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He finally brings it up once we reach the first floor landing, and he opens the door to usher me through. “How the fuck did they make it look like the messages came from Griffin?”
“I have no idea.” And I don’t. I don’t have a clue. I’ve come to understand the depth and breadth of my mother’s ability to deceive even the most experienced veterans, people trained to see through the sort of deception she’s so skilled at. That doesn’t mean I know how she does it.
“It could mean he’s been captured, out there doing whatever it is he’s doing,” Dallas continues once we’ve passed through the double doors leading into the medical ward. He drops the subject, waving to the attending nurse. “She’s injured and needs an x-ray.”
“I doubt that,” I offer. “It’s just a sprain. I can still move it.”
“We can’t be too sure,” he insists, hovering over me once I take a seat on one of the handful of beds lined up along the wall. I’d be touched and even flattered if there wasn’t so much going on in my head. So many questions.
“I’ve broken bones before.” It’s almost enough to make me want to shove him away when he opens his mouth like he’s ready to argue. “This isn’t my first fight, soldier. I can handle it.”
“Fine. Have it your way.” He huffs and grumbles but doesn’t leave, sitting in a chair too small for his large body while the nurse conducts an exam. I grit my teeth to bear the pain of being poked and prodded, but in the end, I know I got off lucky.
They were here to kidnap me. I know it. My brother will know it, too, once he’s got the facts of the situation straight. And here I am, with a slip of paper practically burning a hole in my pocket. What does it say? Is it a message from her? Was that the fallback plan in case the extraction didn’t go as they hoped?
Thinking it all over is a distraction from the pain, anyway. I’m going to need to defend myself to my brother—I’m not a fool, I know he’ll be suspicious. Did they plan on infiltrating the entire hotel once they got to me? I can only imagine that was the idea. All Mason has to do is look at my wrist and the scrapes on my knees to know I fought. I didn’t go along with them. That has to count for something, right?
“Yes, this looks like a sprain.” The nurse is soft-spoken, sympathetic. “We’ll get a brace on it, and I’ll give you a bottle of pills for the pain if it gets to be too much, especially overnight.”
“Thank you.” I’m glad to know I won’t lose any sleep over this. There’s already so much for me to lose sleep over as it is.
14
DALLAS
As soon as they release Natalie from medical, we head upstairs to Mason’s office, where everyone is gathering. Mason, Teagan, and surprisingly, Trent are sitting around the conference table. Griffin is still absent, sent on some mission by Mason.
“What are you doing here?” I question as soon as we walk in.
“Mason asked for all hands on deck,” Trent explains, “so here I am.” He leans back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest. He clearly hates being here. I don’t remember the last time he actually came in to work with us.
“Griffin is on his way back as well,” Teagan chimes in. “Like Trent said, we need everyone here.” There is an odd tone in her normally cheerful voice, something that sounds a lot like anger. But why is Teagan angry, or should I say with whom?
Mason clears his throat. “The hotel has never been infiltrated like this before, and we are still not sure how it happened. My best guess is it was an inside job.” I don’t miss the way his eyes flutter over at Natalie for a split second. My hands curl into fists. He still thinks Nat is involved. I take a deep breath, forcing my fingers to uncurl. I need to stop letting my emotions get the better of me and look at the facts.
Nat seems to notice as well; her jaw is clenched, and her nostrils are flared. The tension in the room is thick. For the first time since I can remember, trust isn’t at a hundred percent between us. She is upset, but the more I think about it, I can’t help but agree with Mason’s assumption. This had to be an inside job. Who else would be able to hack into the security system and send a text from Griffin’s phone?
But just because there is a mole doesn’t mean it’s Natalie. Although, the people who came didn’t try to hurt her, it seemed like they were trying to kidnap her… or maybe rescue her? Could it be possible that this was an extraction mission? I let everything run through my mind again. Natalie fought them. Or did she? Fuck, everything happened so fast.
