34. Kavanaugh

34

KAVANAUGH

“Kavanaugh!” Riley shouted when I picked up the phone.

I groaned at the tone in her voice. “What?”

“Where the hell are you?”

“At a friend’s house.”

“Why the hell aren’t you home? I’ve been trying to call you for hours and you didn’t pick up!”

“Because I turned my phone off.”

“And you turned it on in the middle of the night?”

“About two minutes ago, yeah.”

“You should have had it on the whole fucking time!”

“Why are you yelling at me?”

“Because I can’t get ahold of Isla. I talked to her two nights ago when you guys had your fight and she said she was probably coming home yesterday. But I haven’t been able to reach her! Why the fuck did you leave her there?”

I was already pulling on my jeans and storming out the spare room at Red’s house. He must have heard me because his door opened and he walked out, his brows furrowed in concern.

“Listen, Riley. I’ll do some digging around and see what I can find.”

“And leave your fucking phone on so I can reach you!” she snapped.

“I will. I’ll call you as soon as I know something.”

I hung up and turned to Red. “I need OPS resources.”

“What happened?”

“Riley hasn’t heard from Isla since the night I left.”

His eyes widened slightly and he strode back into his room to grab his things. Five minutes later, we were pulling up to OPS, along with several other people Red must have called.

“What’s going on?” Rae asked, hustling to catch up to us as we stormed up to the building.

“Isla’s missing.”

“The dumbass left her in New York,” Red muttered.

“Can we talk about the stupid mistakes I make at a later time?”

Red got us into the building and we all headed downstairs. I knew if I ran into Cash, there would be hell to pay, but I trusted that Red would have my back.

Being back here was hell on my nerves. Pangs of longing hit me as soon as I walked through the door, but being in the IT room surrounded by several of the men I’d called brothers for years struck me so hard that I had to take a moment to collect myself. Strolling down memory lane would have to wait until I located Isla.

“Can you get into the camera feed from the hotel?” Red asked.

“Working on it,” Rae said, tapping away at the keys.

I scrubbed a hand over my face as I watched her hack into the feed. Thankfully, most places didn’t realize that by having their systems online, they were making it more vulnerable to attack. It wasn’t normally something I would recommend, but I was grateful for their stupidity at the moment.

“Alright, here we go,” Rae said, pulling up the feed from two nights ago. “There you are, Kavanaugh.”

I watched as I left Isla’s room. The cameras in the hall did very little to disguise my absolute defeat at the moment, and now everyone else saw it, too. “Skip ahead.”

She fast-forwarded through the feed until another figure strolled down the hall. But that person went to another room. She kept going, past a couple who appeared drunk off their asses, a waiter bringing a tray of food, until finally, someone I recognized walked down the hall.

“Hold it,” I snapped, watching with fury in my eyes as IKE walked up to her hotel room. I checked the time stamp. “2:17,” I muttered. “What kind of asshole shows up at someone’s hotel room at that time of night?”

“Someone who’s hoping you’re not around,” Red answered.

I gritted my teeth at his words because I wasn’t around. I hoped for just a moment that she wouldn’t let him in, but she did. He walked right inside and then the door shut.

“You didn’t think to install cameras in the room, did you?” Rae asked.

“I was cut off from everyone. My only help was having Fox next door.”

“Why didn’t you ask Fox to stay with her?” Red asked.

“Because she told me to take him home with me.” I huffed out a laugh at her words. “She said she didn’t want him coming over to make her watch musicals.” I shook off the desolate feeling growing inside me. I could feel sorry on my own watch. Right now, I had to find out what happened to Isla. And if she was with IKE…I’d have to deal with that. At least she would be safe, which was better than considering what else might have happened to her.

“Alright, moving along…” Rae said, fast-forwarding through the feed.

“There,” Red snapped, pointing to the top left corner of the screen. “Roll back.”

Rae did as he asked, then zoomed in as best she could. I strode forward, even though the screen was huge. Something was going on, but it was hard to tell. “They’re purposely staying out of the line of the cameras,” Rae confirmed. “Let me see if there’s another angle.”

But there wouldn’t be. Not in a hotel like this. I kept my eyes on the screen anyway, watching until they finally made their presence known.

“I have eyes on the stairwell.” Rae pulled up the feed just as the door to the IT room burst open. I spun around as Cash stormed in, pointing at the screen.

“Turn it off.”

“No,” Rae snapped.

Cash’s eyes narrowed on her. “I gave you a fucking order.”

“And it was stupid,” Rae retorted. “We’re trying to find a missing person.”

His eyes flicked to meet mine. “I suppose this has to do with you.”

“I’m not staying. I just need to find Isla.”

He scoffed at me, the hatred in his eyes more intense than the last time we spoke. “Funny how that works. You need something and you assume you can storm in here and use my resources, but the one fucking thing I need from you?—”

“I already gave you,” I cut in.

“You did half the job,” Cash seethed. “You didn’t even last more than a fucking month. Rafe lasted years.”

“Well, I’m not Rafe. I’m not willing to sacrifice everyone around me for one person.”

The jab hit the mark and I watched as he visibly recoiled. I didn’t want to be an ass. I truly felt horrible for what happened to Rafe, but putting everyone else at risk just wasn’t an option.

His eyes slid over Red and then Rae. Something inside him seemed to deflate as he watched all of us, standing against him and refusing to back down. “One fucking time,” he bit out, his voice hoarse and tormented. “That’s all you get. Use what you need to get her back, and then I never want to see you in my building again.”

He turned and stormed out of the room. I started after him, but Red stopped me. “Don’t. It won’t help anything.”

But I couldn’t tear my eyes away from where he just stood. I wanted to go after him, to tell him I’d always fucking be on his side, but I had a line I wouldn’t cross. Even through all of this, I still considered him a man I’d do almost anything for.

“Holy shit. Kavanaugh!”

I turned just as Rae paused the screen. Both IKE and Isla were dragged from the room, both of their faces covered with a bag. We watched the minutes tick by as they were taken from the hotel through a side exit. With everyone asleep for the night, no one noticed them being taken or loaded into a waiting van.

“Running the plates now.”

Minutes ticked by as Rae worked hard to find the location of the van, until finally, she had an address. She turned to me with resignation in her eyes. “Are you ready for this?”

I gave a swift nod. “Let’s go.”

But it was Red who stopped me with a hand on my arm. “Kavanaugh, she means, are you ready for what you might find?”

Death. I could hear it in his voice and see it in her eyes. They both thought she was dead. If IKE was involved, there was every chance someone retaliated against him for a job he pulled. But the fact was, I needed to know. Dead or alive, I had to find her and bring her home.

I ignored the pain in my chest at the thought of losing her. It wasn’t worth being upset over something that hadn’t happened yet. Until I had confirmation of the worst, I would work on the knowledge that she was alive and out there waiting for me to find her.

“I will not tell Riley her sister is dead,” I bit out. “We find them and bring them home.”

Rae nodded. “I’ll tell Scottie to get the plane ready.”

I grimaced. “We’re already headed into danger. Do we really need to be covered in vomit?”