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You don’t have to answer. The service is shit where I am, so the texts might not even go through.
With shaking hands, I typed, Where are you?
On a stakeout.
Jacob had been right. Just texting with him was making my heart flutter. I miss you too.
He sent a heart emoji, and I felt giddy. I was letting myself get my hopes up, but then I remembered Jacob’s advice to hope for what I wanted, to think about it, to know I deserved it.
Gotta go. The bad guys are here.
My breath caught, and I prayed he would be okay. Let me know when you’re clear.
When several hours had passed and I hadn’t heard from him, my instincts were screaming that something was wrong, even though I had no idea what kind of operation he was on or how long he expected to be there.
Are you okay? I texted.
It didn’t go through. It was like he was out of range or his phone was no longer working.
A moment later, someone knocked on my door. “Come in.”
It was Rhys. “What’s wrong?”
He always knew when I needed him. “I… I don’t really know, but I think Ghost is in trouble.” I started explaining what had happened, and before I’d even finished, he took my arm and pulled me toward Grant’s room.
“Grant, we need you,” Rhys yelled as he pounded on the door.
My brother was there in seconds. “What is it?”
“Call X. Tell him Ghost needs help.”
Grant looked from one of us to the other. “What’s going on?”
“Make the call and give the phone to me,” I snarled.
Thankfully, Grant chose to trust me.
As soon as X answered, Grant put the call on speaker, and said, “Ghost is in trouble. I’m handing the phone to Rogue. He has the details.”
I explained everything I knew, and as I was talking, X had one of his men start making calls to get Ghost some backup.”
“Why didn’t someone already have his back?”
“That’s a damn good question,” X said. “And I intend to find out the answer and make sure someone pays for it. I’ll be in touch once I have an update.”
Grant pocketed his phone, and I started to pace.
“I want to help him.”
“You don’t know where he is,” Grant reminded me.
“X does, or at least he will soon. I could—”
Rhys put an arm around me. “Stay right here and be ready to help him once he’s out of danger.”
“What if he doesn’t get out of danger?”
“You don’t know for sure that he’s not—”
“I do. He would have contacted me.”
Grant gave me a pointed look.
“I know what you’re thinking. He did walk away, but even then, he told me goodbye. He wouldn’t leave me hanging, wondering if he was okay. If he could let me know he was out of danger, he would, even if he had to have X send the message. He’s an idiot who thinks I’m better off without him, but he’s not cruel.”
“Okay,” Grant agreed. “That’s true.”
I frowned at him. “You’re not going to argue?”
“Not this time.”
“And you haven’t heard anything from X? Are you sure you’d notice if you got a text?”
Grant pulled out his phone and checked.
“You realize it’s only been, like, two minutes?” Rhys said. ”X works fast, but even for him I think that would be a record.”
I felt like I was losing my mind. I wanted to go to the barn, but I didn’t dare leave when word could come from X anytime. Ghost was out there somewhere. What if he needed me?
Was this how Ghost had felt as he’d waited for me to get out of surgery. If so, no wonder he was angry I’d tried to save him. This hurt worse than being shot.
A few minutes later, X called. Grant put him on speaker.
“Did you find him?” I asked.
“We’re still looking. We know where he was—a warehouse owned by the Russos, but he’s no longer there, and he left his phone behind.”
That wasn’t good. “So what are you…” My voice failed, and I covered my mouth to hold in a sob.
“He’s really damn good at disappearing, remember?” X said.
“You don’t think he was captured, or…”
“No. I think he’ll surface eventually. We won’t stop our search.”
If he was dead, they’d eventually find his body, and I’d know. But what if they were wrong, and he’d been captured. “Are you sure the Russos don’t have him?”
“As sure as it’s possible to be. We’re watching them.”
“I want to help search for him.”
“No.” X’s voice was firm. “Stay there. You’re still healing, and the ranch is a place he’d know was safe.”
I might not be one hundred percent yet, but I could do a hell of a lot more than anyone wanted me to, including whatever was necessary to save Ghost. “He won’t come here.”
“What makes you say that?”
“It would put all of us in danger. That’s the whole reason he’s not here now.”
