Wes had better be.Now they had to find Jules. It was all connected. Still, he didn’t see how.
His phone buzzed. Dean’s number illuminated the screen.
Answering the call, Rhys stepped away from the Lowrys. “What do you know?”
“I have everything the cops and feds have—”
“A gang hit? Cartel? What was it?”
“Scarlett’s sobering up from a wild night, but she’s tracking anything she can find on the dark web. She’s got leads and is funneling them to the feds.”
Everything that had happened to Jules had been commissioned and paid for anonymously online. Rhys couldn’t be surprised at this point. “Is there a ransom request?”
“No. But it’s early for that.”
Rhys peered out the window. Paparazzi clamored for photographs as cops ducked under police tape. “We need to get eyes on Tabitha and Mason.”
“The cops are all over them—Viv’s calling. Gotta go.”
“Keep me looped in.” Hell, Rhys sounded like he was begging. But he would if it meant he’d know what was going on. Rhys returned to the Lowrys. “Why was Olivia here?”
“To make amends,” Diane replied, fresh tears spilling down her cheek. “She asked if she could come over, and of course I said yes.”
“Where were you?” he asked Abigail.
She scowled. “Don’t act like I could have protected them when Wes was downstairs killing people.”
Rhys shook his head. The pieces were not making sense but were more visible. “I’m not criticizing. But you were together?”
They nodded. He ran his tongue along his teeth. Olivia and Jules. Scarlett had been taken out of commission with a ticket to a fancy party. Tabitha throwing a fit, yelling at Jules as though she were always missing out. Always excluded. The timing of all of it was crazy.
He strode back to the window. News vans and lights had been set up on the street. Paparazzi buzzed against the police barricade. “It’s madness.”
Abigail nodded. “You know what? After you find Jules and Olivia, and all this is said and done, Tabitha is going to yell thatshe missed the party.” She crossed her arms. “I’m done with her.”
Shehadmissed the party. Because she wasn’t invited.
His stomach turned as the puzzle pieces clicked together, one after another until he could see the entire picture. Rhys swiped his phone screen and called Menendez. “You need to find Sloane Ellis.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
From the moment Jules woke up, she worried about Olivia. Her former friend had vomited on her shirt. She lay on her side, hogtied in the same manner Jules was. No one else was around. Pallets were stacked high on shelves that reached thirty, maybe forty feet overhead. They were in a warehouse, bound and secured by a thin plastic rope.
“Olivia,” Jules whispered. “Liv.”
No response came.
She wriggled closer. “Olivia, wake up.”
But nothing changed.
Jules rocked to her side. Her head swam. She needed to sit up but had to wait until the nausea passed. Sweat tickled her brow. The smell of the smoke remained in her nose. Even when Jules breathed out of her mouth, its acrid taste burned across her tongue.
With her bound hands and feet connected, she scooted toward Olivia until their knees touched. Her breathing seemed tooshallow. None of this would be okay for the baby. “Olivia.” Jules knocked their knees together. “You have to wake up.”
Olivia groaned.
Slowly, her eyes fluttered open. She winced then squeezed them shut again.
