Chapter 29

CHAPTER 29

“ G ently place the tape over the fingerprint,” the middle-aged man that she was counting on said before Jill reached over and paused the video so that she could focus on what she was doing.

Slowly exhaling, Jill adjusted the flashlight on the bathroom counter so that it was pointing directly at what she hoped was a fingerprint on the bathroom faucet. Once she was assured the flashlight was pointing exactly where she needed it, Jill grabbed the roll of scotch tape off the counter, moved to tear off two inches of tape only to rethink that decision and doubled it.

Carefully pinching the sides, Jill brought the tape closer, paused, frowned, and squinted as she adjusted her hold before placing the small piece of tape over the smudge that looked like a fingerprint. Once she covered the smudge with tape, she reached over and started the video again.

“Once you have the tape over the fingerprint, carefully smooth the tape over the fingerprint with your fingertip before you grab one end of the tape and carefully peel it off the surface. Then take the piece of tape and place it over the fingerprint scanner and gently press your fingertip against the tape and hold it there until the system bypasses the password and gives you access to the device.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Jill murmured to herself as she turned the iPad off and placed it under her arm before she reached for the tape, careful to grab it by the corners and peeled it off before she made her way back into the bedroom, pausing by the door to make sure the coast was clear.

When she didn’t spot Logan or any of his lackeys waiting for her, she quickly made her way to the hallway and into the dining room that Logan used as his office. After a quick glance at the camera above the door, Jill debated doing this another way, but…

Screw it.

It wasn’t like he didn’t already know that she was trying to escape. With that in mind, Jill quickly made her way around the large dining room table, awkwardly leaned over so that she could release her iPad from beneath her arm onto the table and focused on Logan’s laptop. Carefully releasing one side of the tape, Jill reached down and opened his laptop, grabbed the other end of the tape again and placed the tape over the fingerprint scanner, making sure to align the smudge over the small piece of glass.

Slowly exhaling, she pressed her fingertip against the tape and-

Nothing.

“Damn it,” Jill muttered as she gently rubbed her fingertip over the tape, hoping that it would help.

When nothing happened, she yanked the tape off the computer and dropped down in the chair with a heavy sigh. That was followed by typing “APositive” only to have the password prompt shake and delete it, letting her know that it was wrong. That was followed by typing in “REVENGE” in all capital letters and-

Nothing.

Knowing that she only had one last chance before the laptop locked her out again, Jill glanced around the room, looking for any clues while she wracked her brain for something that would help her only to frown when she glanced back at the computer and-

He wouldn’t…

Telling herself that she was wasting her time, Jill reached over and typed in “Angel” even as she shook her head in disgust, knowing that she was going to have to figure out another way around his password and-

“Oh, my God…” Jill mumbled when the computer granted her access seconds later.

Shaking her head in disbelief, Jill quickly took in the folders covering the desktop, noting everything from “Properties” to “Daily Reports” and everything in between. Knowing that time was a factor here, Jill scanned the folders and was about to open the surveillance app when the folder in the right-hand corner drew her attention.

Elizabeth .

Needing to know why this all started, Jill clicked on the folder and found herself even more confused when she spotted a single folder labeled Pierce inside. Frowning, she clicked on the file and found hundreds of documents, images, and videos organized in alphabetical order. She opened the first file and scanned it, searching for answers only to close it and open the next one when she was left with more questions than answers.

A few minutes later, she closed the folder and opened another one. This one was daily reports about a brownstone, detailing who came and went and noted that they were all sent by her favorite asshole, Gray. When she didn’t find anything that would help her, she closed the file and opened another one labeled “Auction.”

She opened the spreadsheet labeled “Bids” and felt her stomach drop when she saw the neatly organized list containing her brothers’ names, Izzy, her father, Madison, and several names that she didn’t recognize before she took in the list of Chris and Izzy’s children. Once she read through the list, she took in the bounties and their capture status before she took in the name of the man offering up her family to the highest bidder.

Magnus.

Slowly exhaling, Jill closed the folder and after a slight hesitation, she opened the security app at the bottom of the screen. After one last glance at the doorway, she took in the small images neatly organized on the screen showing everything from the sidewalk wrapped around the building to the rooftop overlooking the city below and everything in between before she found herself clicking on the video feed of her bedroom.

Clicking on the calendar below the feed, she slowly scrolled back until she came to November 25 th , the day that this all started and…nothing. She scrolled through the feed until she finally saw movement several days later. She watched as several men rushed into the room, followed by Logan carrying her limp body in his arms.

“Hold on, Angel,” Logan said as he carefully placed her down on the bed.

She watched Logan gently push the hair out of her face and leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead as he said, “Stay with me, Angel.”

Swallowing hard, Jill quickly scrolled through the rest of the feed, watching as he paced the room day and night, sat by her side and held her hand when her IV was changed and stood by the windows with his back to the room when a woman came into the room to clean and dress her every day. She watched the way that he came back to her side the moment the woman was finished so that he could carefully tuck her back in.

She watched as he climbed into the bed beside her every night and pulled her into his arms. She watched him hold her, promise her that everything would be okay when she cried in her sleep and held onto her when she screamed in pain. She scrolled through the feed, noting that he never left her side.

Not once.

She watched the moment when she realized that she was about to die. She closed her eyes and slowly exhaled while Logan’s eyes turned silver and-

She watched Logan lose control when she stopped breathing.