Why the fuck hadn’t we done that?
“You need to—”
“I know what I need to do,” I snapped. “I just can’t.”
“For Lauren, you’ll find a way.”
Fucking, fuck.
Think.
“Where would Guy take her?”
“We don’t—”
“We damn well do know. He’s got her, Matt. Where would he take her?”
“First thing he’d do is get her out of town.”
He sure as hell would. He’d snatch her and run. No way would he stay close.
“Florida, to Finn? Texas, to his sister?”
“Too risky driving all the way to Texas. Florida’s a better choice. Less than a three-hour drive.”
“We never found his office,” I muttered. “Did Dylan run his brother’s name?”
Think. Where would he take her?
“Yeah. None of his family owns or rents property in Georgia other than Guy’s house. Trey and Brady are on their way there now.”
I inhaled and Lauren’s scent assaulted me. How the hell could I have been so stupid? So goddamn careless.
“I didn’t even tell her I loved her this morning.”
“Don’t fucking do that,” Matt warned.
“She had a headache. I left and didn’t tell her I loved her.”
“You can tell her when we find her.”
I would tell her, but the question was, would she hear me?
Matt’s phone rang and I sucked in another breath.
Think, asshole.
“Is that Dylan?”
Matt answered me with a nod and answered Dylan on the phone, “Yeah, I’ll tell him.”
“Before you hang up ask Dylan to check the security cams from the gas station on the corner.”
Matt disconnected and shoved his phone in his back pocket.
“He’s already on that. Jason called his contacts at the DEA and filled them in. They’re headed to Finn Stevens’ place in Florida and to his sister’s in Texas. The locals in Atlanta will grab Frank. Luke called Echo, he’s activating who he needs to get on the search. Shiloh’s team is on standby in case we need them.”
We wouldn’t need Shiloh’s SWAT team. No way in fuck was I waiting for a hostage rescue team and their red tape to get my woman.
“How the hell did we miss Guy coming back to town?”
“We didn’t. His car is still in Nashville. No flights in his name have been booked. No rentals. You know Dylan’s been monitoring him.”
I did know that. It was the only reason I’d left a sick Lauren in our bed. I thought she was safe.
I was wrong.
Everything was right there all along. Right under our noses and we missed it. Fisherman Finn, fuck, we checked him out. No priors, his business was clean. But we missed it.
It was right fucking there.
Lucky 7.
“The boat. She’s on the boat.”
“Logan—”
“She’s on the goddamn boat. He wouldn’t chance driving her. We’d catch him easy; too many traffic cams on 95. Guy doesn’t have an office, he has a warehouse, and it’d be by the seaport terminal. Access to the water. That whole section is industrial, no one would question traffic in and out of there all hours of the night. Hell, no one would question rough trade hanging around; day workers don’t wear a suit and tie to work. Easy to move product from Georgia to Florida using a fishing charter or personal watercraft.”
“I’ll call Clark, tell him to get in touch with the Port Authority. Lenox has contacts with the Coast Guard.”
“I want a boat.”
“We’ll get you a boat, Logan, but you need to stay cool.”
Fuck cool.
Lauren was where she was because of me. From start to finish my fault. If I hadn’t been such a dumbass Lauren wouldn’t have been available to Guy. He wouldn’t have been able to target her and use her for intel.
I pulled my phone out, found the number I needed, and hit send.
It rang once before it connected.
“Drake called me. I’m on my way.”
“You sure you want to get involved?”
“Don’t be stupid!”
“Meet us at the Seaport Terminal.”
“Copy.”
“I owe you, Liberty.”
“Now you’re talking stupid again. You saved my life. Now I’m gonna return the favor. We’ll get her home safe, Logan.”
I walked out of my empty bedroom and made one more call.
Again it rang once.
“We’re on our way.”
“Don’t call in the Coast Guard.”
“He has a head start.”
“Then get me a fast boat but don’t call in the Guard. They’ll fuck it up and you know it.”
“They won’t. I know the—”
“Tell me, Lenox, would you trust Lily to anyone but your team? Not trying to be a dick but you know any one of us has more training than a whole crew of them. We’re goddamn SEALs, we don’t need interference, and we don’t need to be slowed down.”
“I won’t call,” Lenox said and I blew out a breath. “One condition.”
Fuck me.
“What’s that?”
“You leave him breathing.”
“No.”
“Logan—”
“He snatched my woman out of our bed,” I hissed. “He uses that drug on her…”
I trailed off even though I had more to say but the words literally wouldn’t come out. If he drugged her there was no telling what Guy was doing to her. No telling the nightmare my woman was living. I’d read the victim statements. I knew what that drug did. I knew what he could do to Lauren. Her mind would say no, but her body would say yes. She’d be confused and scared and violated.
That’s a fuck no. I’m not letting him live.
“Make it self-defense.”
With that Lenox hung up.
“Let’s roll!” I shouted and walked out the front not bothering to right my broken door.
29
I’d figured out what the rocking was—I was on a boat.
I could smell the briny saltwater air. And now that I wasn’t so groggy I could open my eyes and focus on my surroundings. I was under the deck in a sleeper cabin. It wasn’t very big—maybe big enough to sleep four with a small kitchenette.
I could move minutely but I couldn’t get my arms to lift or my legs to swing over the side of the bed so that I could get the hell away from Guy. I didn’t care if I had to jump overboard. I didn’t care if I drown in the middle of whatever body of water I was in. I knew what Guy was going to do to me. I knew what drug he’d given me. Logically, I knew I had to fight it but I couldn’t control what was happening.
Panic clawed my insides and a sheen of sweat coated my body. I squeezed my thighs together needing something to quench the need that was building. It was gross—disgustingly gross. I didn’t want to feel the way I did.
I shouldn’t want this.
Terror pounded in my skull, making my head hurt worse than it did when I woke up this morning. Sweat trickled down my neck. Even that felt good.