Chapter 28

28

"Sister?" Hayden snarled.

"Half-sister," Brady corrected.

I had to look away from Hayden's pain-filled, ravaged face.

He was wrecked.

Not that I blamed him, but the guy needed to get his shit sorted or he needed to go find an office to work through what he was feeling.

That was not me being heartless.

I got it.

I felt it.

But now was not the time to process that the woman you brought into your home was a lying, scheming bitch.

Brady had wasted no time digging into Milton Huxley. Not that he had to dig deep; the man lived open just as most normal, everyday, average citizens did. He didn't hide because he had nothing to hide. Widower. Homeowner. Paid his bills and taxes on time. He wasn't obscenely wealthy but he had a lot of money. And according to his trust, his eldest daughter was to inherit two-hundred-and-fifty thousand dollars. His youngest would receive the same. If one or the other were deceased before the inheritance was claimed it went to the other sister. They were also to split the remainder of a four-hundred-thousand-dollar life insurance policy after his final expenses were paid. And all property Milton owned was to be split equally. Unless one of them wasn't living, then the other would absorb all the assets. And the kicker…there was seventy-five thousand set aside for Lorelai Huxley. If Lorelai was deceased that money was to go to Sophie and only Sophie or her heirs. It would never go to the younger daughter.

The younger daughter—Khloe Huxley.

A Khloe Huxley no one could find currently.

Brady had sent Tucker, a new hire at TC, to the address on her license. He was told by the gentleman who answered the door he and his wife had moved in three months ago and didn't know who the previous renter was. The property owner was being tracked down.

But we needed answers now.

So it sucked I needed to push Hayden to answer questions, but I needed answers.

"Did you ever go to her place?"

"Yeah. She's got a house on South Maple by Cherokee Rose Country Club. I don't remember the street number but it's the first house on Maple next door to the liquor store."

Brady picked up his phone to make a call while I stared at the pictures of Milton, Sophie, and Khloe that had been printed out and taped to a whiteboard.

Those pretty eyes holding me hostage.

A thousand scenarios went through my head, from the innocuous to horrendous. Sophie wouldn't go anywhere with Khloe without calling or texting. Even if Khloe had come clean and told her they were sisters and their father had recently died. At the very least she would've called Hayden.

Close to half a million in cash and more than that in property was a damn good motive to kill.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was trying to kill you.

"Khloe was there the morning Sophie got sick."

"Hang tight, Tucker," Brady said into his phone, then looked at me. "Sick?"

"Sophie was in the hospital, unexplained stomach pain and vomiting. No fever. Nothing came up on any test. They discharged her with their best guess that it was an ulcer even though the breath test came back negative. Khloe was there that morning."

"Yeah," Hayden grunted. "Soph drank one cup of coffee, came out for a bagel about ten minutes later, and commented that the coffee pot was empty. But Khloe doesn't drink coffee so she must've dumped it."

"Did you drink any?"

"No."

"You're thinking Khloe tried to poison her?" Brady inquired.

It made sense. Unexplained stomach issues that came on fast, went away after vomiting, and hadn't happened since.

Maybe.

"What about the blueberry muffins? Did you eat any of those?"

"No. Khloe only made… fuck . I ate part of one, they were fuckin' disgusting."

"Do you still have them?" Brady asked hopefully.

"Nope. Tossed them and the trash has been picked up since then."

"You got that, Tucker?" Brady went back to his call. There was a pause then, "Yeah. House first. Then neighbors. I need you to go in, get all her electronics. We'll start there. If we need to we'll go back and do a full search."

When Brady set his phone on the conference room table his gaze came to mine.

"I'm calling in the rest of the team."

Fucking shit .

"Agreed."

"You know what that means, right?"

Exactly what I'd been trying to avoid.

If Luke got called in, he'd tell Sunny. Sunny would first call her brothers—both cops. Her next call would my team. Brady'd been holding out for the same reason I'd been. I wanted this under the radar. I wanted my woman back by any means necessary and I didn't want red tape and procedures to get in the way.

Fuck .

"Call the team. I'll call Shiloh."

"I can tell Luke?—"

"Absolutely not. Shiloh pissed at me is one thing, but I'm not asking Luke to stick his dick out so his wife can chop it off."

"Right."

Brady grabbed his phone and made his way to leave the conference room to make his calls. On his way to the door he jerked his head toward Hayden.

It was debatable which one of us was more fucked-up.

Hayden's guilt was eating him alive.

But abject terror had taken root in my gut and it was taking every ounce of control for me to beat it back or it would consume me.

All it would take is for me to give in to the smallest thought of what was happening to Sophie and I'd unravel.

"Hayden?"

He didn't look up.

"We're gonna get her back."

Nothing.

"Right now, she needs you. She needs me. You've got two choices, brother—give into the shit swirling in your head or set it aside, lock it down, and work with Brady and the guys to help find where that bitch took Sophie. In ten minutes this place is gonna be swarming with the TC team and cops. As soon as we have a location, I'm getting her out. You can have no part in that or you can come with. But, Hayden, I need you in or out. If you're out, I'll get?—"

"I'm in," he growled. "Never in my life did I think I'd want to beat a woman senseless. But goddamn, that's what I'm struggling with. What kind of man wants to put his hands on a female and beat her?"

I knew his struggle.

"One that's human. One that loves his friend and she's in danger and he's willing do anything it takes to get her safe."

"Right," he grumbled miserably.

Brady came back into the room just as I thought of something.

"I need you to call in Liberty Hayes."

"One step ahead of you."

Brady knew Sunny was pregnant.

It was arguable who was more badass—former Special Forces soldier Liberty McCoy Hayes or Sunny. Not that I'd actually argue the claim; either of them would give me and any man I knew a run for their money if not best the situation. I'd get in, get my woman, and unleash Liberty.

I pulled my phone out to call Sunny as it was ringing.

"Sunny, I was just?— "

"We're on our way. Echo will be there before us. Phoenix is on his way to Tucker. He's going to search the house while Tucker gathers the electronics. Team's been briefed and they're on their way. What else do you need from me?"

I closed my eyes and bowed my head.

I should've called my team immediately.

"V? You holding it together?"

"Barely," I gritted out.

"We got your back, brother. Hang tight. We'll get her back."

Fuck .

That hold I had was slipping fast.

Panic like I'd never known was creeping in.

"We got this, Valentine. You know we do. This is what we do. We won't let you down."

Jesus fuck .

I'd seen this play out hundreds of times.

"We won't let her down."

Sophie .

"Copy that."

"There you are. Stone cold, six-twelve. This is textbook. We know this drill. We live this drill. We run it, train for it, we fucking own this, Valentine. Stay cold. Detach. We'll be there. Swear it, brother, we're bringing her home."

Home .

"We are. See you when you get here."

"Out. "

I shoved my phone in my pocket. Three breaths later, I locked the fear, the panic, the dread down.

With my next breath I made a silent promise to Sophie.

She was coming home by any means necessary.