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“Abigail?” Cole waited for her to look at her phone.
“You’re clear.” She pressed a button and the lights turned off.
I glanced at Mia, confused.
“We need to make sure there’s someone watching the kids,” she explained.
“Any idea what’s going on?” I tried to keep the worry from my voice. Cole looked serious, and Savannah looked all business. Something was seriously wrong.
“No idea. Code Red has only ever been talked about in our orientation sessions. It makes sense to know what to do in an emergency, but,” she shrugged, “from what I understand, Code Red has never been used before.” Mia strained to see across the room. “However, the fact that my father is here with two men I don’t know makes me more nervous than anything else.”
“That sound,” I held up my phone, “was terrifying.”
“I think that’s the point.”
“I need everyone’s attention.” Cole stepped up on the hearth so we could all see him. “You’re here because this involves all of you in some way.” He looked around then took a deep breath, and that was when I spotted Daniel next to Keith. Their expressions were grim. “Earlier this evening, we found out that Lexi’s gone missing.” Mia’s head swung over to Savannah, and something passed between them. “The security team I had in place advised that she went to a night club and gave them the slip. They spent twenty-four hours doing a grid search and watched her apartment, but she never returned. The team exhausted their search but turned up nothing, so they contacted us.”
Jesus, Mark was right. Cole did have people watching her. I wonder if she’d spotted them, and if so, why she’d skip out on them.
Cat moved to Keith’s side but didn’t touch him. I knew Cat and Lexi had been close, and this was no doubt a huge hit for her as well.
“Frank, will you come up and explain what you know?” Cole looked at Frank, who nodded then stepped up and took Cole’s spot.
“I’ll keep this brief. Both Agent Ortega and Agent Lodge were sent to watch over Lexi for the first few months in Canada while she got settled. Everything seemed to be going fine until a few days ago when she was spotted hanging out at a local pub with a few old friends from the Almas Perdidas.” Worried looks were exchanged, and Mia leaned into me.
“They were a bike gang she got herself wrapped up in years ago. It’s a long story, but most of them were taken out by the Devil’s Reach. The Almas Perdidas are ruthless. Keith helped her escape them back then, and he went through hell doing it. He’s going to be devastated to know she’s back in with them. As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate.” She shook her head.
“Oh, no.” I couldn’t imagine what must have been going on in Keith’s head at that moment.
Mike spoke up. “Any chance she’s with them? Maybe they got a new clubhouse?”
“No. Latest intel is she left the bar alone a few hours before it closed. She walked down Barrington Street then disappeared. They finally got hold of some street footage in the area, and she can be seen getting into a dark blue van. The plates are registered to a local auto shop. The owner confirmed it’s his company truck. Apparently, he’s pretty loose with it, and often his employees or their family members borrow it. We’re working on that, but nothing so far. By that, I mean the truck hasn’t been found.”
I scanned the room and saw worried faces, but no tears were visible. These were strong people and action oriented. They wanted facts before emotion.
“What about POL?” Mark cleared his throat and glanced quickly at Keith as he said it.
“Proof of life, right?” I whispered to Mia to make sure I hadn’t missed something. Sometimes Shadows used different acronyms than I was used to.
“Yes, proof of life,” she answered. “If the Cartels got hold of someone, that’s normally the next step. Given that Lexi is,” she paused, “was Keith’s wife, she’d be extremely valuable to them.” I appreciated her candid explanation.
“Got it. Jesus.” I shook my head at the severity of the situation.
“We’ve heard nothing yet.” Frank looked grimly at Keith.
“Cole says,” Mia quietly went on, “we’re more valuable than even the guys are because Blackstone will do anything to get us back. I’m sure the cartels would know that. That being said, take away what poor Lexi might be going through for a moment.” She grimaced. “If they do have her and get her to talk, just think what that could mean for all of us.”
“She wouldn’t do that, right?”
Mia looked around the room, and I followed her gaze. Various quiet conversations were going on. Savi and Cole had their heads together, and Frank spoke to Keith. She kept her voice low as she spoke.
“No, she’d never want to, but the Cartel are ruthless creatures, and you never know what they’ll do to make her. Just ask Savi.” I felt a cold chill wash over me. “This is bad, Ivy, for so many reasons.” We both looked up as Cole spoke loudly.
“As of this moment, all Blackstone, Eagle Eye, and Dusk members are on standby. Beckett,” he turned to address Ty, “I need you to catch Moore up to speed as soon as he gets here.”
“Understood.”
“Copy that.” John spoke for the others and moved over to stand next to Keith.
