Page 48 of Kade

More than he had to. Angel latched on to those words, her heart in her throat. “What did you do to him?”

“Nothing yet. I thought he’d like to meet his mother before we send a video message to his father. Now, I have email to attend to, and we’ve got a way to go before we reach my compound. Rest, my dear. You are going to need it.”

Angel’s hand shook, but she took comfort from the fact no one had searched her for a weapon. Her secret gun was tucked safely into the crook of her bra, nestled against her breast. She would kill him before she let him harm a hair on her son’s head.

All she could do now was wait.

Kade was as uncomfortable as poor Jeremy. Conner had made no bones about his intentions toward Jeremy and Allison. They’d swung by to tell him about the execution of the warrant, and he’d moved them to Conner’s room so as not to disturb Angel. She needed to rest more than anything else.

The execution went well. The ME was on site and took a mouth swab from the boy. Results would be in tomorrow. Kade was sure Ramirez already had a team of lawyers working on ways to suppress the results. The hope was that since they were claiming the child had been kidnapped and Ramirez took custody of an abandoned child, the judge would see the truth of the DNA results. Matthew and Mateo were the same child.

Jeremy marched over to the mini bar and pulled out a tiny bottle of what appeared to be vodka and downed it in one swallow. He stalked Conner and Allison with his eyes, none too happy Ally seemed enchanted with Conner. Kade wasn’t sure if that was because Jeremy liked Allison, or if it was because he liked Conner. Either way, the situation was awkward.

“I’m heading back to check on Angel.” He finally gave up trying not to be uncomfortable.

As soon as he opened the door, he knew something was wrong. There should be security at the elevator, and Watkins wasn’t at his post. His hinky feeling surged. “Bradford, I need you.”

Jeremy was there, gun out in a heartbeat. Kade swiped his keycard and went in, his heart plummeting. Watkins was bound, unconscious, a pool of blood soaking into the expensive carpet. He checked the bedroom, the bathroom, and the balcony. No Angel. Ally was on the phone with 9-1-1 when he came back in.

“Is he dead?”

“No.” Conner knelt beside Watkins, a towel pressed into his back. “There’s no exit wound, which is bad. He’s lost a lot of blood, so I’d guess he’s been here at least half an hour or more. It doesn’t take long to bleed out.”

“Why didn’t we hear it? It was a fucking gunshot.” Kade’s mind was running in a million different directions.

“Silencer,” Conner said. “Jeremy, I need more towels. We have to stop this bleeding.”

Kade sank down on the bed, unable to process the scene in front of him and what it meant. “They have Angel.”

“And they’ll die for it.” Conner’s promise was cold and full of the dark that lived inside him. His eyes had gone to a place Kade only ever read about when studying serial killers. Even Jeremy recoiled from the expression on Conner’s face when he handed over the towels. “No one fucks with my family and lives.”

For once, Kade didn’t say a word about threatening to kill someone in front of the police. He and Conner were in agreement. Rivera wouldn’t live past the next twenty-four hours.

The last time Angel had been taken, he’d broken down, and it cost them precious time. He couldn’t do that this time. She, Matthew, and their unborn child were counting on him to find them.

He saw a text message from Max that simply said,

“I got them.”

Which meant he was following the people who took Angel. Max was very good at what he did. He’d let them know as soon as they stopped. He called Dylan.

“Where are you?”

“About thirty miles outside Miami. Max is using a drone to keep sight of them while we stay out of their line of sight. I never even thought about equipping a drone with a remote camera.”

“How is she? Can you tell if they hurt her?” He was prepared for anything.

“She was fine when we saw her change cars. We won’t know anything else until they stop.”

“And Matthew?”

“Your son was moved in a different car, but I’m fairly sure they are all going to the same place. I’ll text you the address as soon as they stop.”

“We have a plan?” Conner asked as soon as Kade hung up.

“Max and Dylan are following them. They’ll text as soon as they reach their destination.” He looked to Allison. “Call Cole and have him coordinate with MPD. They’re already out of the city, so we may need police support from whatever place they end up.”

“I’m on it.” She already had her phone out and was scrolling through her contacts. While she may not have Cole’s number, she had the MPD in her contacts.

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