Rowe swore under his breath and a cold chill ran over Lucas’s spine as Andrei finally lifted his gaze to meet Lucas’s. The emptiness was replaced by a low-banked anger, but it never reached his voice as he continued to speak. “Everyone leaves town. Goes to a safe house. You stay out of sight and you check out any leads that Gidget digs up regarding the kids. Lucas remains in town with bodyguards.”
“You want to use him as fucking bait!” Snow shouted.
“It makes the most sense,” Lucas said.
“It doesn’t make any fucking sense!” Snow released Ian and charged around the sofa until he was right in Lucas’s face. “This is bullshit and you know it. None of this is your fault and you’ve got to stop trying to sacrifice yourself to make amends.”
“I’m not. Jagger wants me dead. He’ll jump at the target.” Lucas put his hand on Snow’s shoulder, trying to calm his oldest friend, but Snow shrugged it off. “We’ll be careful. Plan for everything.”
“Except for a bullet in the fucking head!”
“Ash—”
“Fuck this! I’m not leaving.”
“You need to find the kids.”
Andrei started for the front door. “I’m going to the office. I’ll get the safe house lined up. Settle this. No one leaves until the bodyguards I send arrive.”
Lucas pulled away from Snow and grabbed Andrei’s arm. He felt muscles tense to bands of steel beneath his fingers and for a moment he thought Andrei was going to take a swing at him. He didn’t care. “You can’t leave. It’s too dangerous.”
Andrei clenched his teeth and drew in a deep breath through his nose before slowly releasing it. “I can work faster and more efficiently in the office. Get them to agree to this. The more people who leave town, the safer they will be.” And then he jerked free and left, taking the remains of Lucas’s heart with him.###
Ian rinsed the last of the soap out of the glass and set it upside down on the towel to dry before reaching for a spare dish towel to dry his hands. The penthouse was eerily quiet. Andrei’s departure for Ward Security kicked off more than an hour of shouting and arguing over their plan, which ended up being the same damn plan that Andrei had put forth. And then another hour of arguing over who would leave town and who would stay.
In the end, Jude had refused to leave town because of his own family and there was no way Snow was leaving without Jude, so it was decided that Snow and Jude would take an emergency leave from the hospital and stay in the penthouse with Lucas and Andrei. Hollis, Ian, Noah, and Rowe would leave town so they could stay hidden from Jagger and more effectively search for the location of the abducted kids.
When Sven arrived at the penthouse, he accompanied Rowe and Noah back to their place to load up on supplies and get the dogs. They’d be returning shortly to pick up Hollis and Ian to take them to the secret location that Andrei had lined up. Until then, Hollis had passed out on the sofa, his soft snoring drifting through the first floor. Snow and Jude had retreated to the guest bedroom, where Ian could guess that Jude was trying to calm Snow down. He might be relieved to be remaining in town, but one look at the man and you could tell that he was still pissed at Lucas for agreeing to be bait in this insane plan. Not that Ian could really blame him. He hated that part, too, and was praying that the cops could get Jagger before he could take a shot at Lucas.
With a sigh, he quietly left the kitchen, feeling slightly calmer after washing the few glasses they had been using while arguing. He wasn’t a total neat freak, but he couldn’t argue the fact that cleaning and organizing gave him a sense of control and calmed his mind.
In sock-clad feet, he wandered over to stand behind the back of the sofa where Hollis was sleeping. The man’s large frame covered the couch, making it seem much smaller than it was. Even in sleep, his striking face was lined with strain and worry, and Ian had to shove his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching out to trace his fingers over the lines, smoothing out the tension. He’d told Hollis that he’d wait for him when the cop had come to see him at Rialto, when they’d kissed. And he’d meant it.
He couldn’t explain why he was drawn to the man. There was something about Hollis—the way he filled a room, the way he always seemed to have some cocky quip waiting to leap from the tip of his tongue. Except for tonight. When he’d talked to everyone, there’d been few quips and little sarcasm. Just worry and fear. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, Ian saw it in Hollis’s blue eyes. He was terrified…for Ian.