“Why are you helping me? You don’t know me.” Callie couldn’t fathom these strangers wanting to help her.
“Because you mean something to Reid and Reid is family to me,” Pax replied, and the others nodded.
Callie smiled, at the thought she meant something to the incredible man who was protecting her. “You think?”
Roz rolled her eyes, and Pax snorted, while Evelyn laughed. “Oh, sugar, he’s head over ass for you. He just doesn’t know it yet, and for the record, so are you.” Evelyn spoke with a Southern accent, and Callie blinked at the transformation in her voice.
“Now, enough boring stuff.” Roz leaned in closer a wicked grin on her face. “What’s Reid like in the sack?”
Callie let out a laugh she felt in her toes. In a matter of an hour, she seemed to have found her girl squad, a group of women who got her for her, and she liked it. In fact, she loved it.
Chapter Thirteen
Reid settled back against the chair, his arms crossed over his chest, tension in his muscled shoulders as he waited for Jack to start the meeting. They were waiting on Lopez to finish a call and then he could get moving on this case.
Everything about it was personal. The fact Callie was involved, Gunner’s involvement in all of it. Anger surged in his belly. It wasn’t helped by the guilt he was carrying because he hadn’t spoken to Clay yet. His desire for Callie had him questioning every ounce of restraint he thought he had.
The woman was like his personal Kryptonite, but even that thought which should have made him angry, made him smile. She did that, she made him smile, made him happy, and if he didn’t know better, he’d say he was half in love with his sunshine. That was crazy, though, who fell in love after only a couple of weeks?
His eyes immediately flew to Alex who was seated opposite him next to Jack. No, he and Evelyn had a long history dating back years. Next, they went to Blake. He and Pax had been quick but surely not only a month?
The door behind him opened and Lopez strode in, a stack of print outs in his hand. He set them down beside Jack, who scanned them as the residual chatter in the room died down. Every member of Eidolon was in the building apart from Mitch who was still in London—the amount of skill and deadly killers in the room was unheard of.
Jack looked up, his face an ice-cold mask of determination. “I have some information that Lopez has just confirmed for me. It seems Gunner has a disabled sister.” A whispered murmur went around the men, surprise evident among them. Gunner had never talked about a sister.
“He never mentioned her to any of us, and she wasn’t found in any of his background checks. Why he never said anything, we don’t know. The reason we didn’t find her is that she has a different surname to Gunner, and lives in Iceland near his maternal grandmother’s home in a care facility.”
This was all interesting but what relevance did it have? Reid knew it had to have some or Jack wouldn’t waste his time on it.
“Her name is Milla Karvelsdottir, and she has severe brain damage, which means she has no motor skills to speak of and has to have twenty-four-hour care. Four months ago, Milla disappeared from the care facility she was in without warning, and no missing person report was ever filed. Her whereabouts are still unknown, and her grandmother refuses to discuss it with anyone. The authorities haven’t become involved, and the papers haven’t run anything on the story.”
“You think she’s why Gunner turned on us?” Decker asked.
Jack tipped his head and shrugged. “You’re the profiler here, why don’t you tell me?”
Decker was silent for a beat and Reid could swear he heard the gears turning in his head. “I think whoever is behind this is possibly using Gunner’s sister as leverage to force Gunner to do what they want. There are several unknown factors—including his relationship with his sister and why he kept her a secret. Overall, though, I find this scenario easier to swallow than him turning on us for no good reason.”
“If that’s the case, why didn’t he come to us?” Liam folded his arms over the back of the chair he was straddling. He’d taken Gunner’s betrayal hard and seemed less inclined to give him an out.
“I don’t know, which is why we need to find him and ask.” Jack speared Reid with a look. “We have a few threads to pull, not least of which is Callie’s stalker. I believe it’s linked to Gunner. So this is what I need. Blake and Waggs, I want you to go to Iceland and find out everything you can about Milla Karvelsdottir. I want to know how she was injured, who visited her, why the grandmother is so tight-lipped. All of it.” He turned to Decker. “You and Liam are going to do a snatch and grab of Jolie McConnell. Bring her to the bunker. I’m done fucking around, and she knows something, I can feel it.”
“Wow, we’re opening up the bunker now?” Reid asked.
“Yes, as I said, I’m done fucking around with this. I want answers, and I want them now.” Jack was practically humming with anger, and Reid wondered what had kicked him up a notch.
“Reid, you stay close to Callie. Monitor every call she has. I know she means something to you, so I don’t need to drive this home, but I don’t want a dead fucking supermodel on my hands.”
“Nobody will touch her on my watch.”
Blake snorted. “Except you, ya dirty dog.”
Reid bit back his smile and glared at Blake. “Fuck off, nothing’s happened.” Yet, he mentally added.
Blake waved his phone. “Pax, Siren, and Roz are with her right now. Do you really think we aren’t getting regular updates on what you’ve been doing?” Blake chuckled, and Reid called his bluff.
“Don’t know what you mean.”
“Right, if you’re finished, get to work. I want us to meet up here tomorrow morning at six am so that we can talk to McConnell. All except Blake and Waggs. You have a flight to Iceland in three hours so get your asses moving.”
The men began to move out, a sense of purpose filling their movements that hadn’t been there until now. Answers were just out of reach, and they all needed them soon.
Reid headed for the locker room to pick up some equipment he kept there. He wanted to put a tap on Callie’s phone—with her consent, of course. He would never betray her trust by going behind her back. He tensed when his phone rang, his mind instantly worrying about Callie. The relief was short-lived when he saw it was Clay. Now was his chance to speak with his friend about everything. Including the fact Callie was in danger because of him.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Reid, sorry I missed your calls. Is everything okay?”
Reid heard the exhaustion and worry in his friend’s voice and hated he was about to add anger to the mix. “Yeah, just wanted to give you an update. Did you finish the job?” He was stalling, and he knew it.
“All done, another asshole is off the streets for a while. How’s Callie?”
“She’s great. I brought her to Hereford where we have more protection and back-up. We’re working the case from here and London.”
“All of you?” Clay asked, surprised.
“Yeah, it seems this might be linked to some trouble the team is having internally. I can’t say what, but the entire team is working this now.”