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She puts her call on speaker so we can hear Grayson’s reply. “Sniffer dogs tracked him for over half a mile but lost the scent near Daniels Avenue. It looks like someone picked him up.”
“So you know fucking nothing?”
I wait for Lucy to reprimand me for swearing, but all she does is huddle in closer. Her tremors expose that now isn’t the time for me to fight, but my god, it takes everything I have to walk away.
“We will find her, Brodie,” Macy assures me, conscious of where my fear stems from as she stalks my brisk exit.
“You wanna hope it’s before me.” I stop just outside the double exit doors before spinning back around. “Because I won’t let her anywhere near any of you if I find her first.”
29
BRODIE
“No!” Lucy’s scream pierces my ears, and her nails dig into my thigh. “I don’t want you to go!” Her tears drench my jeans. “Please, Daddy. I want to stay with you.”
After gesturing for Stella to stay back, I carefully pry Lucy from my leg before bobbing down to her level. Tears flood her cheeks so hard and fast my thumbs can’t keep up with them. Every drop breaks my heart, but I know her heartache will be ten times worse if I don’t do this.
“I know you’re hurting and scared, but if I don’t go, I won’t find Henley.” One name and her tears switch from a deluge to a trickle. “You want me to find Henley, don’t you, baby?”
She nods through a hiccup.
“Then I need you to stay here with Grandma Stell.” I run my hand down her hair, which is sticky with sweat. It was humid in the suitcase, but that isn’t the cause of her sweaty head. It is the fight she put up when I removed her from Thane’s car and carried her up the stairs of the Ashburn residence. “I can’t take care of you and Henley at the same time.” That sucks to admit, but it is true. “One must sacrifice for the other. Henley did it for you tonight, so now you must do the same for her, okay?”
Her lips quiver when she replies, “Okay, Daddy.”
Tears prick my eyes when she throws her arms around my neck and hugs me tight. She’s struggling as much as me, but just like I know I’d never forgive myself if I don’t find Henley, she also does.
“Take Mr. Bunny,” she whispers as she inches back. “He will keep you safe.”
She doesn’t give me the opportunity to tell her Mr. Bunny is her guardian. She thrusts him into my chest before racing into her grandmother’s arms.
Stella cradles her in close before mouthing to me that she’ll be waiting for me when I return.
For the first time in a long time, I trust her words.
“What are you doing?” I ask when Thane shadows my walk down the stairs of his family home.
Ignoring me, he slips into the passenger seat of his car before tossing me the keys.
“I can’t guarantee my actions tonight won’t find you in a cell next to Thorin,” I warn him.
He shrugs before pulling on his seat belt. “It’ll be worth it.” He drags his teeth over his bottom lip before locking his eyes with mine. “I just have one request.” I jerk up my chin, permitting him to speak. “We focus on Henley first.”
I stab the key into the ignition and fire up the engine of his fancy sports car. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing in my office?”
My home is swarming with feds, but this room isn’t lit up like a Christmas tree. The assailant ruffling through my now-open filing cabinet is doing it in the dark—a clear sign that their activity is illegal.
Thane’s Adam’s apple bobs when I flick on the light before he steps between me and the female with black curls sprouting from the top of her head. “Brodie, meet Amelia. Amelia, Brodie.”
Amelia snaps shut the folder containing my home and contents insurance policy before asking, “Do you know that after the sixth Night Killer death, the deeds of federal agents were placed under aliases?” She rounds my desk to size me up. “They thought that was how he’d gained access to agents’ personal information.” Since she’s a good foot shorter than me, she has to crane her neck to look me in the eyes. “It wasn’t. The three deaths following the first six were conducted in rental properties. Another four after that were—”
“Houses purchased under trust funds.”
Nothing she is telling me is new. I studied the case files of these murders even before Caroline was killed. I know them inside and out.
She smiles as if pleased by my response. “With deeds under aliases, it made it much harder for IA to track fraudulent activity.” That piques my interest. “Rogue agents greatly benefited from their colleagues’ paranoia.” She nudges her head to my open laptop screen. “Him more than anyone.” It displays Agent Moses’s identification and badge number. “Most of his purchases are centralized to the Florida area—”
