Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

He lifted his eyes to Gidget and frowned, his chest hurting. He could understand why she acted as she had, but he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to forgive her.

“You’ve been in contact with them for a month. What have you learned?”

She shrugged. “Not much. There are at least two of them. They know the area well. I’ve never caught sight of them on surveillance cameras like we did when we tried to track Gratton. They use disposable phones and pay for things with cash. They’re low tech.”

Rowe pushed to his feet and restlessly walked away from his desk to the back of his office. “You’ve got nothing? Not even a name or partial fingerprint?”

“Nothing. They’re ghosts. Good with fires.”

“But since you’re all still alive…” Andrei said.

Rowe shook his head, smirking at the man still leaning against the door. “We’re all still alive,” he corrected. “With you attached to Lucas’s hip, I’m sure you’re a target now too.”

Noah snorted and what little lightness that had crept back into Rowe’s chest was instantly snuffed out as he looked at the man who was too quickly growing in importance in his life. Noah was attached to Rowe’s hip, making him a target now. Noah must have had the same exact thought, because he just grinned wide and flipped Rowe off.

“Not going fucking anywhere so let’s just move on.”

“Since we’re all still alive,” Andrei started again, “they’ll be in contact again.”

“And you’re going to record fucking everything,” Rowe said. He walked over to his desk and leaned forward, pressing both of his hands against the surface so that he was now eye level with Gidget. “You hear me, Jen?” She flinched when he used her real name, but Rowe couldn’t use the other name. That was a nickname for a friend. He wasn’t sure what she was now. Wasn’t even sure what he was going to do with her. “You record everything and you let Quinn crawl through it, analyze every bit of it.”

She nodded. “I will. I’ve recorded every call. Got every email and text. Everything.”

“Good. You will give it all over to Quinn. He gets full access to your computers, your phone, tablet, every fucking electronic you touch.”

“Of course. Anything. Will you get Eric back? Please, Rowe—”

“Shut it!” Rowe snapped and then looked over at Andrei who straightened from the wall. “Sven free?”

Andrei shook his head. “He’s on Ian. With Royce.”

“Fuck. Who do we have free?”

“Dominic.”

“Good. Assign him to her. She is never left alone. Not even to go to the bathroom. She doesn’t touch any computer or cellphone, doesn’t send a single message or answer a call without Dominic and Quinn present. You got me?”

“Got it, boss.”

“Go get both and put them in her office before coming to get her.”

Andrei darted out of Rowe’s office. When the door was shut again, Rowe leaned against the desk again so he could look her in the eye. “Andrei is going to take you to your office and explain the situation to Dominic and Quinn, but no one else. You get one chance to cough up all the information that you’ve collected and what you’ve handed over to these fuckers. If you fuck me over one more time, I swear you are going to wish I handed you directly over to the cops. I don’t care if you are a single mother. Do you understand me?”

Gidget nodded, fresh tears slipping down her face.

“Say it!” he snarled.

“I understand.”

“I will get Eric back, I swear to you. And if anyone has harmed a hair on his head, I will make every last one of them pay.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Rowe straightened and took a step back. His anger had left him and now he just felt hollowed out. “When this is all over, we’re both going to need to do some soul searching. You and Eric never should have been put in danger like this, and I am very sorry about that.” He closed his eyes and shook his head before looking at her again. “But you never should have stabbed me in the back. I…I don’t know where we go from here. Not sure we can.”

A brief knock was their only warning before Andrei stepped inside, his face an expressionless mask. “They’re in her office.”

Rowe quickly repeated to Andrei the same instructions he’d given to Gidget. Once Dominic and Quinn were settled with Gidget, Andrei would go to Lucas and keep him safe. He would also send over protection for both Snow and Jude. There was no doubt the doc and the paramedic would bitch, but he was done with this shit.

“Wait,” Noah said as Andrei started to escort Gidget from Rowe’s office, halting them both. “Have you given them any other places recently that haven’t gone up in flames yet?”

Gidget cringed, her shoulders hunching as if she were trying to become a smaller target. “They wanted Ward Security, but I told them there are too many layers of security. One person can’t get through it all. So…so I gave them the address to your house.” She looked over her shoulder at Rowe. “Your old house in Hyde Park.”