He moved through the back row of guys, then pushed through the rest until he could see what they were all looking at. His mouth dropped open. “Fiona.”
She smiled as if she wasn’t supposed to be back in Belize, safe and sound at Kye’s house with its gate and fences and privacy. “Hello, Grier. Good to see they let you go.”
Goddammit. Someone had called her. Probably Hamilton. Her spy. “How’d you know?” Not that he could do much about it right now, not until she was back on a plane. But as soon as she was gone, there would be plenty of hell to pay.
“I came back and you weren’t here. I called Sheriff Lodi and he told me.” She walked out from behind the desk. “The new sheriff in town’s on the payroll. Sage hacked into his computer and the information he found means we’re going to own this guy for as long as he’s sheriff.” She grinned. “The boys have been busy while we were away.”
“You could’ve just asked Kye.”
Fiona’s smile faded. “No one’s seen him either.”
What? As the FBI dragged him away, he’d seen Kye get into a taxi. Grier’s gut ached. “Did your sheriff friend know anything?”
Fiona shook her head. “He hasn’t been picked up.”
That meant someone knew he was back. He’d lost the element of surprise and now the fuckers had Kye. Grier slammed his hand on Fiona’s desk, and she looked at Sage. “I did a little computer stuff.” No need to explain to Grier. He wouldn’t get the techie terms, and Sage knew it, too. Probably why he didn’t bother. “There are three buildings beside the dance studio listed in a dummy company’s name. I figured if they owned the dance studio, chances are the Omens are using one of those. Hamilton put guys on all three. So far, we don’t have any movement, but I’m still digging, and Hamilton has patrols going out, checking anything abandoned, out of the way, or remotely associated with Tyler Sedotal or Willy Carr.” He glanced at the woman standing at the side of the room, chewing her thumbnail. “Mia gave us some other places they might be. We’re watching them all.”
That accounted for the low numbers at the clubhouse.
“And we are putting shipments out. If they’re coming for us, they’ll go after those first.” Hamilton’s voice was quiet, stern, and its usual gravel depth of baritone. Almost comforting in the light of finding out his wife had forsaken her own safety to come back and that Kye had been taken.
“I saw Kye get into a cab at the airport.” They’d dressed like tourists to try to escape notice. “He was wearing a Bruins jersey and jeans, I think.”
“It’ll take a while to talk to every driver that covers the airport.” The girl in the corner spoke quietly. She stood and walked to stand beside Sage.
“When did you guys figure out he was missing?” The longer the Omens had gone without calling for ransom, the worse it would be for Kye. Could even be revenge for Kale. Fuck. He’d have to tell Eli.
“This morning when I got here. I asked about him.” Fiona nodded. “But I know that he’s talked to Eli since you guys got here. So… maybe he’s out on his own? Looking?” From her face, she didn’t buy it either.
It wasn’t like he could call Eli and ask when the last time she spoke to him was. Not without tipping her off and having to worry about her safety too, because if Kye was in danger and she knew it, no man in the world would be big enough to stop her from coming back here. “We have to find him.” He glanced at Fiona. “What did he say when he talked to Eli?”
She shifted and crossed her arms. “He mentioned extra bikers in town and a slowdown of street sales.”
Grier nodded. That meant Kye had been out talking to the gangs and the little preppie college boys who handled the merchandise at the street level. “When did he call?”
“A while after your flight landed, I think. She never mentioned if he called again.”
Fuck. This was not a wrinkle he wanted to deal with. And if Kye was out there somewhere playing the hero on his own, friendship or not, Grier was going to kill him. And if anything happened to Kye…
Fiona leaned in to talk to Sage, then stood at her full height, a height enhanced more with the heels she mus have changed into from the flip flops she’d loved on the beach. She had a slow, confident smile when she looked out at the men in the room. “All right. This is what we’re going to do.”
They had confirmation from one of their street dealers; the Omens had picked up Kye. Took him in broad daylight on the corner of Hampshire and Cambridge. She’d had Sage try to track his phone, but the damned thing was turned off. But Fiona knew in her gut that where they found Kye, they would find Sedotal.
Grier paced in front of her desk like he was stuck in some kind of cage. Six steps forward, military turn, six steps back. And repeat. She watched him. His body was a coil, ready to spring into action.
“What do you think you’re doing, Fiona? What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Oh, the anger. “I’m doing what I was meant to do, Grier. I’m handling this business, this… shit.” Well, she could summon anger, too. “You need to calm down. We’re going to find Kye.”
“Before his arm comes back in a box? Or his leg? Maybe an eyeball? Before they brand him, too?” And more pacing.
She moved around her desk to stand in his path. “Stop.” Although she had no answer. Killing Kye would draw Grier out. That had to be why they’d taken him. And as much as she hated to admit it, there was only one way to get Kye back.
“I have to give them me.” And he’d just said it.
She stared. Any other of the men, she would have agreed without any hesitation, but this was Grier. Her husband. The man she would have died for. And he felt that same devotion to Kye.
“Okay.” The Omens had muscle and God knew what else, but Fiona had Sage, and he had gadgets and technology. “Come on.” She led him out into the bar area and sat across the table from Sage. “We’re sending Grier in to get Kye back. Put word out. Something that lets them know where he’s going to be. Somewhere open where we can control the traffic and the view.” He’d been a leader with Hamilton while she’d been hiding her head in fear and shame, licking her wounds while he and Hamilton took care of everything.
Fiona’s stomach churned, but damned if she could show weakness right now. She needed to keep her shit together, be the woman her father taught her to be. Falling apart would have to wait.
“All right. Where are we thinking?”
Privacy would be a must. A place where they could see everything coming in and out. “Tell them we’ll be at the old compound.”
“We burned it… after Jez.”
Not the greatest of news. “Okay. But there’s only one way in, and we can control everything about it. The road, the tunnels, every tree and branch is ours if we get in there and set it up, get Sedotal somewhere I’m the one in charge.” And it was about damned time, too. Even if it sounded grandiose and narcissistic, and she wasn’t one to believe in destiny or higher powers, but this was what she was meant to do. What Max planned. And now it was time to live up to it.