Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

He forced his head up to see Noah firmly grab her arm and pull her into the office before shouting for Andrei over his shoulder. Rowe didn’t know why Noah was calling for Andrei, but it was for the best. He couldn’t think, his thoughts lost in a swirling vortex of horror and rage and betrayal.

Andrei strolled in a couple of seconds later. He opened his mouth to say something, but the words apparently got lodged in his throat upon seeing Gidget seated in front of Rowe, her face tear-streaked and her body folded in as small as possible.

“What’s going on?” Andrei demanded the second Noah closed the door behind him.

Rowe met Noah’s gaze over Andrei’s shoulder and scraped up what little voice he could find. “She’s been disabling the security systems for the arsonists.”

The change in Andrei was instantaneous. Fury spilled over his dark features and he growled, taking a step toward Gidget. Noah grabbed his arm and held on when Andrei tried to shake him off. “Fucking bitch!” Andrei roared. “Lucas could have died last night! Because of you, George is dead! Rowe, Ian, Snow—they were almost killed because of you!” His shouting continued but he’d mindlessly switched to Romanian. It was no less violent and ugly even if Rowe couldn’t understand it. The only thing Rowe could make out occasionally was Lucas’s name.

And he couldn’t blame Andrei’s rage. The second he realized that their problems were because of Gidget, his mind flew back over the past year to the first break in the security system…at Snow’s house. Could Snow have been killed by Gratton because of her? Was Melissa dead because of Gidget? His mind instantly skated from the question, cringing and trembling at the thought. No, Gratton killed Mel. Gidget couldn’t have caused that.

“I’m sorry! I never wanted this to happen. I didn’t have a choice. They took Eric! They took my son!”

Everyone stopped. The only sound in the room was Gidget’s loud sobs and Andrei’s heavy breathing.

Very slowly, Noah released Andrei. Tension still vibrated in the man’s body but he stepped back, putting his shoulder against the door and folding his arms over his chest. He’d listen, but Rowe wasn’t sure he wouldn’t still consider strangling the woman.

Noah took up position between Andrei and Gidget in case Andrei didn’t like what she had to say and his temper got the better of him.

“What happened?” Rowe demanded, forcing the words past the lump in his throat. He still couldn’t move. Struggled to even look at the woman who had become like a sister to him. She was the sunshine brightening the office every day that he walked in. She was a little bit of mischief and sweetness. And now she’d stabbed them all in the back.

“They took Eric, grabbed him when he was walking home from school. Just two days before the party at The Warehouse.” Her voice wavered and she clenched her hands together until her knuckles turned white. “Said…said if I gave them the b-blueprint and the security codes, they’d let him go unharmed. If I didn’t, they’d give him over to Jagger.”

Rowe fell back in his chair, his stomach clenching. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe. Eric was only eight and just like his mother, all smiles and playful laughter. An innocent little boy who should never be anywhere near a pedophile like Jagger.

“I didn’t know what they had planned,” she whispered.

“Why…why didn’t you come to me?” Rowe asked when he could find his voice again.

Gidget lifted wide eyes to Rowe’s face, blazing now with anger rather than sadness. “I know who Jagger is. You think after months of digging through police files, Fed records, victim interviews and video that I don’t know what that man does to boys? You think I-I-I don’t know what a-a sick fuck he is?” She pushed to her feet on shaking legs and towered over Rowe. “He’s got my son! He’s had my son for almost a month. What if you couldn’t get him back?”

What little energy she’d found left her and she collapsed back into the chair, broken sobs wracking her slender frame. No one moved. She’d been trapped and while a part of him hated her for sacrificing him and his friends, he could understand her desperation. He couldn’t say with any certainty that he wouldn’t have made the same damn decision if their roles were reversed and it made him sick.

“I…I never wanted to hurt anyone. Never wanted…” she started but her voice faded almost immediately.

“That’s why you gave them Snow’s old house,” Noah interjected, his voice gentle but firm. “And the Lyntons but with the wrong date for the party. You were doing what you could to protect Rowe and the others.”

She nodded. “I thought if you caught them, you could get Eric.”

“But we’ve remained a step behind them,” Rowe groaned, scrubbing his hand over his face. He hated it, but this was the missing piece. It was like the fog was finally clearing from his thoughts and he could feel the gears kicking forward in his brain. He could work with this, make a plan to bring this nightmare to an end.