Page 132 of Tracked
Fuck waiting.
Moving back along the perimeter, I lost sight of the center congregation and all my plans. My rules.For her.Striding up the steps, I slipped right through the open entrance and quickly shut the door behind me.
The cabin was empty. Bed. Table. Chairs. No sign of Lara or Rachel.What the hell ...My head whipped around like they were hiding in plain sight.
“Lara?”
A grinding sound came from the back room—the bathroom. I continued forward and drew my Glock.
A moment later, the door swung wide and Matthew filled the frame. Our arms aiming at the same time.
Staring down the barrel of a gun was never how I liked to start a conversation. Even less so when it was clear Lara and her sister weren’t here, and Matthew was most likely the reason.
“Drop it,” the guard from the retreat ordered.
He looked both haggard and hateful. Dark circles under his eyes and wrinkled clothes, but an anger bright with life in his stare.
“I can’t do that, Matthew,” I said calmly. “Where are Lara and Rachel?”
“Gone,” he ground out. “Just like you need to be.”
My finger slid to the trigger, having to take the threat at face value.
“I’m not leaving without them.” My own anger electrified my skin. If anything had happened to them—to her—there was no corner of this earth I would leave unturned to find who was responsible and make them pay.
I heard his teeth grind together. “They’re gone. You need to go. Now,” he snapped, his teeth clacking together and his eyes darting behind me.
I didn’t fall for the distraction, in case that was all it was.Once your gun is raised, you never take your eye off the target.A moment later, the door swung open and the distraction became real.
Adam Eden, with Maxwell right behind him, stopped in the doorway, his eyes whipping back and forth between me and Matthew.
“What the hell is going on here, Matthew? Who the hell is this?” Eden demanded, and as soon as Matthew heard his name, his target quickly switched to the older man.
What the . . .
“Matthew!” Maxwell swayed behind Eden, who roughly shoved her back. She fell backward, hitting her head on one of the posts of the railing along the stairs.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second.” Keeping my Glock aimed, I put myself squarely between Matthew and Eden, hoping that would stop him from shooting the older man. “Let’s all take a breath,” I said quickly, looking at Matthew and then lifting my free hand in Eden’s direction. My preference was always to defuse a situation, not escalate it.
“What’s going on here?” Eden snarled, blocking the doorway with his frame. “Who are you?”
“I’m Calder Stone, and I was hired by Rachel Crane’s family to bring her home.” There was no reason to hide my purpose now. “I’m happy to go about my business without interfering with yours.”
Eden stepped into his cabin, calmer now that another one of his guards had appeared behind him. “This is private property. You’re trespassing, and the wilderness out here ... it doesn’t take kindly to trespassers.”
So he planned to kill me and dump my body over that ridge.Understood.
“And you have some questions to answer for back in California, Mr. Braun.” I didn’t have very many cards to play, but at least that one struck a nerve.
“Thankfully, California can’t find me here.” His smile was cold just before he turned to the guard behind him. “Take care of both of them.”
Matthew’s finger tightened on the trigger.
My head tilted, warning the other man with the smallest shake. “Don’t do it. You can still walk away and leave. Leave it all behind.”
“I’ll never walk away from this,” Matthew said, his voice hollow and his eyes haunted, reminding me for a split second of Cassius after Mom’s death. “Not until he pays for Hannah.”
Hannah.
