Wicked and True (Wicked & Devoted 4)

Her question took Zy down a notch. He lowered his feet to the floor and leaned in, slowly putting his hands around hers. “I won’t lie and say I wasn’t shocked by what happened to Kimber.”

“Why her? Just because she’s Hunter and Logan’s sister? They wanted to hit low?”

Zy shook his head. “It’s a lot more complicated than that. This mess started when the colonel, Hunter, Logan, and another contractor all went into Mexico to rescue Kendra Waxman from Emilo Montilla. Remember her? The bride at the wedding we worked last June?”

“I remember.”

“At the same time, they rescued Valeria Montilla. She was pregnant. I guess Emilo didn’t appreciate it.”

“But he’s not alive to care anymore. He’s been gone for weeks, and they only took Kimber a few days ago. So who would do this?”

Zy sighed. “That’s part of the difficulty here, knowing who to go after. Emilo’s death left a power vacuum in that splinter of the cartel. We think there are two factions vying for control. We just don’t know which is responsible for abducting Kimber.”

Tessa tore her hands free and sat back in her seat, her mind racing. Whichever side had taken Kimber, the other side had taken Hallie to force her to spy.

Oh, my god…

“Either way”—he went on—“they took Kimber because she’s important to all the players. Hunter and Logan because she’s their sister and they continued to dog Emilo to his dying day and one of their team members took the asshole out. But they struck at the colonel, taking his only daughter as punishment for leading the mission to rescue Valeria in the first place. And they hit at Deke, taking his wife, because they’ve been working a separate op that involves Tierra Caliente. The message is…you take one of ours, and we’ll take one of yours.”

She didn’t have to pretend to tremble as she lifted her hand to her mouth. “What are we going to do? These aren’t good people. We need to get Kimber back. I’ve tried not to panic for days, but—”

“Panic doesn’t serve any of us. I promise you, the bosses are doing everything they can. Matt is here to help. They’re running down every single clue.”

“But what if it’s not enough?” Tessa demanded, realizing that she was talking about her daughter more than she was asking about her friend. “Tell me they have some plan.”

Zy shook his head. “I’m sure they’re working on it, but…”

She almost came out of her seat. “But?”

He gripped her hands again. “But I’m not supposed to tell you anything. There’s a plan, absolutely. It’s going down soon. You know they’re not the kind of men to do nothing, right?”

“Right.” And once they did, what would that mean for Hallie? “Can you tell me anything? I’m so worried. It’s part of the reason I’ve been acting so crazy. All this danger… I’m not used to it. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I’m a mess.”

Slowly, Zy nodded. “Tell you what. Yeah, there’s a plan. I’m going to head out early today, visit the bosses. They want to bump heads before plans are final. I should know more tonight.”

Tonight? That was forever away. “Can we talk once you know?”

“Absolutely, baby. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to tell you, though…” He looked her up and down with eyes so blue she almost lost herself in them. “I miss you.”

“I miss you, too,” she said in total sincerity. She missed his smiles during the day. She missed his kisses as they left the office. She missed his possessive touches when he tumbled her into her bed, tore her panties away, and shoved himself deep. But most of all, she missed just being close to him.

Then Tessa had to look away to think again so she could start plotting how to make him tell her everything. She’d never felt so alone.

Somehow, she held herself together as she rose to her feet. “Let me know as soon as you know something.”

“The minute I do,” he promised. “Any chance you’re rethinking moving in with me?”

“All the time.” Her voice broke on the lie.

“Good. We’ll talk about it later, too. I gotta get back to it.” He nodded at the speakerphone.

“Okay.” Tessa hated to leave. She didn’t have the information the kidnapper wanted, but she could certainly go back with something. Maybe that would be good enough for now. “Talk to you soon.”

Zy nodded as she let herself out. On the other side of the door, she turned the recorder off, then raced to the storeroom where the spare computers were stored. She pulled the most updated from the pile. Cutter’s machine, she thought. Trees had already gone over it with a fine-tooth comb. It should get the job done.

She took it to Matt with a stiff smile and an apology. “Sorry for the wait. Oh, here’s the power cord.”