Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

"What the hell are you doing?" Brick growled.

Stone ignored him as he clicked on the link Ry had just sent. It hadn't taken him long to realize he was being an idiot. He'd let Maisy's asshole brother's words get to him, just like the man wanted.

He'd been running on the treadmill in the small workout room at the hotel and literally came to an abrupt halt, barely preventing himself from being thrown against the wall behind him by the fast-moving tread. He wanted to kick his own ass.

Somehow, Jason had known exactly how to make Stone doubt not only himself, but Maisy as well. He wasn't weak. Shit, he'd survived something most men wouldn't have been able to last five minutes through. He'd been tortured by fucking terrorists , and yet, here he was.

He and Owl had been through hell, and they'd somehow managed to find women who didn't pity them, didn't think they were lesser men because of what they'd gone through. They loved them exactly as they were. And their experiences made them the men they were today.

He'd been such an ass. Maisy had needed him to be supportive and encouraging, and he'd fucked that up completely. He hadn't been there for her when she'd talked to the detectives, and that had to have been extremely hard for her. He hadn't insisted he stay by her side while she told her story. Hadn't done a damn thing.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he'd rushed back up to their room to apologize. To grovel. To tell Maisy what a dick he'd been—but she hadn't been there. Stone hadn't panicked, not at first. Had simply gone down the hall to Brick and Tiny's room, having no doubt that's where Maisy would be found.

But she wasn't there either. He was confused for half a second—then terror set in.

Jason had gotten to her.

Sure, maybe she went down to get ice, or to the lobby for a snack, but deep down, he knew she wouldn't do either of those things. Not by herself.

There was only one person in the world who had a reason to hurt Maisy. Her own damn brother. And Stone had left her alone and vulnerable. Another mark against him. Another thing he'd have to make up for.

Brick had rushed off to search the common areas of the hotel. And while Tiny had tried to reassure him, offering reasons why Maisy could be gone and where else she might be—eating by herself down in the restaurant, swimming in the pool—Stone had been busy texting Ry.

Unbeknownst to his friends or Maisy, he'd had a long talk with the woman before they'd left for this trip. He was intrigued by her abilities. And since he'd been uneasy about bringing Maisy back to Seattle, he'd wanted to see if she had any suggestions for keeping her safe.

Ry did.

"Seriously, Stone, what the fuck are you doing? We need to go look for Maisy." Also from Brick, who'd returned a few minutes ago, his search unsuccessful.

"I know where she is," Stone said as he stared at the map in front of him.

"What? How?"

"Where?"

He wasn't surprised at his friends' questions. "Ry gave me trackers," he told them. "I've got one, and I gave one to Maisy. Well, I didn't give it to her. I slipped it into her pocket this morning. It looks like a quarter, but it's not."

"No shit?" Brick asked.

"No shit. I talked to Ry, who apparently consulted with Tex. He suggested the tracker."

"Well, that's not a surprise. The man does love his freaking tracking devices," Tiny said.

"Exactly."

"How'd you know you'd need it?" Brick asked.

"I didn't. I mean, I hoped I wouldn't, but if her brother was willing to go to the extreme of kidnapping a complete stranger and incarcerating him for three months, then probably killing him, just to get his hands on Maisy's money…I wasn't taking any chances."

"So he took her?" Tiny asked.

"I don't know. But I'm guessing probably not. He wouldn't want to chance having his face on camera anywhere, so he could claim he didn't know what was happening. Ry's working on hacking into the surveillance cameras here at the hotel, so we'll know for sure. But ultimately it doesn't matter. He's got her. She's at the house."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go get her! We can definitely take that asshole!" Tiny exclaimed, heading for the door.

"You guys aren't going anywhere," Stone informed them.

"What?" Brick and Tiny asked in unison.

"I need you to rally the troops. Maisy laid the foundation today when she told her story to the detectives. I need you guys to contact one of them, tell him that Jason's got Maisy and is holding her under duress to try to get her money, then come to the house."

"And what are you going to do?" Brick asked.

Stone narrowed his eyes. "I'm gonna go get my wife back."

"That's not a good idea," Brick warned.

"The hell it's not. Look, she's gone because I was a dumb fuck. I let that asshole get to me."

Brick glared at Stone. "If you're referring to his fucking speech about being weak, he was talking out his ass."

"Yeah, I realize that now, but I took his words to heart at the time. Look, I'm not like you and the others. Neither is Owl. We're damn good behind the controls of a chopper, wouldn't hesitate to fly into a sandstorm or a fucking hurricane, but boots on the ground isn't our thing…obviously. I fought when our chopper went down overseas, both Owl and I did, but it didn't matter, we were still captured and tortured. When Jason's goon did his thing, I didn't have a chance to fight back because I was hit from behind. And he was right, when I was in that trunk, I panicked. I didn't even try to escape. I'll have to live with th at, but in the end…I got the best thing that has ever happened to me out of the ordeal."

"Maisy," Tiny filled in unnecessarily.

"Exactly. What happened, happened. Jason played dirty, and it's time I beat him at his own game."

"What's your plan?"

"While you and Tiny are convincing the cops to get a search warrant—which shouldn't be hard once we get the footage from the hotel cameras from Ry, and they see the map with the tracking info, combined with the shit Maisy told them today—I'm gonna walk right up to the front door and demand to see my wife."

"What? That's insane!" Tiny exclaimed.

"Actually, it's perfect," Brick said with a nod. "You said you don't have boots-on-the-ground skills."

"Jason could shoot him," Tiny warned.

"He could. But I don't think he will. He wants to see his sister suffer as much as possible. If we time things right, Jason will be too wrapped up with Stone's arrival to even think about it being a trap or wonder where we are. By the time he does, it'll be too late and he'll be done for."

"And if he hurts him? Or Maisy? Can you live with that?" Tiny asked Brick.

Brick met Stone's gaze head on. "I trust Stone. He can handle shit at the house until we get there."

His words meant the world to Stone. Brick was right. Jason could shoot him in the head the second he saw him. That would definitely hurt his sister in a way nothing else could. But even though he was taking a risk…he agreed with Brick. Jason was crazy. And with Stone at his mercy, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from gloating to his sister about how he had all the co ntrol. It would be his downfall. Stone would bet his life on it.

Was betting his life on it.

"And I'd say that even if it was Alaska in that basement, and Jason was that asshole trafficker who wanted to get his hands on her."

And that was why Brick was one of his best friends. The loyalty. The trust. The absolute certainty, even though he wasn't a Navy SEAL or a Delta Force Operative, that Stone could handle the situation at the house until help arrived.

Just then, a text notification sounded from Stone's phone. Looking down, he saw it was from Ry. Another link. Clicking on it, Stone watched as a man he definitely recognized knocked on his hotel door. The time stamp was from an hour ago.

As soon as Maisy opened the door, Don punched her, then reached down and grabbed her, hauling her out of the room with a grip that looked painful, forcing her down the hall. Stone's teeth clenched.

"What've you got?" Tiny asked.

Instead of answering, he sent the link to both his friends. "You can show that to the cops."

He waited while Brick and Tiny watched the short video clip, their bodies going tense when they witnessed what Maisy had endured.

"She probably thought it was me. I know she was worried about where my head was at. I left so fast after we got back to the room, she probably assumed I forgot my key. I'm gonna fix this. Once and for all. Her brother won't be an issue after tonight."

"No, he fucking will not. Go," Brick said. "Take the car. We'll get a taxi to the police station and meet you at the house."

After getting the keys from Tiny, Stone headed for the door. He was still wearing shorts and a T-shirt, his standard workout gear, but the only thing on his mind was getting to Maisy. She had to be terrified. Wondering if he'd come for her.

He'd made a vow, one he had no plans to break. Once this was behind them, he'd make sure his wife never had a reason to doubt him again. He'd done nothing but break her trust, and if she took him back, he'd make sure it never happened again.

Maisy was the most amazing woman he'd ever met. Life kept kicking her in the face, and yet she could still see the good in people. Open herself up to others. She embraced a group of strangers at The Refuge and made them fall in love with her after a few short weeks.

Just as he had.

He loved Maisy. He hadn't said the words out loud since he'd regained his memory, and Stone regretted that deeply. She'd told him time and time again, probably hoping she'd hear the words returned. One more way he'd been an ass. But no longer.

She was his. Legal marriage license or not, she was his . Just as he was hers.

Time to prove it to Maisy.