Chapter 31

chapter

thirty-one

Izzy knew most of the blood on Rylan wasn’t his. Ash had assured her that Connelly Davis had checked him over, and other than some new bruises and a gash in his head, he was unharmed.

But the sight of all the blood soaked into his clothes made her heart stop. He sat motionless between Zak and Anna.

Everyone else was there, too, even though the animal hospital’s cozy waiting room wasn’t big enough for them all—well, everyone except for Ash and Donovan. Izzy knew Ash was out looking for the black SUV and assumed Donovan was back in the surgical suite supporting his wife as she worked on saving Valor. Sawyer sat with his fiancee, park ranger Lucy Harper. Zelda lay on the floor between them with her head resting on Sawyer’s foot, her big chocolate brown eyes sad. Veronica and Connelly stood with Pierce and Rhiannon, and Rhiannon kept shooting worried looks at her brother. Ellie and her lawyer fiance, Cal Holden, sat with Shane and Alexis. Like Rhiannon, Shane was keeping a close eye on Rylan as if they both expected him to shatter at any moment.

“Sasha’s the best,” Anna was saying softly when Izzy arrived, but Rylan didn’t seem to hear it. His gaze was fixed on the door that led back to the surgical suite as if he could will Valor to survive through the layers of the wall separating them. His wavy, tousled hair was matted with sweat, and the gash on his forehead stood out in stark contrast to his pale skin.

Izzy dropped to her knees in front of him and took his hand in hers. His fingers were freezing. “Rylan.”

His eyes were wet and bloodshot as they met hers, the hazel depths filled with a tumultuous mix of relief, worry, and simmering anger. “Those bastards shot him.”

“I know. Ash told me. He has every deputy in the county out looking for them.”

Rylan’s gaze shifted back to the door. “I-I can’t lose him. I can’t.”

“You won’t,” Zak said and pushed to his feet to pace. Anger radiated from him in waves. “And as soon as we know Valor’s patched up, we’re tracking down those pieces of shit and making them pay.”

Anna stood to block her husband’s path. She didn’t say anything. Just wrapped her arms around him and held him. After a tense moment, he exhaled in a shaky rush and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her red hair.

Watching Zak, usually so tough and unyielding, crumble like this reminded Izzy of how fragile they all were beneath the surface. They were all tough on the outside, but inside, they were frayed, worn thin by war.

A lump formed in her throat as she glanced back at Rylan, who remained fixated on that door, his breathing uneven. She couldn’t do anything about those demons, but she could offer him her strength.

“Rylan,” she whispered again, squeezing his cold hand tighter as she moved to sit beside him. “Look at me.”

His gaze slowly shifted to her, his eyes haunted. She could see the struggle in him, the battle between hope and despair.

“He’s going to make it,” she said firmly and hoped it was true.

His jaw clenched, a muscle ticking in his cheek. “I couldn’t get out of the fucking seat because of this.” He all but snarled at his prosthetic arm. “He was protecting me, and I couldn’t help him.”

“Don’t do this to yourself,” she urged, her free hand moving to cup his face. “This isn’t your fault. Valor’s strong. He’s a fighter just like you. He’s going to pull through this.”

Before he could respond, the door to the surgical suite creaked open, and they both shot to their feet. Sasha stepped through. Her dark hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail, and exhaustion lined her eyes. Donovan trailed her, looking just as fatigued as his wife.

“He’s stable,” Sasha said, and a collective sigh of relief rippled through the group. “But the damage to his leg was too extensive. If I’d tried to save it, it would’ve caused him a lot of pain, so I opted to remove it.”

Rylan’s breath hitched, his hand tightening on Izzy’s as his body sagged forward. Zak cursed softly, running his hand over his face. As the only two amputees in the room, they intimately knew what it was like to lose a limb.

“He’s a SAR dog,” Anna said, and Rylan’s head whipped toward her in obvious surprise. Apparently, he hadn’t known that about his new best friend.

“He lives for the search,” Anna continued. “Will he still be able to work?”

Sasha inclined her head. It wasn’t quite a nod, but it wasn’t a no, either. “Dogs do well on three legs, but because it’s his front leg, he might struggle on rougher terrains. Once he’s healed, we can look into prosthetic options. They’ve come a long way in recent years. If he wants to work, he’ll be able to.”

“Can I see him?” Rylan asked, his voice raw.

Sasha nodded. “Only for a moment. He’s still coming out of anesthesia, but I know it’ll help to have you there.” She looked at the rest of the group and winced. “Sorry, guys. The recovery room isn’t really big enough for more than Rylan and me.”

Rylan hesitated, glancing over at Izzy, and she squeezed his hand. “It’s okay. Go. Be with your dog. I’ll be right here when you get back.” She reluctantly let him go, watching as Sasha led him into the recovery room.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Zak turned to the group— and there was the black ops soldier he used to be. He looked ready for war. “Command center. Now. We’re finding these fuckers.”

Izzy wasn’t sure if Zak meant for her to join or not, so she stayed put. Besides, she promised Rylan she’d be here waiting for him when he returned. And then she was alone in the once-crowded room. She pulled out her phone to call her parents and let them know what was going on, but the thing rang in her hand before she could dial.

Mateo.

A sudden feeling of dread washed over her. Mateo almost never called. He preferred texting. All kinds of worst-case scenarios zoomed through her head— Abuela had a heart attack, Sofia was in a car accident, Diego had an accident at the garage, her parents…

Stop it, she told herself before she could spiral into panic. She’d just left her parents and Abuela. They were safe at home and spoiling Noah, who had been discharged from the hospital this afternoon.

Heart in her throat, she answered. “Teo? What’s wrong?”

Silence.

Izzy’s blood ran cold as the silence stretched on. “Teo?” she repeated, her voice rising with panic. “Are you there?”

“Isabella Delgado?” A deep, unfamiliar voice finally answered, and, for a moment, she was thrown back in time to that safe house when she answered a call from her mother and heard a man’s voice making demands of her instead.

Her fingers shook, and she tightened them around the phone to keep from dropping it. “Who is this? Where’s my brother?”

“Your brother is fine. For now.” The man’s tone was cold, matter-of-fact. “His continued well-being depends entirely on you.”

No, this couldn’t be happening again. Not again.

“Wh-what do you want?”

“The files Monica Holt stole,” the man said flatly.

“I don’t have them.”

“Then you’d better find them.”

“How? I don’t know where Monica is!”

“That’s not my problem,” the man replied coldly at the other end of the line. “You’re an investigator. Investigate. You have two hours to find her and get those files.”

But didn’t they have her? Noah said he saw her before he escaped.

Unless…

The realization knocked the air from her lungs: They didn’t have Monica anymore. Or Grace. They must have escaped when Noah did, but Monica was terrified enough that she’d have gone into hiding instead of finding help like Noah had. And these people she was afraid of… whoever they were… they’d lost their leverage, so they’d gone after Rylan. When that didn’t work, they grabbed Mateo.

She had to tell Rylan?—

She leaped to her feet and strode toward the recovery room but froze before even making it halfway across the room. He was already angry and grieving for what happened to his dog. She couldn’t pile more on his shoulders right now.

Zak.

She turned for the door, intending to run straight to the command center.

“Two hours,” the man said again. “Or your brother dies. If you tell anyone, he dies. If I see the sheriff or Redwood Coast Rescue anywhere near me, he dies. Understood? I’m done fucking around.“

Izzy skidded to a halt on the sidewalk in front of the clinic and swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“Good. I’ll call back in ninety minutes with instructions for the exchange. Answer, or he dies.“

The line went silent, leaving her standing there in the cold night, her ragged breaths fogging in the air.

Mateo was in danger.

She only had two hours to find Monica and get those files.

And she couldn’t tell anyone.

Her gaze darted to the clinic door. Rylan was in there with Valor. The team was gathered in the command center across the starburst-shaped courtyard, already working on tracking down the attackers. They could help her. They would want to help her.

But the man’s cold voice echoed in her head. If you tell anyone, he dies.

Rylan would see this as another betrayal. But just like last time, she had no choice. She couldn’t gamble with Mateo’s life.

She sprinted to her car, fumbling with her keys. As she slid behind the wheel, she tried the last number Monica had used to call her. No answer. She hadn’t really expected one, but that didn’t stop the strangling surge of panic.

“Mo, I know you and Grace got away from them. I know you’re scared and hiding, but I need your help. I need those files. Please tell me where they are. They have Mateo now, and they’re going to kill him. Please, please, call me back.”

She hung up and tried again.

Voicemail.

This time, all she said was, “Please.”

She hung up and hit the gas, peeling out of the parking lot. She wasn’t going to get the files in time. She already knew it with absolute certainty. So what the hell was she supposed to do?

Think, Izzy. Think.

She couldn’t go into this alone. She’d get both Mateo and herself killed. But she couldn’t tell RWCR or the sheriff.

But…

Her gaze landed on her leather jacket in the passenger seat, and she grabbed it. She searched the pockets until she found the card Agent Justina Callahan had given her that afternoon after she allowed the woman to question Noah.

No sheriff.

No RWCR.

But the bastard had said nothing about the FBI.