Nathan leaned forward, his gaze narrowing as he studied the intruders making their way into the house after he and Shea had disappeared into the panic room. Like the men who’d been after Grace, these looked military. They seemed more careful, however. They didn’t touch or disturb anything. It was apparent they weren’t looking for something but rather somebody. They didn’t even hesitate before honing in on the panic room.
He didn’t like it. Didn’t like it one damn bit.
“Now ain’t that some shit?” Garrett muttered. “Anyone want to take a stab at this one?”
“What have you heard from Resnick?” Nathan demanded.
Sam’s mouth twisted and he glanced toward Donovan. “Not a damn thing. We explained the sitch, asked him to do some digging, but he went radio silent shortly after.”
“I don’t like it,” Nathan muttered.
“Neither do we,” Donovan said.
Shea bolted to her feet, leaving the confines of Nathan’s arms. She paced back and forth, her gaze still riveted to the screen while the scene played out over and over as Donovan kept going back.
“What are we going to do to help Grace?” she blurted out. “She’s out there alone. I’m here with all of you. Nothing’s going to happen to me but the same can’t be said for her. She’s not talking to me. I’ve tried to reach her. I’m terrified for her.”
Sam rose and put his hand on Shea’s shoulder. “We’ll send a team. I promised you we’d protect her. I made you that promise and I’m going to keep it. We have to find her first, but we’ll do it.”
He turned in Steele’s direction, but before he could open his mouth, Rio stepped forward.
“I’m going.”
Sam’s eyebrows went up. Garrett turned to his team leader in surprise. Rio’s gaze was riveted to the screen where Donovan had paused the replay of Grace standing in the living room.
“I’ll find her. I’ll protect her,” Rio said shortly. “These assholes won’t get their hands on her.”
To Nathan’s further surprise, Shea hurried over to where Rio stood and she stared up at him, her expression pleading.
“She’s special. She’s never done anything to hurt anyone. Just the opposite. Don’t let them take her and use her. They’ll kill her.”
Rio’s gaze softened as he stared down at Shea. Then he took her hands in his and offered a gentle squeeze. The rest of the room seemed locked on to the strange vibe emanating from Rio and now the rest of his team as they stepped forward.
“I’ll find your sister, Shea. I’ll bring her home to you.”
She leaned up on tiptoe and kissed the big man on the cheek, and then as if getting over whatever fear she had of him before, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you,” she said fiercely. “I’ll never be able to repay you for this. She means everything to me.”
Rio looked a little befuddled as he stepped away and extricated himself from Shea’s hold. Then he smiled down at her. “I can see why Nathan is so enchanted by you.”
But as he glanced back up at the monitor, where Grace was frozen on the screen, a look of fear in her eyes, his gaze hardened all over again.
He looked over at Sam and Garrett. “Any problem?”
Sam slowly shook his head. “No. No problem at all.”
“Then get me all the intel you have on Grace. My team will move out immediately.”
CHAPTER 30
BY the time Rio was satisfied that Shea had given him every pertinent detail about Grace she could possibly think of, Shea was exhausted. But at the same time, hope bubbled inside her chest. These men were confident that they’d locate Grace and that they’d bring her back.
Shea was surrounded by warriors. Men who put their lives at risk to protect and help others. They’d made her a promise, and she knew they didn’t make them lightly.
Rio and his team fascinated her. Quiet, determined. They seemed to stand back and study what went on around them. The giant of a man who seemed to serve as Rio’s right hand was named Terrence, and as big and as terrifying as he should have seemed, to Shea he resembled a big teddy bear. Not that she’d ever breathe those words where he could hear her. He might snap her like a twig.
But he’d been kind and understanding with her as they’d questioned her about her sister, and he, like Rio, had made a solemn promise to bring Grace back to Shea.
All too quickly, they were gone. Shea had no idea what they were using as their starting point or even what they’d been able to glean from talking to her. But they packed up their gear and said they were bugging out. And then they were simply gone, leaving her slightly baffled. How was she to know what they were doing? But then she doubted they’d be reporting to her. She just hoped they reported to someone, because the prolonged silence between her and Grace was making Shea sick with worry.
She closed her eyes and reached out to her sister as she’d done so many times over the past days. Don’t worry, Grace. Someone is coming for you. We have help now. I wish you’d talk to me so I could explain. These men will help you. Like they’ve helped me.
The void was nearly her undoing. It was like not having the gift of telepathy at all. Like she was talking to herself.
She tried to shake off the melancholy direction of her thoughts. She focused back in on the happenings in the war room.
It seemed everyone was doing something. The entire room was abuzz with activity. It made her anxious and on edge. She stood, no longer able to bear sitting so still when everyone was moving around her.
Her legs were wobbly, but then she felt completely off balance by everything. She hated how out of control her life had become. She valued order and quiet. Growing up the way she had, always moving at a moment’s notice, had made her appreciate the sudden peace that she and her family had enjoyed when they’d moved to Oregon. She’d craved it. Normalcy. And above all, she liked to feel in control at all times.
In the last year she’d become a paranoid, panicky mess of a woman and she hated every minute of it. She wanted her life back. No, not back. She just wanted a life. A new one. Devoid of all the fears of the past.
She may have been some damn lab experiment, but she was a human being with feelings. If the bastards who’d created her thought she was expendable, that she was only destined to be some lab rat they poked and prodded on a regular basis, they could all fuck themselves and go straight to hell. She would never go back to that.
“Shea.”
Donovan’s soft address broke through her dark thoughts. Some of the rage abated and she blinked to bring him into focus. He was standing in front of her, a look of concern on his face.
“I want you to meet the team that will be responsible for your safety.”
Her brows drew together and the panic was suddenly back, knotting her throat until she had difficulty breathing.
“What do you mean?” she croaked. “What about…”
She glanced over to where Nathan stood with his brothers and bit her lip, determined not to blurt out what she’d been about to ask.
She returned her gaze to Donovan and the group assembled closely around him. The team leader stood closest to Donovan and stared coolly at her, his eyes like blue ice. His hair was blond—muddy blond with lighter streaks through the short-cropped strands. It was easy to tell he was the authority figure. He commanded respect and it was obvious he got it from every member of his team.