Burned Hearts (Burned 3)

“His room. He needs a bit more work.”

“Will he be okay?”

“Are you kidding? Do you think Dane would accept anything less than a full recovery from either of you?”

I wanted to laugh, because I knew Stan was trying to lighten the mood. But I didn’t have it in me.

“There’s an iPad mini in the hallway, where I was sitting. Can you bring it to me?”

“Sure.” He was gone for only a few seconds and handed it over.

As I hastily pulled up the video from Dane’s helmet and streamed it on the flat screen over the fireplace, I could see they were still in hot pursuit of Ethan. Where the hell was he taking Amsel?

“Dane?”

“Jesus,” he said. “You had me terrified, baby.”

“Sorry. Blacked out. I’m better now.”

“And Amano?”

I shot a glance at Stan, who said, “He’s not going to bounce back quite so quick, but I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Dane swore under his breath.

“It’ll take more than a few bullets to stop him,” I added, hoping to relieve some of the tension. “Where are you?”

“Heading toward the Lux.” A second later he said, “Scratch that. Headed toward the estate.”

“That asshole!” I ground out. I swore that place was cursed since the day Vale had kidnapped me and taken me there.

From the camera mounted on the front of the helmet I could see Kyle ahead of the motorcycle. The McLaren bounced along the red-dirt road, the headlights dipping and rising, dipping and rising, so that I thought I’d puke again. Then the high beams went dark and the car jerked to a stop in front of the massive gates, which were wide open.

“Ari,” Dane said. “What do you see?”

“Straight shot through the front windows to the living room. Ethan and Amsel.”

My breath stuck in my throat again.

“Perfect.” There was a rustling noise and jostling of the camera and then it sat on the hood of the car, giving me the same view as before.

Kyle rounded the front of the car and handed over his phone and wireless earpiece. Dane immediately called his phone, which rang in the hall. Stan retrieved it.

“Dane?” I asked, putting him on speaker.

“Yeah.” I watched him, on-screen, stuff the phone into his pocket, with me still on the line. “Tell me if anyone comes into the courtyard, gets near the front door, or comes into the living room. Can you see that much?”

“Yes. But if Ethan moves farther back into the house, I might lose him.”

“Noted.”

Dane and Kyle drew their guns and crept into the courtyard. Thank God we had the cells, because they were too far out of the GoPros’ audio reach.

I had no idea if Ethan knew they’d kept up with him or even followed him. Nor did I know if he had other soldiers at his disposal. I maintained a vigilant watch on the house, as did Stan.

“Kyle has the GoPro in the car angled to capture the entrance into the estate. Can you pull that up as well? Alert us if any vehicles join us?” Dane asked.

I did as Amano had shown me last night, using a split screen to get dual access. “Got it.”