Page 79 of Declan

“Get on the freeway here,” Matt instructs. “We may be able to catch her now that traffic has cleared.”

“Assuming highway patrol doesn’t interfere,” Jessica adds from the backseat, earning a laugh from Matt, who replies, “CHP won’t be a problem.”

Tony enters the freeway and wastes no time hitting the gas, maneuvering through traffic at a much higher rate of speed than normal people would ever attempt.

I glance behind me, surprised when Jessica doesn’t appear fazed, even though she’s riding bitch between Matt and Dare and has an excellent view of the close calls Tony enjoys the most.

“We should be coming up on her,” Matt says, and we all scan the area in search of her.

“Fucking tinted windows,” Tony mutters from the driver’s seat. “There are too many cars for us to figure out which one is her.”

“Yeah,” Matt agrees. “This isn’t going to work. Drop back enough so she’s clearly in front of us, and we’ll have to wait for her to exit the freeway.”

Tony does as he’s told, slowing his speed and falling back to where she shows on the screen as being good enough ahead of us that we won’t miss exiting the freeway when she does.

Jessica’s phone chirps and she hurriedly pulls it out, gasping as she looks at the screen. “What the fuck?”

I whirl around, reaching for the phone, but Matt snags it first, and his eyes widen as he hands it to me, and I curse, “Motherfucking cunts.”

“What is it?” Tony and Dare both ask.

“Someone’s got her,” I reply angrily, holding the phone up to Tony and then to Dare so they can see the image of Issa sitting between two men in a rear seat with her hands tied and her mouth gagged. I hand the phone back to Matt and say, “And there’s an address. You better check it out.”

Matt takes the phone, then after a moment, says, “Random warehouse a bit south of here. Could be where they’re headed, given the direction they’ve been driving.” He pauses, squinting at my phone in confusion before saying, “Her phone stopped moving.”

I reach back and yank the phone from his hands, staring at the dot that is now unmoving on the side of the freeway. I grind my teeth, growling low in my chest as I squeeze the phone in my hands, and Matt snatches it back before I can smash it, my now-empty fist crashing against the dash in a fury.

I beat the shit out of my car, thrashing, kicking, and punching like a feral toddler until, finally, I sit there panting. The guys don’t say anything, but Jessica is looking at me like I’m a fucking psycho, and after a beat, she asks, “Feel better?”

I nod, taking a few deep breaths before I turn back to Matt and ask, “So, what do we do?”

“We’re following the address that was sent.”

“Do you think that’s wise?” Jessica interjects. “What if she’s on the side of the road, injured?”

“If she was thrown out of the moving vehicle, it’s most likely that she’s already dead,” Matt answers. “Best-case scenario for getting her back alive is they tossed her phone, and they’re taking her to this address.”

“But why tell anyone?”

“They didn’t tell just anyone; they told you. Most likely because they want you to come to her rescue, so you can also be taken care of,” Dare says plainly.

Jessica frowns, her lips twisting as realization dawns on her, then she nods and turns her attention out the window.

“How the fuck did this happen?” I ask no one in particular. “She had to have known that kind of bluff would set some people off in a hurry.”

“I already told you it’s not a bluff, Declan,” Jessica replies as she turns to look at me. “Issa has an arsenal of ammunition on a ton of powerful people. She has just chosen not to use it publicly until now.”

I gape at her over my shoulder, genuinely shocked by Jessica’s words, and she laughs and adds, “Fucking Hollywood thought it was going to eat her up and spit her and out, but then she decided they could choke on it. At first, she only did it as insurance against her own safety, but then she got sick and tired of the countless stories of abuse and misuse within the entertainment world, and she decided she was going to do something about it.”

“If she hasn’t said anything publicly until now, how has she managed to do anything about it?” Dare asks.

Jessica sighs, shifting around in her seat as she answers, “Clandestine tricks?” She sighs again and then laughs. “This is the first time she has outed herself as the person responsible for the behind-the-scenes manipulations. Even with all the public movements that have gone on in the past, the underhanded nature of the industry has done very little to fix itself. That’s why Issa chose to run it as her own private chessboard, moving pieces as needed, setting up the attack to benefit whoever needed assistance at the time. Taking them down from the inside, one by one.”

I smile, annoyed that this is the first I’ve heard of it but also incredibly proud. Tony glances over at me, catching my eye as he says, “Seems all our girls are on the same mission. They just use different tactics.”

“Mission?” Jessica asks.

Dare is the one to answer. “You haven’t officially met Antoinette and Carolina, but they’ve basically made it their life’s mission to hunt down bad people and make them pay for their crimes.”

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