Page 58 of Mitch

“So, as we were arriving, he was leaving to kidnap Autumn and Maggie.” Fury stole through his tone, making his voice sound like broken glass.

“Yes, CCTV puts him driving up to the farm about two hours after we left. He drove into that barn of the far east corner.”

“I bet that’s where the chemical weapons are produced. A silo gives them everything they need, including privacy and silence. They can go unnoticed by everyone.”

“That’s why we only found a fraction of what we expected at the farm,” Mitch surmised.

“I need to call Reid and Deck. I want him to concentrate on pulling all the information they can from Anton, Hench, Midas.”

“I’ll load the chopper with everything we need. We can put a plan together and get your girls back.”

Liam slapped him on the shoulder as he walked out. Mitch knew it wasn’t as simple as that. They knew where they were, but they had to get them out without anyone getting hurt. He walked towards Autumn’s office, pushing open the door and stepping inside. Her scent hit him instantly, the sweet honeysuckle smell wrapping around him like fragrant summer rain.

He strolled to her desk chair, his fingers trailing over the cot where the little angel that had stolen his heart took her naps. He’d never considered kids all that much, yet now he couldn’t imagine his life without her in it. Her belly laughs, the way her face lit up when she saw him making him warm from the inside out. He wanted more of that, more time with Maggie but also more children that shared Autumn’s beauty and brains. He wanted a future with the woman he loved and had been too afraid to express it to.

It seemed like such a silly thing to hold back, the expression of love for another. The truth was he’d been scared of being vulnerable, of opening his heart and having it rejected. Now though, he’d shout it from the rooftops, tell the world he loved her if he was only given a chance. He didn’t care if she said it back, because she showed it with every single action, with her trust. The way she put her faith in him to keep her and Maggie safe, and he’d failed her.

Sitting heavily, he took out his phone, pulling up the pictures he’d taken of him and Autumn the night of the party. Autumn was grinning widely into the camera with that sexy grin he loved so much as she leaned into his body. Had it really only been less than forty-eight hours since he’d made love to her? Felt her body tighten around him with desire, seen the pleasure flash across her face.

His world had toppled on its head in that time, and he fought the agony her absence brought, wetness tingling behind his eyes at the helpless sensation he felt, knowing she was scared, that she could be hurt and he was impotent until they had a plan.

His instinct wanted him to get in his car and drive to Allen’s house and demand he release them, but he knew an action like that would be foolish. Even now, with his world in danger, he was the sensible one, but calm had escaped him.

He fought the emotion, knowing if he gave in to it, he’d crumble beneath the weight of it. He prayed for the first time in more years than he could remember to a god he wasn’t even sure he believed in anymore that they were safe. That Linton Allen would find the last shred humanity in his heart and spare them from pain or death.

Scrolling through his contacts, he dialled the one woman who could bring him peace while his heart was in danger.

“Hey, Ma.”

“Mitch, how lovely to hear your voice. I was just thinking about you. How is that precious girl of yours?”

His throat clogged, and a sob burst through his closed fist. “Not so good, Ma.”

“Mitchell? Talk to me, tell me what’s wrong?”

Swallowing, he cleared his throat with a cough. “Nothing, Mum, it’s all good.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’m your mother and I can hear the pain in your voice as clear as day.”

“You remember I said we were helping Autumn with some issues in her past?”

“Yes.”

“They caught up to her, Mum. I failed her.”

“Is she alive?” He heard the trace of fear in his mother’s voice as her accent deepened.

“I fucking hope so. I don’t know what I’ll do if she isn’t.”

“She’s alive and you, my boy, are going to get her back. I know you, you have the heart of a lion, and if you love her, you’ll fight for her.”

“I do love her, Mum, so much and I haven’t even told her yet.”

“There will be time for that later, I feel it. She’ll be okay. A woman worthy of my son will fight.”

“There’s more. Linton Allen is the man who took her.” Mitch kept talking, explaining everything to the woman who’d sacrificed so much for him. As he spoke, he felt calmer; renewed energy flooded his veins.

“I always felt bad for leaving that boy with his no-good family. He came to visit me, you know. Years later, when you were in the police force as an officer. He said he was happy you got out, but that his path was different to yours and the only way he could avenge Devon was by breaking it from the inside out. I never understood what he meant, but I always felt sad for that boy. He could have been so much more if he’d only had a chance.”

Mitch sat straighter in the chair. “How come you never told me?”

“I didn’t want the past to influence the present.”

“I’m going to kill him if he hurts them. I don’t care about the cost, he will pay.”

“I wish I could take this pain from you, Mitch, but you’ve always been your own man. I know the job you do is dangerous, and I know you hide it from me or try too, but know this, I trust you to do what is right.”

“Thanks, Mum. That means a lot. I love you.”

“I love you too, my boy, so much.”

Mitch hung up, his mother’s revelations ringing in his ears. She believed in him wholeheartedly, and he knew Autumn did too. It was time he believed in himself and went and got his girls back.

Standing, he pushed the chair in and closed the office door. It was time to go to war for the woman he loved. He just prayed the only casualties were the ones on the wrong side.