Chapter 32

We spend an hour searching around the town for Lara, but nobody has seen her. In the end, we head back. We take the turn toward the house, both of us sitting in silence as we try to figure out where the fuck she would go.

“This isn’t like Lara. She knows what’s at stake.”

“It is exactly like her. You just don’t want to see it. You want her to have gotten halfway and turned around because she knew we’d have her back. That’s all good except for one thing: we keep fucking letting her down, Crew, and then expect her to trust us. Why should she?”

“Well, there was the whole dead body thing,” I mumble as I pull up outside the house.

“We got rid of the body, true. But we didn’t save her. She did it herself. And she would have found a way to get rid of him too. Hell, she was the one who suggested the grave.”

I jump out and head for the house, slowing when I spot the door open. I take off at a sprint. “Lara!” I yell, looking around the room but not seeing her. I head toward the bedroom, where I can hear Rufio barking.

“Thank fuck,” I sigh, knowing she wouldn’t go anywhere without him. Only when I open the door, Lara’s nowhere to be seen. “Where is she, Rufio? Where’s Lara?”

Rufio jumps off the bed and runs toward the front door. I follow him with a frown but stop when I see Wilder at the table with the note in his hand.

“She’s gone.”

“What?”

Rufio comes running over to me, his head rubbing against my leg as I stare at Wilder, trying to process his words. I reach down to stroke Rufio’s head and spot her bag on the floor.

“She’s gone back to the Division to deal with her dad. She thinks cutting off the head of the snake will leave them scrambling, at least long enough to have the Division cutting their losses. She knew they’d come. Knew they’d track the chip here and used herself as bait exactly like she wanted to.”

“Not exactly like she wanted to because she wanted our help, and we told her no. So instead of having us at her back, she went and did it alone,” I snarl.

“She might be alone, but she’s not unarmed. And without the kids there for him to use as a bargaining chip, Lara should have the upper hand.”

I rub my hand over my face. “How the fuck are we supposed to track her?”

“Same way we always have. Don’t start doubting us now. She’s relying on us.”

“Call Ev. Let everyone at Apex know what’s going on and put them on alert. If Penn has Lara, he should be happy, but we’re not dealing with a rational man. He might make his move now to take one of the kids to use against Lara. To force her to do whatever the fuck he wants. I’m going to grab our shit and load the truck.” I storm back into the bedroom and grab our bags. I gather our things from the bathroom and stuff them into the bags, along with anything I spot lying around the room. I make sure everything is packed before heading out to the main room, grabbing Lara’s bag as I pass by it.

I toss them into the back of the truck, muttering under my breath.

“You stupid, stubborn girl,” I snap out, hoping she can somehow hear me. I swear to God, when I get my hands on her, she won’t be able to sit down for a week.

I stomp back to the house and head to the kitchen for my phone and charger, stopping short when I see it’s missing and find a phone I’ve never seen before.

Blinking, I stare for a minute before whirling around and jogging over to Wilder, who’s on his cell phone. “Put it on speaker.” He does as I ask. “That you, Ev?”

“Yeah, Wilder was just giving me the rundown. I’m going to pull up all the traffic cams in your area. There’s nothing within a four-mile radius of the house, which will make it harder to?—”

“She took my phone.” I cut him off.

I hear his fingers moving rapidly over the keys of his computer.

“It’s not on. But if she took it, then she has to know we can track it. I’ll keep trying. As soon as she turns it on, I’ll find her.”

“It was charging. That’s why I didn’t take it with me,” I tell them, knowing they don’t care but needing to say it anyway.

“My guess is she’ll keep it off until she gets to wherever they are taking her, knowing it won’t be the Division’s main headquarters. Then I can track her. You have any idea what we could be walking into?” Ev questions.

“We? No, you guys need to stay there. He could be sending men to your location right now. Don’t let him gain an advantage over Lara by letting him get his hands on one of you guys or the kids,” I bark.

“Fuck you, Crew. Do not ask us to leave you out to dry. We’re already missing two brothers. I refuse to lose any more.”

There’s a pregnant pause as I stare at Wilder, the weight of what we know in our gazes, neither of us relishing having to tell Ev the next part.

“We need to tell you something.” I swallow and pull out a chair, sitting down heavily on it. “Nash approached Lara when we weren’t around.”

Ev sucks in a sharp breath, but I continue before he can ask any of the million questions he probably has.

“There was a fire that led to an explosion, which you already know, but Nash says there was nothing natural about it. He asked Lara if she knew anyone with a gift for fire.”

“And does she?”

“Yeah, she remembers a boy from when she was little. She said he wasn’t there long. He and his sister were moved. The sister might be Kate, the woman Nash and Hendrix were seeing.”

“Where’s Nash now? And what about Hendrix?”

I close my eyes and force myself to spit out the words I hoped I’d never have to say. “Hendrix’s dead, Ev.”

There is nothing but silence on the other end of the line for a minute, except the sound of Ev’s harsh breathing.

“Fuck. Fuck!” Ev yells before I hear something smash.

I wait him out, knowing he needs this. When it comes to death, there is no way to soften the blow. The loss of life feels like a sledgehammer smashing into your heart, the echoes of pain destined to be felt for years to come. If someone makes a profound impact on your life, their death is bound to leave a void of equal measure.

“Where’s Nash now?” he finally asks, his voice subdued and filled with pain.

“I don’t know. I’m not even supposed to know he’s alive. He told Lara to keep it quiet.”

“He doesn’t trust us,” Ev states.

“He’s been through a lot,” I say, defending him.

“He has every right to be cautious. How the fuck did they figure out where Hendrix and Nash were? That wasn’t public knowledge, and we moved their base of operations after everything went down with Cooper.”

“Originally I was thought James was the most likely reason,” Wilder says gently, reminding us of a man we all liked and respected. The Division destroyed him when they planted a chip in his head, stripping the man of who he was and making him a puppet.

“But they met Kate right after Oz and Zig made it out of the jungle. Cooper’s cover being blown was likely the reason Kate was tagged in. All she would have had to do is watch and wait. She probably followed them from their base to their knew hideout and simply staged a meet meet-cute from there.” He adds.

I rub my hand over my jaw. “Everything has a fucking ripple effect. Cooper’s death put Kate in their path and now we’ve lost Hendrix, but if Copper lived, he’d have killed both Oz and Zig. No matter what happened someone was always going to die.”

“I fucking hate these guys,” Ev snarls.

“I know, we all do. You okay to fill the others in about Hendrix?”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to them. You know if Nash holds the Division responsible, he’ll track them down and kill them himself.”

“And normally, I’d stand back and cheer, but these guys aren’t going to be easy to kill, Ev. Their varied gifts make even one of them twice as deadly as Nash is.”

“Don’t underestimate a man fueled by vengeance.”

“I’m not doubting his motivation. But if he’s letting his anger rule him, he’ll be reckless and make mistakes. Mistakes that will wind up with him dead too.”

“There’s nothing we can do now but find Lara and hope Nash is already there. At least with Nash there, Lara will have someone at her back.” Wilder says, trying to find the bright side.

I want him to be right, but something in me knows this isn’t going to play out how we want it to. “I know you want to let the others know, Ev, but we need to figure out which way Lara is heading.”

“I’ll widen the search radius and run through all the cameras in the area, checking facial recognition. I’ll call you back when I have something. Stay safe. I can’t keep burying people I care about.”

He hangs up before I can reassure him. Just as well, there are no assurances in life, and right now, I can’t worry about anything but pulling Lara out.

“Weapons-wise, we have what we brought with us, plus the cache of weapons we took from Giles. I don’t know if it will be enough,” I tell Wilder.

“It’s going to have to be. We’re out of time and options.”

“Let’s head out. I can’t sit here and wait for news.”

“We can’t. We might head in the wrong direction and then have to backtrack. I don’t like this any more than you do, but we can’t act without thinking, or we’ll only be putting her in more danger.”

I walk to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water. I drink the whole thing, needing a moment to calm down before I punch something. “Alright, fine. Let’s talk it out. We’re gonna need a plan.”

“We have no idea where they’re taking her yet or how many people will be there.”

“So let’s make plans for every possible scenario. It’s better than sitting around here doing fuck all.”

Seeing the strain on my face, he nods. “Alright. Let’s assume that he has a second base of operations in a more secluded area. That main building was about hiding in plain sight. I think they’re falling back and assessing the damage before they make their next move.”

“Okay, that makes sense and will help us keep innocent casualties to a minimum. We’ve gotta remember, though, that not everyone at the Division is bad. There will be people there because they have no choice.”

“Noted. But our main focus is Lara. If we take out the main people, that will hopefully give the others being forced to stay some options.”

I lean against the counter, my eyes falling to Rufio. “Whatever we decide, we’ll have to mostly work on the fly. There are too many moving parts.”

“We’ll need to split up when we find her. One of us will need to get in and get Lara out. The other will have to create a distraction.”

We’re both quiet for a while, each of us working through all possible outcomes.

“What about Nash?” Wilder asks.

“If we find him, we take him with us. But if Nash doesn’t want to be seen, he won’t be. His call sign was Shadow for a reason.”

Before he can say anything else, Wilder’s phone rings. He answers it and puts it on speaker.

“Found her. I’m tracking the car she’s in as we speak. It’s a little hit-and-miss because, this far away from any major cities, people tend to trust their neighbors instead of putting up cameras to keep an eye on them. I’ll text you the coordinates and keep you updated. I’m sending one of the team to meet you.”

“Don’t. Not until we know what’s going on. I’ll call for backup if we need it.”

He starts to argue, but Wilder cuts him off. “You have the chopper; you can send it if needed, but Crew’s right. We have no idea what we are walking into. Right now, anyone else will be a liability.”

“Fine.” Ev hangs up, clearly pissed.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he sends someone anyway. The man is stubborn as fuck.” I curse.

“I don’t want to leave Apex vulnerable,” Wilder growls.

“We’ve gotta trust that the guys to know what they’re doing. Now let’s go get our girl.”

He nods as I look around to make sure we have everything and head out to the truck, clicking my tongue so Rufio follows.

I wait for Rufio to jump into the back before closing the door and climbing into the passenger seat. My mind’s too scattered to drive. When Wilder climbs into the driver’s seat a few minutes later and types the coordinates into the GPS, I feel pressure in the air inside the cab. I don’t say anything. Voicing my fears won’t make them any less likely to happen. But as Wilder starts the truck and pulls away from the house, I feel the pressure on my chest like an anvil.

I don’t need a gift to tell me that we’re heading into trouble and there’s a good chance that not all of us will make it out alive.