Page 42 of Unraveled Love

“No. Not yet,” she said. “According to the news and some sources Jaxon has down there, people think he’s hiding to escape the embarrassment of his dad.”

“Great,” I muttered. “Just an innocent little rich boy.”

“What we need,” Charlie continued, pausing on a clip before restarting it, “is to get info from Bancroft. Maybe Banks, too. I think we should put a tail on them, see if they lead us anywhere, or do a deep dive into their past and see if we can get confirmation on those rumors. If they think they’re going down, they’ll help.”

I agreed. “That’s a brilliant idea. Perhaps even the whisper of it to Daniel might get him out of hiding, make him nervous to do something stupid. And maybe we can somehow get a guy inside the club to see what happens? Or if not, hack in and find their membership list, find a weak link to tell us?”

Briggs snapped his fingers at Charlie. “I like the way you think.”

“That’s because I’m awesome.”

The two whispered quietly, putting their heads together and talking in tech speak way too nerdy for my brain to be able to follow.

“There’s another option,” Jaxon said, turning to Addi and me.

“What’s that?”

“I’ve got a house in the mountains, outside Boone near Beech Mountain. It would be busy this time of year with skiing. You can get her of out of here completely, and the rest of us can go hunting instead of staying on the defensive protecting her. Might help us end this sooner rather than later.”

I was all about getting Addi safe permanently, but if I suggested we run and hide, she might kick me in the balls. Maybe if I pulled at her heartstrings…told her this would keep any friends from getting hurt.

On the other hand, my main job was to keep her safe. Still, I wouldn’t force her to do anything. She’d had a lifetime of people controlling her.

“I know you’d probably like it, but—”

“I’ll go.” She glanced at me and then back to Jaxon. “More than anything, I want to be safe, and I want this over.”

God. This woman. “Thank you.”

She tilted her head back. “Will you be okay not involved?”

“I might have them save Daniel for me until we can get down the mountain once they get their hands on them.”

“Only if I get the first shot.”

To my utter surprise, a laugh tore from my throat. God, did anything ruffle her?

“I might just let you have it,” Jaxon said.

For the first time in weeks, my heart and chest didn’t feel coiled so tight.

We were headed to the mountains where we’d be safe.

Things were sounding better by the second.

* * *

We spentthe next few hours planning.

It was too late to head off to the mountains now, so we would leave the following night. It’d be harder for us to be followed in the dark. Briggs and Charlie would continue following the link to the club Bancroft was a part of, and Jaxon was going send some guys down there to see if we could find Landon.

Maybe, if I was fortunate, Daniel was holed up with his old fraternity brothers, hours away from Addi, which was as likely as a unicorn showing up on my back patio.

He was most likely searching for her.

That she was still on his chess board made him dangerous.

The whole damn problem was that there were too many options and possibilities. He could head to New York, hide out with his mom. He could stay near Charleston to take over his dad’s business once the dust cleared and they could get back to shipping women away.

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