And I Love You the Most (This Love Hurts 3)

He was an innocent who tried to kill himself after he’d taken justice into his own hands. The attempt left a hole in his head, a scar on his face and turned him into a man who had no purpose. I needed to take care of him after destroying the life he once had. So I gave him a place in a world he could never leave. Charlie Riggins and so many others are my Army, and this is all they know.

The blue dry erase marker he’s holding screeches as he sketches a triangle on the whiteboard. The computer screen he resides in doesn’t have a camera on my end. I’m able to see him and anyone else I deem fit to be a part of this planning. For now, though, it’s just us. “The map has three points and somewhere within this region, there’s a bunker or a basement … something that’s been added to over time, it looks like.”

Riggins comments, “The additional stone appears to be the same as before. Could be historical.”

“It could be the stone from a masonry.” The thought leaves me, spoken aloud but not with conscious consent. My focus is solely on Delilah and the pain that etches across her face when Brass tells her that it’s because of me he was released.

That’s the moment she broke down. That pain that touched every inch of her being is felt inside me as well. Regret consumes me and I’d let it devour me if I didn’t know she’s still alive.

I can still save her and then I’ll explain. I needed him for one more play. He was a pawn, but I made the mistake of not realizing she’d entered the game.

“Masonry … one of …” The sound of papers rustling comes through the speakers on the laptop as Charlie searches for something. The wheels to his desk chair roll him smoothly across the screen to a computer station. The rapid tapping of keys brings down the video of Delilah and replaces it with files upon files as Charlie searches for the connection.

My head hangs low and I can barely swallow the guilt that’s thick on the back of my tongue.

“Someone’s father or uncle. I remember seeing one of his associates has a masonry.”

There’s the connection. Reynolds and Brass are in this together and they’ll die together.

“Bring up the video again.” I give him the command but Charlie continues to guess, putting the pieces together the best way he knows how. I need to see her face. I need to see her again.

“Where did I see it …” he muses as I struggle to keep myself upright. “The factory maybe? And he’s using the same three men who were in on the abduction of the girls.” My frustration can’t be seen as I lean against the desk to remain vertical. I let a man go who had three men in his back pocket with evidence to pin the case on. Three pedophiles and a partner who would back him financially, every step of the way.

“Could be … if I recall, he specialized in headstones.”

“They will all die,” I whisper, my eyes barely parted, same as my lips, as I stare down where my hand grabs the edge of the cheap dresser.

“Yes. Reynolds. His in-laws own a masonry and at least two properties in the designated area.”

A sense of control comes flooding back knowing we have addresses. “What are they?”

“One’s a piece of land that looks to be about twenty acres in the middle of nowhere. The other is a morgue.”

“Rewind it again,” I say, standing upright to speak firmly. “Send the two addresses and rewind it one last time.”

“Sir, we need to scan the vicinities—”

“Send me both addresses.” My tone is sharp with the request and in return there’s silence.

“Marcus said—” The fool still believes I’m only second-in-command to the enigma named Marcus. Charlie lives his day like any other coder for a private security firm hired out by the government. When I tell him Marcus is calling on him, he answers immediately. After all, he owes Marcus everything and Marcus has never told a soul what he did. He took the blame for the murder. He paid the hospital bills. Marcus took care of everything for Charlie. In return, he’s asked for so very little.

The screen in front of me is stagnant as Charlie continues to resist. I’m only vaguely aware I’m on edge and not the calm mouthpiece I typically play.

Clearing my throat and ignoring the heat that surges through my body, I take control as I should … As Marcus’s second-in-command.

“I’m aware that Marcus wants every bit of information.”

“That’s what I’m here for, and you’re rushing this.” Charlie’s tone holds a warning. “What we don’t know is what will bury us. We don’t move until we know.” His dark gaze peers into the camera, staring at no one although I stare back. “You’re the one who told me that. I gather everything we need. You execute the mission, picking the players we need. It’s always worked that way. We shouldn’t rush this.”