Page 76 of The Vigilant

“Auction or sale, we think.” Rob pulled the chain out from around her neck, starting to fiddle with the ring on the end. “From what I’ve gathered, the app catalogs women, and then when someone wants them—is willing to pay—the app tracks the cell phone of the woman using it, and they abduct them right off the street and sell them for top dollar.”

To twisted men like Uzair Shazad.

“So, because Sutton signed up on her phone with one of those codes, that was how they tracked her.”

Sutton flashed me a look, but it was gone too quickly before I could decipher it.

“They would’ve come for me regardless, but because you interrupted my chat, they decided it was safer to kill us both.”

I turned to Robyn. “But you called to warn me.”

“Mara texted me to protect Sutton,” Rob responded. “I knew something was wrong. She’d sent a message a few days earlier that something had changed and the men guarding her were on edge.”

“Kang,” I croaked and flicked my eyes to Sutton; her expression didn’t change. She didn’t have any regrets about what she’d done to the man in that alley, and I didn’t blame her. Part of me still believed he deserved worse.

Rob nodded. “I knew Sutton was here—that the police brought her here.”

“Yeah,” I said, taking the water bottle that Rorik offered me with my free hand. Before I took a sip, I added, “Your brothers have surprisingly big mouths.”

“They do.” Her smirk flashed for a nanosecond. “But I knew because I was the one who made sure the police brought her here.”

“What?”

“What?” The word came out so fast from both Sutton and me, I lost track of my breath and started to cough, sending pain fizzling through my chest.

Meanwhile, Sutton glared at the other woman.Guess she hadn’t told her everything.

Welcome to the world of Robyn DuBois. One of half truths yet complete trust.

“I keep eyes on my people, Ty. I do whatever is necessary to protect them—and the choices they make,” Rob clipped, her jaw as set in stone as the tone of her voice. She looked at Sutton when she explained the rest. “Mara was worried aboutyou—what you’d do—and my first concern was her safety, and I couldn’t let you jeopardize that.”

“You called the police when I broke into her apartment.” Sutton sounded breathless.

“No,” Rob replied with a small laugh. “That was definitely the security guard you pissed off. But I did contact Officer Daws immediately so he could intervene. I needed to make sure you were safe, too, but out of the picture, and Daws owed me a favor. Plus, it was a win for him when I told him I had a grumpy ex-Green Beret who’d be happy to babysit her.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t expect you to…continue to try to find Mara.”

“She’s my family,” Sutton said, raw emotion bleeding into the truth.

“Like I said, I didn’t know you were still looking. And I did know where Mara was, but her phone—the tracker has been off-line since she sent that last message.”

“I think we need to talk to Kang again,” Sutton declared. “He’s our only way in?—”

“He’s gone.”

“What?” Rob’s head whipped in my direction.

“Creed wanted to follow him, but Kang has disappeared?—”

“Then we have to go to that apartment building. There has to be something there to lead us to Mara?—”

“They were prepping Mara for something. If they thought she was too much of a liability, they would’ve killed her first rather than come after you. Plus, Mara could’ve turned off her phone herself to protect her cover. She knows forty-eight hours without contact is my limit.”

“Two more days—” Sutton choked.

“Is Creed here?” I interrupted, already seeing the fire of defiance brewing in Sutton’s stare, and I was in no condition to stop her this time.

“The big, silent behemoth?” Robyn jutted her chin. “No. Haven’t seen him since that first night. Why?”

“He’ll go to the apartment. He’ll look for something to locate Mara?—”

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