Page 116 of Tristano

She spins on me. “As for you, the number on that phone finally came back. It’s a burner phone, but I was able to link it back to the person who bought it. Benjamin Henderson. Your girlfriend’s old boss. We need to talk to her right away.”

I swallow hard, looking over to Bash and Lo. They both look pale.

“Shit. I swear she’s not in on it.”

Bash nods slowly. “I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. That’s not why I look worried. Where did you just say she was?”

Oh fuck.

Pulling out my phone, I dial her. She doesn’t answer. I press the button again, but she is still not answering.

Everyone is talking around me, bodies moving as if getting ready to mobilize, but I don’t focus on them. All I can think about is my girl.

I knew I shouldn’t have let her go alone. Why did I listen to her?

Before I can dial again, a call comes through. I don’t recognize the number.

“Hello?” I ask.

“Tristano, this is Ricky. You need to get to Jersey City now. I don’t know what she’s got herself into, but Serena is in trouble.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, snapping to get the other’s attention.

Putting him on speakerphone, I set the phone on the table.

“I’ve been keeping an eye on the missing girls case Serena asked me to look into. It goes deep into corruption. I mean real deep. I suspect my chief and his son have something to do with it. I was working with Meredith, a working girl, but she stopped answering today. Then I got an alert from one of our old safe houses that’s been decommissioned. I never disconnected my phone from the alarm. Tris, man. They have Serena there. Meredith too, I think. I have no idea what they plan, but it cannot be good.”

My body freezes. I know he is still talking, but the words mean nothing.

My girl is in trouble yet again, and I’m still here not able to do a thing to help her. I’m fucking useless.

“Get your shit together,” Greer hisses into my ear, snapping me back to the present.

“You stay on that house until we get there. There’s no one in your force we can trust. I have a few men in the area that will come surround the house. Do not move in unless you believe there is an imminent danger to her life,” Bash tells Ricky.

“Understood.” Ricky takes the command well, hanging up the phone.

“Good. The rest of you, get in the car now. Break every speed limit. I’ve called in favors.” Bash claps his hands.

“I’ll be tracking you. I’ll make sure the lights are all green as you go through,” Greer tells him.

He pulls her into him, kissing her head. “Killian, stay here and protect my family with my guards.”

It’s a small concession to the earlier spat. One Killian doesn’t take lightly, his shoulders squaring as he nods.

“Let’s head out,” Lo calls out.

Then we are on the move.

I swear I’m going to spill blood this time, regardless of her condition.

Her uncle won’t live through the night.

ChapterTwenty-Three

“Where are we going?” I ask as we pass the corner where Meredith should be.

I frown when I don’t see her.

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