Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84544 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 423(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Charlie? Soren? What have you found?”
“It’s Jason, Izzie’s friend,” Charlie came out a second later. “He’s just knocked out. Got a big lump on the back of his head.”
“Izzie’s not here,” Soren reported in a low voice.
“What? Where is he?” Athena demanded.
“Missing,” Gabriel answered before Kairo could speak. “We’re working to track him now. Justin, you stick to Athena. Physically hold on to her. Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“Done,” Justin said.
“Athena, don’t let anyone leave the house. Go to the living room and calm your guests.”
“But my brother—”
“We will find him,” Kairo promised. “Keep the guests here and calm. Charlie and Soren are going to head to the living room and back you up. Ed, Alexei, and West, check in with your locations.”
“Alexei on the patio,” the young man said in a near whisper.
“West on the second floor, heading to the command center.”
“Ed on the first floor, heading to the east hall.”
“Ed, do you remember where the breaker box is? Can you check to see if someone threw the breaker?”
“On it,” Ed growled.
“What about isolating the earpiece for Isidore or even picking up the tracker that you put in his clothes?” Gabriel demanded.
“The tracking program is through the main computer. I wasn’t expecting us to lose power. I’m isolating Isidore’s earpiece…now. Isidore? Baby, can you hear me?” Kairo paused and squeezed his eyes shut as he strained in the silence to hear anything that would prove that his lover was still alive. There was no sound. Not even breathing on the open frequency. His voice trembled slightly when he spoke again. “Isidore, if you can’t talk, just give a little grunt to prove that you can hear me. Just any sound.”
But there was nothing.
“It’s okay. Whoever did this knocked out Jason. They probably knocked out Isidore as well,” Gabriel reassured him.
“They had to have left the grounds. Otherwise, we risk tripping across them. How the fuck did they get away from the house with an unconscious Isidore? He’s not exactly small,” Kairo snapped.
The door behind them opened and Gabriel swung around in a silent blur, his gun automatically coming up. There was only darkness in the open doorway and a huge figure while they were lit by the glow of Kairo’s laptop screen.
“Slow down, Tex. It’s me,” West said. “I—” He stopped talking as the lights in the room flashed on, revealing West in the doorway with his empty hands held up in front of him.
Gabriel immediately lowered his gun. “Sorry about that.”
“No worries. Glad you’ve got Kairo covered.” He jerked his chin toward the computers. “Find him yet?”
“Not yet.” He snatched up his phone and swiped for the particular app that he was searching for. “I’m working on pulling up his tracker on my phone so I can more easily be mobile.”
“Are you sure that it’s better for you to go? It might be easier if you run things from the command center. Gabriel and I can retrieve him,” West countered.
For several heartbeats, Kairo could only glare at his friend. There was no way in hell he was going to stay behind while someone had their hands on Isidore. “I’m going,” he stated and then turned his attention down to his phone.
The tracking app needed only a second to locate Isidore. He was moving fast across the island. They had him in a car, which was better than someone immediately getting him in a boat or a plane, broadening the distance between them far too quickly for them to catch.
“K, what’s the plan?” Charlie demanded.
“Isidore is in a car moving north. Gabriel, West, and I are going after him. Justin, Ed, and Soren need to remain behind with Athena to protect her. After the house is cleared out, Charlie, Will, and Alexei will join us in retrieving Isidore. He’s…he’s not responding. I don’t know if he’s unable because of who he’s with or if he can’t because of an injury.”
“I’m grabbing my medical bag now, K,” Will said, sounding as if he were running. “I’ll be ready.”
Kairo closed his eyes for a second, so very relieved that Will Monroe was now a permanent part of their team. The man was a trained surgeon and had worked in some less-than-ideal conditions over the years. If Isidore was hurt, Will would know what to do to keep him alive.
With a plan in place, Kairo grabbed his laptop, while both West and Gabriel loaded up on weapons. Was it a coincidence that he’d grabbed two of the most lethal members of the team? Probably not. If this person had harmed one hair on Isidore’s head, he was going to start firing bullets and sort out the nonsense later. No one harmed his cinnamon roll. No one.
As they raced out of the house, they could hear Athena and Justin with their voices raised above the chatter of the guests, trying to get them moving to the door. There was talk of an after party and that Isidore wasn’t feeling well. The cameras were still rolling. If necessary, he’d review every bit of footage personally to make sure there weren’t signs of any accomplices hanging back. When this net finally closed, he was going to have the identity of everyone who wanted to hurt Isidore and Athena.