Page 52 of Wounded Hearts

It hit him just how lucky he was to have people like Dane, Lauren, K, Roz, Nate, Jace, Lucy, Zack, and Daniel at his back and who were all family to him.

Tucking the letter to the back he tried to calm his nerves by taking a breath, his throat dry but he had no intention of drinking the coffee from the barista. He looked at the autopsy report then.

Fatal GSW entering through the sternum. Bullet penetrates the left pulmonary artery causing a ¾ inch wound and exits through the superior vena cava. No external exit wound.

Projectile recovered from 3rd intercostal space is a medium calibre copper jacketed round. Bullet and jacket separated.

Path through chest wall right to left.

No soot or stippling.

Toxicology: Showed a 0.8 percent BAC.

Drew stopped readingunable to stomach any more details as bile burned his throat. His father, or possibly Michaels on orders from his father, had his mother murdered. Shot in the heart with a cold-blooded callousness that was hard to fathom.

Lifting the sheet he saw the police report underneath but couldn’t bear to read it. He just needed Mara back., Drew stood then strode to the door, ignoring everyone as he raced to his car and drove to Fortis.

He parked and slammed the door on his car before going inside and making his way to the conference room.

Zack, Daniel, Nate, Jace, Will, Lucy, Zin, and Smithy were standing around the table, along with operatives from Eidolon—Reid their hostage rescue expert, Mitch, who was ex-SO19, and of course Jack. Drew turned as he felt Roz’s hand on his arm in a rare sign of affection. Beside her were three of her girls. He knew Astrid but hadn’t met the other two.

“Drew, are you all right?” Lucy rushed to him, her arms going around his neck as she hugged him.

He returned her hug before stepping back. “I’m fine, just pissed off and worried. Do we have any news?”

Zack looked at him, his face stern. “We have a lot actually. Why don’t we start with what you’ve found and what it is that bitch wants?”

Nate pulled out a chair for him, but Drew shook his head, too wired to sit. He needed to pace to work off this helpless feeling of impotency. He realised Jace had stopped reading his mind and didn’t know how to tell him what she’d wanted. He stopped and looked up at the men then at Lucy. “She wants you, Lizzie, and Megan.” He heard Lucy gasp, and the growls coming from Jace and Daniel were terrifying. But it was Smithy who lost his shit.

“No fucking way she is getting anywhere near her.” He didn’t say her name, but everyone knew who he meant.

“What about your mother?” Nate’s question diverted everyone’s attention for a second.

“She left her autopsy and police reports. She was killed by a single gunshot to the heart.” Drew crossed his arms over his chest trying to hold in his pain and not give in to the anger and fear he felt. “Marcus killed her.”

“I’m sorry, Drew.” Zack placed his hand on Drew’s shoulder and squeezed. “There’ll be time for mourning later though. Now we need to update you on what we’ve found out in the last few hours and form a plan.”

Zack moved to sit and everyone else followed his lead, including the three men who were so furious their anger vibrated through the room like a living, breathing beast.

“As you know, Will and Aubrey went to Cornwall to see what they could find.” Zack motioned for Will to pick it up.

Will hit some keys on the laptop and two images appeared. “Aubrey and I did some digging on Winslow’s early life and found some interesting facts. She was a bright student, no negative reports from teachers from what we could find in the records at her school.” He flicked the screen and zoomed in on the image that looked like an old class photo. “But she didn’t have many friends. In fact, her best and only friend was Gary Beard. He’s the one on the right of Rhea.”

Drew swallowed and squinted at the old image, but it was clear it was Brayden Wells. “Wells.” Drew snarled.

Will nodded. “Exactly. We followed the leads and according to our sources he was devastated when she ran away. They were inseparable from what we were told. Four years after Rhea disappeared, Gary Beard took off all his clothes, folded them in a pile, and allegedly walked into the sea. They presumed he killed himself.”

“But?” Roz asked rolling her hand impatiently.

“But a month later Brayden Wells and his family were in a car accident involving a lorry. His parents were killed instantly, and Wells walked away with severe facial lacerations which required reconstructive surgery. It also left him a multi-billionaire. This is a picture of Wells before the accident. This is him afterwards.”

The room was silent as they all looked at the images on the screen. There was no doubt there were tiny differences but there was also no doubt that Gary Beard had stolen Brayden Wells life.

Zin crossed his arms on the table as he leaned forward. “He stole his entire life.”

Roz leaned back and crossed her ankle over her knee. “So what the hell happened to the real Brayden Wells?”

Zack shrugged his crossed arms. “My guess is he killed him.”