Page 72 of Unraveled Love

“Got it,” Briggs called.

I pushed off the wall. “Got what?”

Please let it be Daniel’s location, or whoever he has helping him. Please let it be something that will end me constantly having to look over my shoulder.

“Close range tracker. Only works up to about twenty miles. I’m guessing he used it figuring you’d be close? Otherwise it doesn’t make sense why he wouldn’t use something more long range.” Briggs held up the flimsy piece of wire I never would have noticed and certainly hadn’t felt beneath my feet and sneered at it. He tossed it to the desk, grabbed his beer bottle, and smashed it. “And now it’s gone.”

If it hadn’t beenmewho’d been taken advantage of in this way, I’d find his disgust humorous. As it was, it only made me move closer. “What does that mean? For us?”

“It means, unless he magically had someone follow you, the chances of you being found here are still slim. So that should help. It also means he had help getting it into your shoes.”

At least there was some good news.

Shawn hugged me tight to his side and said, “Addi assumed it was her dad. Maybe he was forced? Maybe he held the GPS app for it, or whatever device would pick it up. Maybe that’s why he was killed? We assumed Daniel had him, but maybe that wasn’t the case.”

Maybe it was foolish to hope he’d do something to protect me, long after he’d tossed me into a wolf’s den filled with feral animals who hadn’t eaten in an entire winter. On the other hand, he could have been killed solely because he knew information about Matthew, or because they were pissed at me. None of the options were all that comforting.

“Possible.” Briggs shrugged. He leaned back in his chair, wove his fingers together, pushing them up above his head, palms up, and stretched, groaning as he did it. “It’s also possible that you got out of town while Daniel was believing you’d be coming down the aisle. By the time he learned you ran, you were too far out of the contact zone. It most likely took that picture of you in the paper at the opening of Dreammaker’s to realize where you were, and after we got you back in Pennsylvania, where else would you go except back to Raleigh? My guess is, he got a hold of Landon then his dad, and he’s been hiding with them since.”

My muscles coiled and tightened as he spoke. The problem was we were still guessing. Until Jaxon could find Landon, which would hopefully lead him to Daniel, all of it was a guess. And we were still stuck here, unable to do a whole lot except wait.

I was ready to get the life I’d just started building back.

Wehadto find Landon. Keep Matthew in jail. Get Daniel off my back by whatever means necessary.

You know…just another day.

25

Shawn

“Ineed some air,” Addi whispered, pulling out of my hold.

I didn’t blame her one bit, even if I wanted to keep her tucked to me. Hell, everything we’d just learned was a lot for me to wrap my brain around, and I’d joined a career that pretty much guaranteed I was constantly around people at the worst moments of their lives and on the worst behavior.

Still, throw in sex clubs, sex trafficking, pedophilia, and a GPS tracking device, and my thoughts were swimming with what the hell was going to happen next.

“Do you want some company?”

“No.” Her hand rested on my chest. “If it’s okay, I could use a few minutes alone.”

I didn’t fault her that at all.

Besides, it wasn’t like there was a lot we could do from here. “Text me if you change your mind.”

“I will.” She kissed the hinge of my jaw and first headed off to the kitchen. I kept my eye on her as she grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge and filled a glass, adding an ice cube before she headed toward the stairs.

Since she needed air, I assumed she was headed to the private balcony off our room.

With her departure, the rest of the guys slowly scattered. Mason took a seat next to Briggs. Cort went to the kitchen saying he’d get lunch ready for everyone, and I turned to Lincoln. “Want to do rounds outside?”

At least then I could feel like I was doing something useful.

“Yep. Let’s go.” He clapped me on the back and headed out the sliding doors. I gave one last glance toward the stairs, torn between wanting to go to Addi and make sure she was okay with all of this new information and giving her what she asked for.

She didn’t get a lot of time alone, and every time she was surrounded by either me or the other guys was a reminder of what she was going through, what risk she was at. Hell, if I was a better man, I might have stepped away completely to give her space, but that wasn’t going to happen.

But I could give her what she asked for: some time alone, space.

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