone else today.

Turning my focus back to where Colton’s hand is locked with mine, I take a steadying breath. I watch his thumb tap out a tune against my skin. I can’t help but smile when I recognize it as one of the stupid songs we sang in the car to piss off Sebastian. Looking up at him, I find a small but devastating smile tugging at his lips. He glances over, and my heart does a little jump when he winks at me.

I give him a small smile, appreciating his effort to cheer me up.

But then I remember my sister is probably dead.

I look back at our joined hands and just try to fucking breathe.

“She wasn’t on the boat!” Ava shouts through the radio into all our ears, making me nearly jump out of my seat. “Kathryn wasn’t on the boat!” she says again.

“Jesus, Jones. Turn it down a notch. Are you sure?” Sebastian asks. I’m suddenly sitting straight up in my seat and squeezing the life out of Colton’s hand, needing to hear her answer.

“I’m sure. The Coast Guard just confirmed the death count at five. They haven’t released the names yet, but all casualties were male. Leena, Kat could still be alive,” she says.

I choke out a laugh, my tears streaming down my face again, but this time I wipe them away. My eyes shoot over to Colton and I repeat the words.

Kat’s alive.

She wasn’t on the boat.

I quickly turn, finding Sebastian and Luke’s expressions full of the same relief I feel right now. I know immediately how much this was weighing on them too. “You’re our family, which means Kathryn is too ,” Luke had said to me.

She’s alive. I want to jump into their laps and cry I’m so fucking happy. Maybe they’ll get to meet her after all.

I want them to meet her.

“Holy crap, I think I’ve got something,” Ryan says, and we all go quiet, staring at the radio as if that’ll make him talk faster. “I went back to check the cameras at the two marinas we hacked. I pulled up the timestamp from right around when the yacht exploded. It’s not a high quality picture, so I couldn’t be sure until it got closer, but there’s definitely another boat. One leaving the wreckage. You guys, I fast-forwarded the footage to real time. It looks like it’s heading toward the eastern marina now.”

We’re all silent, staring in shock at one another. It’s Sebastian who finally speaks up, “Fisher, I think we need to make a pit stop at a marina.”

“You got it, boss.”

I smile, holding on tight as he tips us toward our new course.

—

“Talk to us, Chen,” Luke says as the pontoons touch down in the water. We rock with the waves as Sebastian opens the side door and Colton moves us closer to the dock.

“White cabin cruiser, black stripe. It just pulled into the boathouse, but I couldn’t see how many were onboard,” Ryan says warily.

“Copy that,” Sebastian says, hopping out of the chopper and tying us to the dock.

I stare out, quickly finding the boathouse. Chances are, whoever is in there, is probably the same someone who just blew up a yacht to cover up Kathryn’s whereabouts. Which means they might know where she is. It frightens me, knowing the lengths they’re willing to go to hide what happened.

Or maybe the Coast Guard is wrong. Maybe they just haven’t found her body yet.

My heart aches at that thought, so I push it away.

I just have this horrible feeling that time is running out. We have to find her.

“Alright, gear up.” Sebastian hops back inside, dragging a large weapons case into the middle of the floor and throwing it open. I join him, choosing a pistol I’m familiar with and a couple of magazines to go with the one I’m already carrying.

“Not you,” Colton states firmly.

I glare at him. I’m not backing down on this. I want to find my sister, yes, but I want to have their backs even more. After thinking I’d lost Kathryn, and who knows, maybe I still have, I can’t imagine how I would feel if I lost one of my men.

“I thought she was dead, Colt. Don’t make me sit here wondering if you are too,” I say, looking between all of them.

Sebastian grinds his jaw and has a pained expression, but I know he’ll let me do this, and that he would rather have me at his side too.

My eyes find Luke’s and I realize now that I have a better understanding of what he must have felt that day in the warehouse. The moment he thought we lost Sebastian.

He’s watching me closely, and I don’t doubt he’s thinking that very same thing.

“She’s coming with, Colt. So are you. We’re doing this together,” Luke says, then looks at Sebastian, who nods his agreement.

Colton lets out a frustrated growl, then grabs his weapon and steps out onto the dock, wincing as he does. I stare at him for a moment. His shirt is still open, his hair loose in its bun, and the strap of the larger weapon crosses his muscled torso that’s covered in tattoos and scars.

His face is set in a worried expression, and I don’t blame him for wanting me safe. But I want him safe too.

He racks his pistol and takes a breath, holding out his other hand for me. I take it, and he helps me out onto the dock.

Sebastian and Luke join us, equally armed, and the four of us take one last glance at each other before heading up the dock toward the boathouse. I’m carrying a nine millimeter, but the weapon suddenly feels small compared to my entourage of muscled bodyguards, casually sporting a slew of AKs between them.

The dock leads right inside the small boathouse, and as we approach, I ready my weapon, gripping it tighter. Sebastian nods back at us, raising his AK to his shoulder as he steps around the corner and we follow close behind.

The first thing I see is the boat Ryan described to us, bobbing in the water.

Then I see two people stepping off of it and onto the platform.

“Stop right there! Hands in the air and turn around!” Sebastian yells, his cop voice echoing through the large enclosed room. I see the back of a small blonde woman standing beside a taller man. They’re both soaking wet. Their hair, their clothes, even their shoes.

Then everything happens so fast.

My heart beats heavy in my chest as the man quickly wraps an arm around the woman, pulling her to his chest and turning to face us.

The knife at her throat glistens in the light.

It’s at this moment I realize that the terrified young woman being held at knifepoint is my baby sister.

“Kathryn! Let her go!” I shout, stepping out in front of my men and raising my weapon.

“Leena?” I hear her soft voice say in disbelief.

The man is so much taller than her, that I might be able to get a shot in. But it’s so fucking risky with her this close that I don’t even consider it.

Luke steps up beside me.

His weapon was out a second ago, but now it’s not even raised. I look around, Sebastian and Colton’s aren’t raised either. I glance between them, confused.

Then I turn back to study the man behind my sister. He’s breathing heavily with adrenaline, so is she, but his brows are furrowed in a familiar sort of way. I stare, wondering if I’ve met him before.

And then I see it.

He’s taller than the boy I saw in the photograph, older, but even through all the tattoos crawling up his neck, it’s impossible not to recognize him. Because he has the same exact striking blue eyes as Luke.

Asher Campbell.