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“Right.” Gage folded his arms. “All your supersecret spy stuff is going to find this guy, and hopefully save any lives that are in danger.”
“I want to say it doesn’t matter if the building blows up.” Clare sighed. “I really want to say it’s just a building, and that people’s lives matter far more. Which they do. And it’s why I had them all clear out to a safe location. But really, it’smybuilding.”
Gage set his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “So what’s his plan? And where do we find him?”
“Maybe I can help with that.”
Clare spun at that voice. They swept toward each other, and she gave Ember a hug. “Thanks for coming.”
“You need all hands on deck, so I…” Ember paused. “Oh…huh.”
“Not quite my reaction, but not far from it.”
“You go get coffee. Gage can rattle that guy downstairs’ cage, and I’ll figure this out.”
Gage glanced between her and Ember. Clare said, “This is my friend Ember.”
He stepped forward, his hand out. “I know Trey.”
“And you and Clare were high school sweethearts? I might be a stay-at-home mom right now, but Clare and I worked covert ops together. If you have questions, you should know it’s classified. But I can kill you with just my thumb.Especiallyif you hurt her.”
Clare chuckled. It was like a release valve unclogged, and she found herself bent forward, both hands on her knees.
Peter said, “She’s lost it.”
“I’ve never seen her laugh like that.”
Gage’s boots appeared beside hers, and he rubbed a hand up and down her back. “I have.” She straightened, and he dropped his hand.
Clare caught it. “Let’s go talk to him again. Maybe he’s remembered something.” They headed out still holding hands, leaving her friend and her employee with their mouths open. She called back, “Get to work!”
Peter yelled, “Yes, ma’am!”
Clare swiped under her eye.
Gage squeezed her hand. “They love you.”
“Yeah, they do.” Clare had to say, “I used to get mad that they treated me like their CEO. Not Ember, she’s a friend and not on the payroll right now. My employees, though? I wanted to be their buddy. Their teammate. They acted like I was their boss. But you’re right. Because it’s both.”
“I’ve been wanting the guys on SWAT to treat me like their lieutenant when I’ve been one of them for years.” He paused at the top of the stairs. “It’s happening, just slowly. The shift in who I am and who they are.”
“Like you’re all growing.”
He nodded. As soon as he stepped down, her phone started to ring. Clare pulled it out and saw her mother’s number. She swiped the screen. “Yeah, Mom. What’s up?”
A hiss of breath crackled the speaker. That was odd. She presumed her mother was at the hospital with Selena, watching over Alex while the doctors got him to wake up. Maybe he was awake now and talking, giving them information she could sorely use. Alex might even know where to find Aaron Crenshaw.
“Mom.” She needed her to talk. “Mom.”
Gage turned on the stairs.
“He…here,” Letitia began, barely audible over the voices in the background. Hospital staff?
“Mom, what happened?” Cold threaded through Clare’s veins.
“He hit me. He took Selena.”
THIRTY-FIVE
