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“Good location, preferably with a decent population that we can blend into, but not so thick that they pick up on the fact we’re strangers,” Voodoo said.

“Good locations would include near transpo, public and otherwise. Also, access to stores for supplies,” Lunchbox added.

“Not on a tourist route,” Bones said. “While tourists can provide vital cover, we don’t want to create too much of a hazard and those areas tend to also involve a lot more in the way of surveillance and law enforcement.

“Need a park or at least some green areas so we have cover for Goblin,” Alphabet suggested. “Not a do or die, but preferable. Room for all of us, or if necessary, side by side apartments so we can control who is next to us and we can secure it.”

“That’s it?” I checked, sweeping all four with a glance before looking back at Bones. He was the final decision maker.

“No, but it’s the solid basis and that type of location would do us well and it would put us in a larger city. Harder to track whileAlphabet digs into the data. We can retrench, restock, research, and recon.”

“How very alliterate of you,” I murmured, because it was kind of funny. “Would you be opposed to me asking someone I know if we can borrow their place?”

“Who?” The question came from four different directions, with varying degrees of emphasis and concern.

“A friend,” I said slowly. “A photographer that I’ve worked with. They have a place in Paris, but they aren’t always there. It’s a lot bigger than they need, so I’ve stayed there a couple of times.”

The hard silence greeting my statement was so thick and tangible, I half worried that it had actually formed in the way an invisible wall would in a movie.

“What is his name?” Bones asked finally, his eyes narrowed.

His name?

Oh.

“Hername is…”

Chapter

Eighteen

GRACE

The drive to Paris took the rest of the night and into the early hours of the morning. I slept far more of it than I thought I would, curled up on a pallet they’d made in the back of the van with Goblin next to me and the guys taking turns as well. Always two of them up and two resting.

The first stretch of the drive Alphabet was on one side of me and Goblin on the other. The second Voodoo swapped spots with him. For the last few miles, Bones stretched out with me. I wasn’t sleeping so much then, but took the time to study him as the light outside grew stronger.

The shadows beneath his eyes seemed to have dug in grooves. All night, I’d thought about the story they’d told. About the men from their past that now seemed inextricably tied up with my own horror story. Reznik—the hate for him was tangible and it had teeth.

Yet all of that paled in contrast to the raw, intense, and volatile tones as they vacillated between rage and heartbreak over O’Rourke. I doubted they would see it the same way, but it was there from the first moment Bones said anything over comms regarding him.

Sharp and clipped, with biting, accusatory words or phrases that threatened to crack under the weight of emotion. That was Bones. For Voodoo it was strained, hoarse and edged as though each statement had to be forced past his teeth. Lunchbox’s came out guttural and intense, deepening his voice with adrenaline-fueled anguish.

And AB?

His silence screamed far louder and his humor a desperate shield. The pain he suffered then—still suffered no matter how he dismissed it, was deafening. O’Rourkehurtthese men. Hurt them in a way only someone truly loved and trusted could hurt another.

Betrayal went down like battery acid and I’d hate O’Rourke for that alone.

“You’re thinking too loudly, Grace,” Bones said in a low voice. “Go back to sleep. We have…” He raised his wrist to look at his watch. “Another hour before we’re at the location. Then another hour to do a scout before we go in.”

“Then sleep if you can, unlike some people, I got most of a night’s sleep.”

He cracked an eyelid, then wrapped an arm around me, flipped me over so I had my back to his chest and then snugged me up tight. Goblin shifted over so he could little spoon to my little spoon.

“Now sleep,” Bones ordered in a husky voice. Unexpectedly, the way he wrapped me up tight, the warmth of him there, and the hum of the street below us as we rolled along knocked me out.

Three hours later, we were settling into the huge apartment we now had on loan for the next several days. The owner was in Australia and she’d been more than happy to give me the door code and to stay as long as I needed. The only “payment” she wanted was for me to agree to a photo shoot down the road. Notreally a hardship. Rachel was wonderful and I’d worked with her a couple of times before.

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