Page 38 of Unlocking Hope

“I’m not your son.”

“So dramatic. I always had high hopes for you, all of you. Not one of you did anything to make me proud.”

Cole suddenly worried that Nathan might be in trouble. “Where is Zoey?”

“Meet me at the Walker country club in an hour, and we can talk about your precious Zoey.”

“I can’t make it there in an hour. The club is at least a couple-hour drive.”

He could hear her tap her fingers on the phone. “I’m assuming my first failure of a kid is in the room. If so, get a helicopter or something. He has enough of my money to get you there.”

Bryson was already on his phone in the other room when she gave the location.

“Bye for now, son.” She hung up.

His phone vibrated a second time, and it was Brock. “We have a location. Hold on a second.” Cole put the phone on speaker and placed it in the middle of the table. “I’m putting you on speaker.”

Brock’s deep Southern twang rang through the phone. “I ran the number you gave me earlier. The location keeps going in and out. It’s hard to get a good read, but if I had to guess—and that’s what it’s coming down to—it seems to be coming from your parents’ house south of Dallas.”

“Makes sense,” Bryson interjected.

The location of the tip was different from where his mom wanted to meet. Did they plan to move Zoey or was it a trap? “Were you able to pull up any footage of the house?”

“Yes, your parents were there but left about a half-hour ago. I’ve tried the phone, but I think it’s getting bad reception.”

“Panic room.” Everyone turned toward Bryson, waiting for him to continue. “They turned the study into a panic room a few years back. Ever since then, the reception sucked. Fuck, why didn’t I think of that sooner?”

Cole was excited—they had a lead. “So now what? Do we go to the house or the meet location?” he asked the room.

“Both.” Ian shrugged.

“I have to agree with Ian—you and Ian go to the house. No way Mom would take Zoey to the drop. There’s a chance you won’t give her what she needs.” Bryson paused for a second. “Iwill go after Dear Old Mom and Dad, but this time, I’m taking care of them.”

“There has to be another way. I don’t want you going alone,” Cole told his brother, but he knew from the look in his eye, there was no holding him back.

“Let’s call the cops this time,” Ian added.

“I agree with Ian. I know some people on the force up there, and they won’t make the arrest until I make the call,” Brock said. “You don’t know what you are walking into at that house, either.”

“Fine,” Bryson grumbled.

Cole could faintly hear the thud of a helicopter. Their ride had almost arrived. Cole grabbed his gun, and Bryson handed him and Ian an extra. They were heading in armed to the teeth. Bella was staying at the house and locking all the doors. Cole told her how to access the panic room if she felt like she was in danger.

The team of three jumped into the helicopter. Cole slid on a pair of headphones and was shocked for a second when he heard Brock’s voice. He didn’t know how the man hacked the helicopter headphones, but he hoped he could give them information on the way to the house. Because he was going for Zoey, and his mother wouldn’t stand in his way.

17

ZOEY

“Fifty-nine minutes to figure a way out of here,” Nathan murmured.

“I thought you were CIA. Just do your cutty thing and make it stop.” Zoey had seen a million CIA agents do it on TV.

“Really… I wasn’t trained in how to dismantle a bomb. That wasn’t the reason they recruited me. They wanted someone for intel. I was trained not to give information up and how to pry information out of someone.”

“How about the phone? Let’s call Cole.”

He pinched his brow. “Tried the phone before I untied you. No reception. Bryson, hopefully, was able to ping the phone sometime since I alerted him you were taken.”

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