Page 84 of Forged in Secrets

Mr. Hinton was typing a number into the phone, and then he raised it to his ear. He had to be calling Cameron, who was handling the deposit back at Forge Brothers Security.

“I need the transfer now. I will text message you the details,” Mr. Hinton said, keeping his request simple, just as Gabe and the others had instructed him to do after they had Grace.

Gabe fumbled in his pocket for his own smartphone, debating whether he should call Cameron himself and tell him not to send the funds. But if they didn’t get the money…

He swallowed hard and paced a few steps, trying to think.

This whole thing was going south, and fast.

“He’s sending the money,” Mrs. Hinton said. “Where is my daughter?”

“I told you to stop talking,” the man snapped, following up his admonition with a string of Spanish words Gabe only somewhat understood. None of them were pleasant.

Gabe lowered the binoculars, wiping sweat from his brow. This was a disaster. In a matter of seconds, they had lost all of their bargaining power.

He glanced around the beach, the buildings, and the boats bobbing out on the waves. Where was Grace? Where was Katie?

For the first time, he noticed a large yacht resting in the blue water. It looked out of place, exactly as his brothers had described. Maybe they were right. Maybe the two missing women were on board right now.

He quickly navigated to his recent calls list and dialed Ben. No answer. He tried the same for Asher, with the same result. Just as before, it seemed neither of them had phone service.

He raised his binoculars to his face again, his gaze settling on the Hintons as they took a few steps back down the dock, toward the beach. What were they–

Just then, the sound of a gunshot pierced the sky.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-SIX

BEN

Agunshot rang out somewhere on the deck above before they could reach the next room they planned to check.

In a heartbeat, Ben had drawn his own weapon, scanning the narrow hallway.

“You need to get Katie and try to find a way to call for help,” he said firmly, turning to face her. “I need to get to Asher.”

Grace stared up at him, her bright blue eyes steeled with determination. “I’m not leaving you again, Ben. I can’t do it.”

He wanted to demand that she do what he asked. He could be persuasive when he needed to be, especially if he was willing to hurt her for her own good. But she was right. He couldn’t stand to separate from her any more than she could walk away from him. It was her clue that had brought him this far. They had to do this together, whatever the risk.

He sighed. “I assume they took your gun?”

She nodded.

“Stay behind me.”

The hall was quiet again. They stepped forward until they reached the door.

To Ben’s deep relief, they heard the sound of a woman sobbing on the other side.

Grace rapped her knuckles on the wood.

“Katie? It’s Grace. Grace Hinton. Open the door.”

They could hear a muffled female voice attempting to respond, but the door was apparently locked from the outside. Grace glanced over at Ben expectantly, her eyes lingering on his shoulders. Turns out, the time in the gym was even more worth it than he’d previously thought.

“Stand back!” he ordered.

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