Page 6 of Forbidden Fate

Hawk. My brother. He never says anything good about our father. The rest of us have the utmost respect for him, but Hawk? He never joins in the praise.

I type and type and type, hoping to figure out what the connection is, but I find nothing more on my father. But I do find something.

Diego Vega’s and Hernando Reyes’s names seem to form a web, one I can see in my head with the red string and thumbtacks Barb used to tease me about.

And one new name surfaces. Adriana de la Fuente, personal assistant to Diego Vega.

And damn…

She has an address just outside Austin.

4

CRUZ

I don’t say hello.

I never do.

The second the phone connects, I put it to my ear and breathe. Just enough sound to let him know I’m there, listening and waiting. If I say “hello,” he’ll know I’m not in a safe place to talk.

Three seconds pass.

Four.

Then his voice slides through the line. “Cruz.”

“Here, Boss.”

“Hernando Reyes has gone dark for twenty-four hours.”

I tighten my grip on the phone, but my breathing doesn’t change.

Reyes.

I know the name. If he’s missing, it’s probably not an accident.

“I checked his feeds remotely,” the boss says. “Hawk Bellamy paid him a visit. Attacked him and abducted him from his Austin residence.”

Hawk Bellamy.

I’ve heard that name too.

Not in whispers. In warnings.

“Highway cams picked up Bellamy’s vehicle heading back toward Reyes’s property shortly after,” he adds. “Which means this wasn’t a long-distance move.”

“So he’s still local?”

“That’s the assumption.”

Still local. Probably still alive, then.

“He’s most likely keeping him somewhere on Bellamy property,” the boss continues. “I’ll send you coordinates of probable sites.”

My pulse stays level, but something sharp slides under my ribs.

Bellamy land.