Wicked as Seduction: Trees & Laila - Part 1 (Wicked & Devoted 5)

Maybe they had, and Trees was just in the dark because they thought he was the traitor. But if they hadn’t…Laila and her knowledge might be the key to solving their problems.

Trees put his computer to sleep, then left the office in search of Laila. Dragging in a deep breath, he knocked on her slightly ajar door. It squeaked open. She spun to face him.

Her guarded expression told him instantly that something was wrong.

“Laila?” He entered the room slowly, gaze searching. “Little one?”

“I am fine.” She refused to look at him.

“No, you’re not. What happened?” He reached for her hand.

She recoiled.

Trees cursed. Something he’d done had freaked her out. The only thing that had happened between the last time they had talked and now and been Joaquin’s phone call.

She’d overheard.

He tried to stay calm as he retreated to lean against the frame of her bedroom door. It was the perfect spot for two reasons: one, he had backed off, which hopefully would lower her anxiety. Two, she couldn’t leave the room without going past him.

They were having this out now.

“Nothing.” She didn’t meet his stare. “I am tired.”

He couldn’t call bullshit. She’d been awake half of last night. He’d felt her restless and unsettled beside him. The dark circles bruising her eyes underscored that fact. “Want to nap?”

“Yes.”

“Great. You know the rules. If you want to stay in this room alone, I’ll need to cuff you.”

Her big eyes widened. “I will not run.”

“Yes, you will. You overheard me on the phone with my boss. You think I’m EM Security’s mole.”

“I-I do not know what you mean.”

He eyeballed her. “You’re a horrible liar. And if you’d think about this for more than two minutes, you’d realize I’ve done nothing but try to keep you safe since the moment I met you. But we need your help. We need information to try to rescue Kimber.”

“What makes you think I can help?”

“Their ransom demand is Valeria’s whereabouts.”

Laila paled, then lurched for her phone.

Trees hauled across the room and grabbed her wrist before she could dial. “Your sister is perfectly safe. The Edgington brothers have no intention of trading your sister for theirs.”

“You think I should simply believe you? Risk Valeria because you gave me hollow assurances?”

“I’m giving you logic. If they surrendered their client to get Kimber back, their reputations would be toast and their business would fold. Their livelihoods gone—forever. Besides, they’re too smart to play this game the kidnappers’ way. But they need help, information you have that no one else does. If we can uncover the identity of Kimber’s kidnapper, we can take the fight to them. And we’ll be better equipped to keep you and your family safe.”

He watched Laila consider his words, just like he saw the moment she decided cooperating made sense. “What do you wish to know?”

Where the hell should he start? “Of the two factions fighting for control of Emilo’s territory, you have any thoughts about which side is more likely to have taken Kimber?”

Laila paused, clearly considering. “When and how did the kidnapping occur?”

Trees relayed everything Caleb and Deke had told the office the day Kimber had disappeared, including the forewarning her father had received. “That’s all I know.”

“That tells me nothing. I am sure both sides are well aware of Colonel Edgington. Probably his daughter, too. I do not understand why they would threaten the man after he retired. Why not give the lipstick—and the warning—to one of your bosses? Or to her husband?”

A question Trees had wondered himself. “You can’t think of a reason?”

Slowly, Laila shook her head. “The picture delivered with the lipstick is obviously of consequence. Retribution for stealing Valeria from them most likely. The cartel very much believes in revenge.”

Trees didn’t doubt that. “The men who participated on that mission were targeted. My bosses and the colonel. The other guy in the photo is an operative named Blaze Beckham. I’ve never met him. That name mean anything to you?”

“No.”

Now that Trees thought about it… “The person with the closest connection to nearly everyone involved in Valeria’s rescue is Kimber. She’s the colonel’s daughter, my bosses’ sister…”

“Both Geraldo and Emilo’s underlings are crafty enough to find the loved one important to all. That does not give me enough information to pinpoint who might be behind Kimber’s abduction. It is perhaps more likely to be those loyal to Emilo since Hector is in the United States. Once here, he could move about freely and get close enough to take her. He is the kind of creeper who enjoys stalking a woman and pouncing when she least suspects it.”

Then raping them in the most cruel, humiliating ways. Trees kept that thought to himself. “Do Geraldo and his thugs have trouble getting in and out of the country?”

“I do not know.”

“I doubt it.” The kind of money Geraldo had influenced people and opened doors. “So it’s still possible either faction is responsible.” Since that train of thought seemingly led to a dead end, Trees tried another. “Tell me what happened in the compound after Valeria was gone. You were left behind. Was Emilo upset or furious that she had escaped? Did he want her back? Or did he think it was good riddance?”