Page 136 of The Vigilant

I stiffened, instantly on alert, which made Sutton wake beside me.

“What is it?”

“Just get up here. Now.”

I sat up straight. Even without him hanging up on me, I knew something was wrong. His guarded and tense tone put me instantly on edge.

“What is it?” Sutton asked as I got out of bed.

I stilled.What if the thing he wasn’t saying was that she was dead?

“It was Dare. He wants me up there now,” I said. “Sounded urgent.”

In a flurry of movement and clothing, we were both dressed within seconds and in the elevator up to the garage. As soon as the doors opened, though, Dare was waiting, and the gun he held out to me wasn’t promising.

“What the hell is going on?”

Dare’s jaw twitched as he handed me the iPad, the security footage out front of the garage on the screen. Hardly a nanosecond passed before Sutton grabbed the edge of the iPad and tugged it toward her.

“It’s Mara,” she said in disbelief, but she wasn’t wrong.

Her best friend stood outside the garage, looking directly into the camera, her face unmistakable. She looked a little thin. Remnants of old bruises still colored her skin, but the pale greenish tint indicated they’d been healing for some time.

“What are we waiting for?—”

I grabbed her arm, stopping her from going ahead of us.

“Who does that look like to you?” Dare asked, his voice eerily low.

The man beside Mara didn’t look at the camera. He was dressed in a tailored black three-piece suit but no tie, his hands clasped behind his back. He wore a hat that blocked his face from the camera, and it was precisely the hat that told me who he was.

“Remington.”

Shit.I passed the iPad back to him and took the gun.

“So, it was Remington who saved her at the warehouse.” From behind us, Sutton put voice to the thoughts in my head. “Why?”

We all had the same questions:Why? How? For what?But the only person who could answer them was standing outside our front door.

“Where’s Rhys?”

“Bringing the Straw Sandal to the police.”

My nostrils flared. “And Harm?”

“With Rob in the city helping to get all those women situated and safe,” he answered low, the door approaching quickly.

As for Creed, he was still in the area, looking for any more clues on Mara as the police and FBI processed the warehouse.

“So, it’s just us.” To face the man at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted List.

Dare grunted. “He doesn’t look like he’s armed.”

“That’s what worries me.” Unarmed men usually carried the most dangerous weapon: information.

Sutton huffed when I pushed her behind me, nodding to Dare as he stood on the other side of the door.

Lifting his phone, he spoke into the microphone that funneled to the security system speakers outside.

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