“No, he’ll have chosen it in advance,” Luke agreed. “Possibly even prepared it for her arrival. It’ll be isolated, but not too far from his home because he’ll want to always be close to her. Plus, he’d be unable to both spend plenty of time with her and live his life as normal if he needed to go off on long drives all the time.”
Alex twisted his mouth. “Neither Gabriel’s address nor Sylvan territory are all that far from here, so his hidey hole shouldn’t be too far away either.”
Luke’s phone chimed. He answered it fast, “Yeah?”
“Neither Donal nor Antoine are on pack territory right now,” began Mitch, “and no one has any clue where they are. Now, can you please tell me why they’re suspects.”
Luke quickly brought him up to speed, giving him the bare facts. “Before you claim that none of that makes them guilty, note that I’m aware of that. It’s why I haven’t beaten the holy hell out of either of them.”
Mitch swore. “I had no clue Antoine harassed women in the past. If I had—”
“You’d have said something, I know.” Luke’s head whipped to the side on hearing his brother’s phone ring. “I have to go, Mitch. I’ll call you back when I have news to share. You do the same.” He hung up and, unable to overhear the other side of Tate’s phone conversation, waited until his brother ended it before asking, “Well? I’m guessing one of the enforcers tailing Gabriel called you again.”
“They did,” confirmed Tate, his face hard. “He’s in the wind.”
Luke hissed, clenching his fists so tight it was a wonder a tendon or two didn’t snap. “So we have nothing. No idea which of them is our guy.”
“For now,” said Havana.
Luke scrubbed a hand down his face. “I need to get out of here. I need to go look for her.”
Tate put a hand on his shoulder to stay him. “It’s unlikely that you’re going to stumble upon her—”
“You think I don’t know that?” Luke burst out. “I can’t stay here like this and do nothing while she’s out there with whoever the fuck believes that she’s his. I can’t.” Every muscle in Luke’s body fairly quivered with the urge to do something.
“I get it, I do, but—” Tate cut off as the cell in Luke’s hand once more began to ring.
Luke frowned at the screen. “I don’t recognize the number.” He answered, “Hello?”
“Luke, it’s Finley. Listen to me. You need to head straight toward the old junkyard near the docks. I saw your mate get taken. I followed her. We’re on that road. I managed to get her out of the van, but we’re both weak and in no condition to run. Her kidnapper … he’s hurt but heading our way, and she’s got her heart set on beating his ass to a pulp. Hurry.” The line went dead.
For a moment, Luke didn’t move, struggling to process her words. Then he leaped into action, jumping into an SUV, saying, “I know where Blair is. We need to move now.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Blair slashed yet another tire as she waited for him to appear at the top of the hill. She could hear him coming closer. Could hear grass rustling and branches snapping.
She’d expected him to come barreling up the hill, but either the climb wasn’t so easy or the asshole was a little dazed. Or maybe it was a little of both.
Finley peeked out of the rear of the van. “I called Luke,” she said, her voice low. “He’ll be on his way as we speak.”
“Get back inside,” hissed Blair, slashing the fourth tire. “I told you, you need to stay out of sight. I know it goes against your instincts to hide, but I need him to focus on me.”
The enforcer’s mouth thinned. “I know, but I don’t have to like it.” She paused as a cry of alarm rang out, followed by thuds and snaps that suggested he’d fallen back down the hill. “Are you sure you don’t want to just make a run for it? I know we’re in bad shape, but he can’t follow us by car now.”
“He’d give chase on foot. Our scents would lead him straight to us.”
“And you’d rather face off with him.”
“And I’d rather face off with him.”
Finley muttered an oath. “Fine. Just know that if he attacks you, I’m not gonna stay in hiding—injured or not.” She retreated into the van.
Letting out a long breath, Blair moved to stand in front of the vehicle’s hood. She could hear him once more trying to make his way up the hill. Ten minutes. Luke would be here in ten minutes—maybe less if he really hit the pedal hard. She could keep her captor distracted for that long.
Blair’s inner female planted her feet, more than ready to make this asshole pay. Even if it hadn’t been for her current state and she thought that she had a shot of outrunning him, Blair wouldn’t have fled. She wasn’t anyone’s prey—least of all his. And she wouldn’t have wanted to take the chance that instead of tracking Blair he’d quite simply take off and come at her some other time. She wanted all this to end tonight.