Page 60 of Forged in Secrets

When the female voice responded, she couldn’t pick out the exact words.

But it took her only a few seconds to realize that without a doubt, the voice belonged to Jade Gorsky.

“–and this is the only way we avoid Katie Fairman getting hurt,” the man said.

Grace stood again and inched closer to the sound, making it only about a foot before her shoulder smacked into what might have been another wall. Wherever she was, it didn’t seem very big.

“Dad, you’re not thinking clearly,” Jade said.

Grace stood up straight.

It was all she could do not to gasp in shock.

Craig Gorsky wasn’t the innocent, bumbling single dad that he had presented himself to be.

By the sounds of it, Donald Fairman’s friend andmentee was the man responsible for kidnapping his daughter.

The very thought of it made her feel sick. Even after all of the digging they’d done, they hadn’t come close to catching on to his plan. Now, she found herself ensnared in it.

But at least it sounded like Katie was still alive. For now.

“If you commit new crimes, you’ll be exposing us to new risks,” Jade continued. “We should have just killed her to begin with.”

Grace tightened her fist in the fabric of her dress. Jade’s tone was flat, as though the terrible words she was saying meant no more to her than musing aloud over which new Amex card to open.

“Everyone would have blamed the traffickers anyway,” she added.

“I’m not a killer,” Craig said after a moment, sounding defeated. “This is the best option, honey. We'll be in Mexico when we get the money, and from there, we’ll be able to run.”

“We can’t do this. We’ll lose everything!” Jade snapped. “We took Katie to prevent this exact scenario, remember? And now you’re willing to just give up?”

“Things have changed.”

“And what if they still come after us? Have you thought of that?”

Grace wondered what she meant. She doubted that Jade was referring to the Forge Brothers Security team. Who was it that had them both so terrified?

When Craig finally spoke again, he sounded positively broken.

“They won’t come for us, okay? I’ll pay them once wehave the money. It’s not like loan sharks care about how their debt repayment is funded.”

The voices out in the hall went quiet again.

Grace forced air into her lungs as she tried to figure out what could possibly be going on, glad for the distraction from her own present predicament. However angry she was with Ben, she wished she had listened to him instead of demanding to stay at the hotel on her own. It had been a needless, stupid risk. She had put herself in danger, but worse, she had no doubt that Ben would risk his own safety to find her.

“I already lost mom,” Jade said at last, breaking the quiet. “You can’t ask me to give up on everyone I know, and everything we have.”

“How dare you bring up your mother,” Craig said, his voice rising. “The whole reason I made the choices I did is because of how important her memory is to me.”

“You don’t understand what it’s like. It’s not fair.”

“Fair? It’s not fair?” Craig shouted. “What’s not fair is the thought of my friend losing a child like I lost a wife.”

“You made your choices, dad,” Jade pleaded. “We both did.”

Grace listened.

For a moment, everything was silent again, the shadows of the darkness wrapping around her, drowning out everything but the rushing sound of blood in her ears. At last Craig spoke, more calmly this time.

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