Travis grabs the drive, still staring at me like he is recalibrating. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m on it.”
“Where is Grant’s family estate?”
Travis doesn’t hesitate this time.
“It’s three hours out,” he says. “And they’ve already been there.”
My head snaps toward him.
“What?”
“Brooke and Beau,” he says. “They’re already on their way back.”
Something hits my chest hard enough to make it difficult to breathe.
“Why did you let her leave?”
Travis lets out a short, humorless laugh. “You think I’m about to fight with Brooke? I’m just as scared of her now as I am of you.”
My jaw locks.
“What happened? What did she do?”
The door behind me opens.
Brooke steps inside first.
Her clothes are streaked with blood, dark and dried in some places, fresh in others. It marks her hands, her sleeves, the front of her shirt. She carries herself differently, like something inside her has settled into place and locked there.
Beau follows her in, steady as ever, the smell of smoke and gasoline clinging to him.
Travis goes quiet.
Everything in me locks onto her. She meets my eyes and doesn’t look away.
Relief hits so hard it makes my head spin. Rage follows right behind it.
I move straight for Beau.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” My fist already tight. “Why would you take her out there?”
He keeps his eyes on mine. “Would you have preferred she went alone?”
I stop, but my hands still want to swing.
Brooke steps between us and shoves both her hands against my chest, hard enough that I take a step back. “Enough.”
I keep my focus on her. “You want to explain what the fuck you just did?”
“What needed to be done,” she replies.
“What needed to be done?” I repeat. “You should’ve stayed here. You should’ve answered your phone.”
She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “We’re on the run, Seth. I’m not answering a number that I don’t recognize in the middle of a manhunt.”
My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
“You left,” she continues. “You walked out without saying where you were going. You left your phone. You could’ve been dead or in cuffs for all I know.”
