Page 70 of Zain

Taschen gestured at the screen. “Watch.”

They all stared at the large white screen on the wall. Zain rewatched Dana’s kidnapping, and it was like experiencing painful déjà vu. He folded his arms, his stomach clenching.

The whole thing was over in seconds. The energy in the room shifted. Unease charged the atmosphere.

“Anyone run the plate?” Brick asked solemnly.

“Haven’t tried to enlarge it yet. Not sure if we can.” Taschen rolled out a chair and sat. The others followed suit, but Zain couldn’t do more than pace.

Rami snapped open his laptop and punched the keys. “Send it my way.”

Taschen must’ve obliged because after a few minutes Rami spoke. “A bit grainy, but I think I’ve got something legible. Anyone else want to try?”

“Me.” Zain placed his palm on the table next to the computer and looked at the image Rami had enlarged. Grainy was an understatement.

The pixelated navy-blue letters and numbers were difficult to make out on the white background, and the angle of the shot and the movement of the vehicle heightened the complexity. Zain rattled off the letters and most of the numbers but stopped at the last one. “Is that a three or an eight?”

“I say three,” Rami said.

“Lemme see.” Brick stepped in and leaned forward. “I agree.”

Zain nodded. “I was leaning toward that too. Let’s run it.”

With a registered plate and the name Ghost had found today, they might just find an address for this motherfucker.

Problem was, even if they were lucky enough to find the plate registered under Drake’s name, a professional assassin wouldn’t take Dana to his house. But it was something.

It was all they had.

In minutes, Rami was inside the DMV database. Zain watched his brother’s fingers tapagainst the desk as they waited for results. A low ding sounded from the computer. Rami grunted. “It’s a stolen plate.”

“Fuck,” Zain ground out.

“Not only that, but there’s no vehicle registered under Drake Lambert. It’s hard to say if that’s an alias or not.”

The office door swung open, and Ghost stormed inside. “I’ve got something.” He slapped a piece of paper on the table.

Zain snapped out his hand and dragged the sheet across the laminate surface. His heart rate soared into dangerous territory. He stared at the words, his mind tripping over every character, unable to piece them together. “What’s this?”

“From my colleague. He’s a hacker. I called him after Dana was attacked, and he’s been on this since then. It wasn’t Jaysh who hired Drake.”

“I don’t understand.” His throat clenched. He didn’t want to believe the words he’d read—the words Ghost had confirmed.

Rami took the paper from Zain. “Holy shit.” His voice booming, he ordered everyone out except for Zain and Ghost.

The room spun. Zain’s heart pumped wildly while the walls closed in around him. He’d known all along that he’d endangered Dana. That his mission was too risky. That he was wrong for her.

Wrong to get involved. Wrong to fall so fucking hard.

But this was so much worse than he’d anticipated. The damning statements verified the whisper of suspicion that’d plagued him over the years.

His breath hissed out. Numbness inched over his skin, bringing with it a freezing chill that touched his bones. He hadn’t just walked Dana through hell—he’d hand-delivered her to the devil himself.

CHAPTER 22

Dana fought theurge to spit in the creep’s eyes. She’d give anything to take a knife and drag that scar down the rest of his face. He knelt with his forearm resting on his knee and flexed his hand as though he wanted to jab her with it.

In her head, she gnawed over an explanation as though carefully laying out a Tetris puzzle. She’d never been good at that game. The last piece always screwed her. “Considering I was in Afghanistan for two days, I really don’t have much to share.”

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