Wincing, I step outside. The air in the lobby is hot, suffocating. I need to breathe. “What the hell happened, Rhys?” My heart wants to slam outside of my chest, trying to break free from its cage.
“Luca couldn’t wait for us to come up with a plan, so he ran in headfirst to rescue Harper. And it went about as well as you might expect.”
I curse and shake my head, unpleased with the latest revelation. “Any chance he brought in any surveillance equipment?”
Jaxson had provided a full load of spy-grade audio and video technology at the airport hangar. I’d made sure the team had access before rescuing Harper from the DeLucas.
“He grabbed a camera and still has it on. There’s audio too. I’ve got Sophia mapping out the house based on the video footage that’s being sent.”
“Good. What else?” Rhys is typically Nova’s bodyguard. He’s not usually running point on a mission. But he’s got the most experience on the team that I sent—and heaven help me now that Luca has been captured.
“We’re missing a lot of footage. We only have two hallways in the compound, and there’s an entire wing we haven’t laid eyes on. There are dozens of cameras inside; we need access.”
“I’ll have my source work on that,” I say. “And Luca, how is he?”
“Alive.”
Nineteen
Jaxson
I’ve spent the past day making sure all security tech and weapons are transported to the hangar where Dante’s team lands. I’ve also secured them an eight-passenger SUV and had the gear loaded into the trunk, along with a laptop. That was the least of my problems, Dante also asked me to dig into the custody situation for him.
Jack and Catrina are fighting for full-custody of Harper’s son, Zeke.
How does this concern me? Dante insisted I run every background check imaginable, dig up dirt, find something on Harper’s parents so that he could presumably use it for blackmail and have them drop the custody suit.
The problem is they’re perfectly clean, albeit they don’t have the best credit score, and their savings account is low, but it’s not enough to convince a judge that they’re not worthy legal guardians or to blackmail them over.
What had Dante hoped to find?
Did he suspect that Jack, who is a manager for Blue Sky Resort, was embezzling money from his job? There aren’t any hefty deposits; they clearly live paycheck-to-paycheck.
My phone buzzes on my desk and I recognize the caller I.D. and grumble.
“Hey, Dante. What can I do for you?” I swear I’d love to be rid of him, but his power and influence extend far beyond Breckenridge.
“I need another favor.”
I laugh under my breath. “Of course, you do. We’re at three, is it now?”
“Not that anyone’s counting,” Dante grumbles. “The surveillance equipment, excellent stuff. I need something a little more illegal.”
Does he think the high-tech shit I gave him was legal? It dropped off the back of a government contractor’s van.
“What do you need?”
“There are cameras inside DeLuca’s compound. The location you gave me, spot on.”
“Of course, it was,” I say, not the least bit surprised by either of those comments. “Let me guess, you want access to the footage inside the compound?”
I already have Declan working on hacking the infrastructure and getting past the firewall. For him, it’s just another day at the office; for me, asking him to do not only something illegal but for the Riccis, it makes me physically ill.
But he doesn’t know the specifics, and he never will. One of the benefits of working for me, he’ll never take the fall for the illegal shit I do for Dante. I keep my men clean and protected.
I swear I can hear the smile in Dante’s voice. “Video, audio, I want whatever there is available. We need to see where they’re keeping Harper and Luca.”
Pursing my lips, I’m well aware Luca is Dante’s son.
