Yeah, he was probably in love.
And if he wanted to prove he hadn’t double-crossed her beyond any shadow of doubt, he needed to get to work. He also probably needed to stop hoping she would ever have real feelings for him. Every time he’d touched her, she had allowed it because she had an ulterior motive, not because she’d wanted him. He needed to remember that and keep his head screwed on straight.
Trees tore out of the room, flipping off the overhead light, leaving the soft glow of the candles to ward off the dark. Back in the kitchen, his coffee, still sitting in the microwave, had gone lukewarm again. He didn’t give a shit at this point. It was caffeine. He needed to choke it down and be productive.
Snarling, he swallowed some of the black brew, wincing at its bitterness as he sat at Tessa’s computer. Two minutes later, he was behind her log-in screen and prowling through her files…trying to focus on helping Zy and off of touching Laila.
He broke into Tessa’s Gmail. Junk mail, correspondence from a sorority sister she hadn’t answered, a bill reminder from the electric company. Then a few days ago, a slew of emails from someone with an obviously computer-assigned handle.
Trees opened it to find a video of Tessa’s baby girl in a high chair eating chicken nuggets and a banana. Before he could figure out who had sent her the video and why, his phone dinged. Madison.
Are you awake? Something’s wrong!
His gut tightened. What?
Hallie isn’t in her crib. She’s gone!
What the hell? Trees started to call Madison when he caught sight of the text attached to the video of Tessa’s little girl. The words there made his blood run cold.
“Son of a bitch.”
His heart pounding, he dashed off a reply to Madison. On it. Stand by.
But the rest of her emails didn’t tell him much more, so he reached for Tessa’s phone. He had a hunch… Sure enough, she’d downloaded the Abuzz application. She hadn’t posted once, but she had DMs—all from the same shell account. Generic screen name, no picture, and no location listed. In other words, nothing to help him identify who it might belong to. But given the slew of messages this person and Tessa had exchanged over the last few days, the account was by no means inactive.
More images of Hallie were attached, along with messages confirming his fears.
He vaulted out of his chair, shoving the device into his back pocket, and ran hard for the bunker.
“Zy!” Trees banged on the metal lid.
Seconds later, his pal opened up. Trees jumped inside, only to find Tessa red-cheeked and barely covered in the quilt while Zy stood sweating, flushed, and emotionally wasted.
He scowled. “I guess you didn’t spend your time with Tessa finding out what the fuck has been going on.”
Zy cupped Tessa’s shoulders and helped her to her feet, glaring back at him. “Can it.”
No chance in hell, especially since Zy had no idea what Tessa was going through. Instead, he turned to her. “Why haven’t you told him? Why haven’t you told anyone?”
She reared back. “Y-you know?”
“Yeah, I do. And—”
“Know what?” Zy roared, looking back and forth between them. “Stop fucking talking circles around me and spill.”
Trees waited for Tessa to say something. She’d obviously suffered, but if she would just give Zy the truth, he’d do anything—everything—to help her.
Tessa blinked away her tears. “The man who accosted me in the parking lot on Tuesday?”
“Yeah, I remember. I’m still trying to identify him.”
“That night, he abducted Hallie. When I woke up Wednesday morning, she was…g-gone.”
Zy froze as the implications sunk in. He scrubbed a hand down his shocked face. “Oh, god. Tessa…baby. You’ve been passing on information to save Hallie’s life?”
Tessa broke down, tears flowing, her body wracked by sobs.
“Exactly,” Trees answered when she couldn’t.
Questions seemed to zip through Zy’s head, probably the same ones he had. If one faction of Tierra Caliente had Kimber, the other must have Tessa’s baby, but which had who? And why hadn’t Tessa told the team the minute she’d realized Hallie was gone? And the bigger kicker? If the child had been gone a mere handful of days, who had engaged in the espionage that had fucked EM Security for nearly a year?
“Tell me what you know,” Zy demanded.
“Not much since I didn’t get to finish the forensic deep dive on her devices…” Trees explained Madison’s texts and the kidnapper’s communications.
“Tessa, I’m so fucking sorry.” Zy lifted her grief-filled face to his. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because they threatened to kill Hallie if Tessa said a word to anyone,” Trees supplied.
When he whipped Tessa’s phone from his back pocket, he played the first video the abductor had sent for Zy, who seemingly watched in horror until the end. “You’ve been dealing with this, completely on your own, since Wednesday?”
“I couldn’t risk her by telling anyone,” Tessa choked.
“Oh, baby. If I’d known, I would have moved mountains to help you.”
“They’re watching me. They threatened… I didn’t know the bosses think we have a mole, but I knew some things hadn’t gone right. I’d overheard conversations that suggested information that shouldn’t get out somehow had. I was too afraid of what would happen to my baby if I opened my mouth.”
Zy tugged her stiff body close. Trees felt the device in his pocket vibrate and pulled it free. When he scanned the screen, he cursed. He hated to add to Tessa’s trauma, but he didn’t have the luxury of shielding her. Since her daughter was concerned, he doubted she’d want him to.
Trees nudged the phone in Tessa’s direction. “I know this is tough…but you’ve got a new message.” Then he turned to Zy with a pissed-off glare. “And I don’t have to tell you what app they’re using.”
“Abuzz? Fuck.” He sighed. “That cocksucker. I reamed him out once. He just never fucking listens.”
“Who?” Tessa’s hand shook as she took the phone and opened the app, looking terrified.
“Phillip Garrett,” Trees helpfully supplied.
She frowned, clearly confused. “The billionaire who owns Abuzz?”
“Yeah.” Zy sighed. “My dad.”
Trees knew he hated to mention the connection, hated people thinking he’d been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. It didn’t shock Trees that Tessa didn’t know.
“Really?” Her eyes widened with hope. “He could help us track down or pinpoint the location of the kidnapper keeping Hallie.”
Zy snorted. “The Tierra Caliente cartel has been using the app to communicate for months. I warned him once, and if it’s still going on, they’re paying him to look the other way. He won’t help. Dear ol’ Dad is more interested in making a buck than doing what’s right.”
“It’s one reason they don’t get along,” Trees supplied.
“One of many.”
Tessa looked stunned. “You grew up with a billionaire?”
Zy winced. “And the billion problems that go with that.”