“Robin? Come on. That’s the best you can do?” Jace huffed. “No one would pick him.”
“James would.” Laurel’s eyes grew misty and Nolan wasn’t sure he was going to be able to keep his hands to himself if she started to cry. He tucked them under his thighs, flat on the cracked seat of the chair as Jace gathered her into his arms and stroked her hair while never once taking his stare from Nolan over her head.
“You believe this guy?” Jace wondered.
“I do. Am I dumb?” Laurel obviously struggled with cynicism and wariness, which made perfect sense. What else could Nolan do to prove it to her?
“You’re not,” Nolan insisted, his tone a little rougher than usual. “James also told me he used to do your hair and how he put that ponytail with the baby-blue ribbon and white polka dots in it for school picture day. It was the image they circulated when you disappeared. He told us your mom would leave you alone when she worked a second job at night and how you protected him from your uncle, even if he didn’t realize that’s what was happening at the time.”
Laurel clutched Jace and sobbed. She sagged, but he was there to brace her and prop her up. He glared at Nolan even as panic flashed in his gorgeous brown eyes shot through with gold flecks. “She never cries. If you’re fucking with her, I will kill you.”
“I wouldn’t blame you if you tried.” Nolan kicked back in the chair, balancing on the two rear legs until it creaked ominously and he set it down carefully lest he break one of their few furnishings. “But you won’t have to because I’m not screwing around. If you’ll let me reach into my jacket, I can get James on videochat, and when you’re comfortable, I’d like to take you somewhere safe. Somewhere you can meet him and verify for yourself that what I’m saying is absolutely true.”
Laurel froze. “Oh. I don’t know. What if….”
She looked up at Jace and he brushed the hair from her face. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She slammed her eyes closed but, after a few seconds, nodded.
“Do you have a gun in that coat somewhere?” Jace asked.
“Nah, it’s in a holster under my shirt, near the small of my back. And there’s a second strapped to my calf. You should have checked that as soon as you had me tied up.”
Jace’s eyes went wide.
“Not because I’m going to do anything with them.” Nolan held his hands up. “But because it’s what you do when you take someone captive.”
“Jesus,” Jace muttered. “I don’t plan on doing this ever again.”
Nolan chuckled. “Come and get them.”
Jace nodded curtly, then stepped closer. Laurel took a frying pan from a hanging rack nearby and cocked her arm just in case Nolan so much as breathed wrong. He liked her style. Nolan gritted his teeth as Jace ran his hand beneath the hem of his T-shirt then along his abs, around his side, and into the small of his back. He hoped both Laurel and Jace were too shell-shocked to notice his cock twitching in his pants. He struggled to get his body to understand this was for business, not for fun.
Before Jace’s explorations had hardly begun, he withdrew as if singed, the gun in hand. Then he crouched to retrieve Nolan’s spare weapon too. Of course, he had a knife and a few other goodies left on him, but Jace had only asked about guns and they didn’t have all night.
It wouldn’t be long before the Shields raided this apartment if Nolan didn’t check in and he didn’t want anyone breaking what tentative truce he’d managed to negotiate.
“Okay, go ahead,” Jace said as he stepped back, aiming the gun at Nolan. Thankfully the safety was still on and Jace’s finger was a mile from the trigger, but still…
Nolan nodded and withdrew his phone from his pocket. He speed dialed their command center and put it on speakerphone.
“What the hell did you get yourself into?” Jordan asked immediately. It would be obvious since he wasn’t using his comms that other people were likely listening in. So the boss was careful not to give too much away.
“Laurel’s apartment. Want to say hi?”
James broke in, talking a million miles an hour, without much more training than his sister or Jace. “Seriously? You’re not fucking with me right now, are you? That would be an awful joke, even for you, Good Hair.”
Laurel snorted at the nickname, and Nolan frowned, resetting his do into its place. Hey, no one could blame him if it was a little unkempt after the night he’d had so far. “See for yourself.”
Nolan tapped the camera button, then turned the phone so James could see Laurel and she could see him. Instantly, her face softened. Could she recognize his trademark bright green eyes as easily as Nolan had spotted hers, even at night?
“Is it really you, James?” Laurel asked, stepping closer as if she wanted to hug the phone to her heart.
“Yeah. Yeah, it’s me.” He burst into tears even when Laurel managed to hold it together. Jordan was there with his strong hand on James’s back. “I’ve waited so many years for this moment. Are you okay? Where have you been? Can I help you at all? Please, let me make up for all the time I didn’t know….” James hiccupped. “I didn’t know.”
“Where are you?” Laurel asked.
“Nolan will bring you here,” James promised. “You can have faith in anything he tells you. He’s one of the good guys. I swear on your doll with the floofy blue dress and blond hair that you gave me when you saw how much I loved it. I still have it, you know. I kept it for you.”