Page 29 of Lure

“You want answers,” Bones continued. “Are you up for the debriefing now or do you need more rest?”

“How is your stomach, Gracie?” Alphabet asked as though he were translating for them but I got it.

“I’ll live,” I said. “I would kill for another flat white though.”

“Got it,” Voodoo said. “Anyone else want coffee? Once we have that ready, we’ll relocate to one of the offices.”

Since no one else argued or even asked him why, I assumed that had to have been something they’d been discussing with hand signals and silent stares. Fine, I didn’t really care where we had this conversation as long as we had it.

“Thank you,” I said to the guys as they all rose and started tackling tasks from clearing the table to cleaning the kitchen. Not that they let me help. That was also fine, I took the time they were all moving to observe, particularly Bones. Something hadshifted with him but I didn’t know what it was or if it would be beneficial or not.

When all was said and done, we adjourned to a different room. This one had an entire wall that doubled as a screen of sorts. As soon as we were inside and the door locked, Bones faced all of us—faced me.

“Let’s start with the one question you’ve asked repeatedly…”

Chapter

Eleven

GRACE

The laser focus on Bones’ deep gray eyes demanded all of my attention and that wasbeforehe said he was going to answer the one question I’d asked repeatedly. My stomach bottomed out. Amorette. He had to have news about Amorette. I curled the fingers of my left hand into my palm and dug my nails in even when I hugged the tumbler of coffee to my chest with my right hand.

A violent trembling vibrated outward from my core. It was like I was at the epicenter of an earthquake that increased in intensity with each passing moment. Biting down on my lower lip, I sucked it between my teeth. The sharp pinch of pain helped. Just like the ache between my shoulder blades that pulled taut with how hard I was hugging the tumbler.

Discomfort kept me in the here and the now. Still…

“As far as we’ve been able to tell, your sister went missing at roughly the same time as you were taken outside of her place.”

I frowned. “She was there when I was?” My heart sank. Had I led them to her?

“Unknown,” Alphabet said before Bones could answer and I cut a glance to him. He had his right foot up on the ottoman in front of his chair. Goblin sat next to his chair, his attention focused on Bones like he was equally ready for the briefing. I raised the coffee cup, more to give my mouth something else to do before I bit through my lip.

Finally, I managed to push out my next question even if it came out a little hoarser than I planned. “Unknown? How?”

“We don’t know if she was there or already taken,” Bones answered for Alphabet. “He tracked her movements right up until the Wednesday before your weekend away.”

Wednesday.

I frowned.

“Do I want to know how you tracked her?” I cut my glance back and forth between them.

With a sigh, Alphabet sat forward. “First things, first. I still have a host of searches to run. I’ve also got some bot programs I need to repurpose and get out there too. That said…” He blew out a long breath. “I’m sorry, Gracie. As far as I can tell from backtracking her movements, she didn’t go home again after she left Wednesday morning prior to the weekend you two had planned.”

My heart sank farther if that was possible. The Wednesday before—I’d been busy on those shoots. I’d gone out with friends. I’d been focused on my life and looking forward to the weekend. The fact she didn’t answer my messages had beennormal. When she had a case or was really busy, she sometimes waited to answer. It was just what she did.

“She left early in the morning, stopped at her favorite coffee place?—”

“Rhythms,” I murmured. “She likes their breakfast sandwiches even more than their coffee—I think.” It was asource of some humor. “They bake their own bread so it’s awesome.”

“I believe you.”

It felt like the kindest thing anyone had ever said to me. Three simple words. Well, those three words and the genuine sympathy in his eyes. I took another sip of the coffee. The flat white seemed to have lost all flavor. The warmth offered some comfort so I’d take it.

“She grabbed a breakfast sandwich then?” Bones prompted, redirecting us back to the subject. I wanted to hate him and thank him in the same breath. If they had more answers, I wanted those too.

“Yes,” Alphabet said before he cleared his throat. Lunchbox appeared in my periphery with one of those refillable water bottles. He pressed it into Alphabet’s hand. “Thanks,” he muttered before unscrewing the top and taking a long drink. He didn’t spend any more time on it than that. “She got the sandwich and while she waited for her coffee, she got a call. The number was a burner—so no idea who it was, but she didn’t seem upset by it.”

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