Beautifully Broken Control

by Catherine Cowles

  No way. There was no possible way that voice belonged to who I thought it did. I had to be hallucinating. Maybe I’d fallen and hit my head and was still unconscious. But as the figure stepped into the room, I knew I was wrong. The betrayal sliced bone-deep. I didn’t think my family could hurt me any more than they already had. But I was wrong. So very wrong.

  42

  Cain

  My fingers flew over the keyboard as the chatter around me dulled to a low hum. There was only one thing that mattered now. Finding out who had Kennedy. Tuck was the tracker on land, but I was the tracker in digital space. And I was going to chase this bastard down with keystrokes. I’d use the same to dismantle his life once I found out who he was.

  “What’s he doing?” Tuck’s voice permeated my haze.

  “Trying to trace the email,” Walker answered. He cleared his throat, and my gaze flicked briefly in his direction. “We’ve got a trace on your cell and landline. If they call back, try to keep them on the phone, talking. Ask for proof of life.”

  “They won’t call.” I kept typing. The call I’d gotten was a recording, nothing more. The email demanding money transferred to an account in a country that had practically zero banking laws had told me almost nothing. “I asked for proof of life when I emailed back.”

  “You sent an email back?” Walker clasped my shoulder. “Would you stop what you’re doing and look at me? You can’t correspond with the kidnapper without running it by me first.”

  The hell, I couldn’t. I wasn’t waiting on Walker to get what I needed, and what I needed more than anything right now was the knowledge that Kennedy was safe. “Check my phone. You can see what I wrote.” I went back to typing.

  Walker strode to the counter and started tapping the screen on my phone. “Cain. You can’t give them the money. They’ll kill her. We need to buy some time.”

  I shot to my feet, the chair I was sitting in at the kitchen table flying back and toppling to the floor. I fisted Walker’s shirt, practically lifting him off the ground. He did nothing to fight it. “Don’t you say that. She’s not fucking dying. She’s going to be fine. We’re gonna get her back.”

  Firm hands gripped my arms, pulling them back. “That’s enough, Cain.” Tuck squeezed harder, and I released my hold. He clapped me on the back. “We are. We’re going to get Kennedy, and whoever the fuck is responsible is going to pay. I promise you that.”

  I nodded, then headed back to my computer to get back to work.

  Tuck spoke to Walker in hushed tones. “Watch your word choice, would you?”

  There was silence for a minute before he answered. “We might have to put him down when we figure out where she is. He’s one second away from losing it. He could compromise everything.”

  Like hell, he would. If he stood in my way, I’d tear him apart, brother or not.

  Jensen called out from the foyer of the house. “Walker?”

  “In here, J.”

  Jensen appeared with Anna, who twisted and untwisted her fingers in front of her body, looking around the room before her gaze landed on me and caught. She was ravaged, too. Anna loved Kennedy, and this was killing her.

  Jensen eyed me and then turned to her brother. “One of your officers went to the shelter to ask some questions, and Anna says he didn’t really listen to what she had to say. We wanted to tell you directly.”

  Walker straightened. “Which officer?”

  Anna stilled her nervous movements. “Officer Matthews.”

  “I’ll have a word with him about taking statements. What did you think was important for us to know?”

  Those fingers of Anna’s started tying themselves into knots again. “It might be nothing, but I wanted to tell you, just in case.” Walker nodded, and Anna took a deep breath. “Doug called in sick the past two days. He’s only called in once the entire time I’ve been at Hope House. And this time, he didn’t sound sick. The past few weeks, he’s been acting weird. At first, I thought he was sulking because Kenz was dating Cain. But I don’t know, maybe it’s more?”

  My muscles locked the moment Anna had spoken his name, and as soon as she was finished, my fingers began flying. Within minutes, I was in his bank accounts. I scanned the deposits, looking for anything out of the ordinary. His salary was direct-deposited each month, almost always the same. Then my eyes caught on something. I was aware that Walker was talking, assuring Anna that he’d look into it, but I didn’t care. “There’s a deposit in his account for ten grand from three days ago.”

  “Fuck, Cain. You can’t just hack into his accounts. I can’t get a search warrant with that.”

  I stood, managing not to topple my chair this time. “Do you think I give one shit about warrants or procedure or any of that?” My voice was a low growl as I stalked towards Walker. “The woman I love is in the hands of someone who plans to hurt her for money. For money, Walk. Her life means nothing to him. I am going to do whatever it takes to get her back. And if you even think of trying to put me down, I will take you out. You know I can.”

  Walker was strong, but I had feral rage on my side. He knew he couldn’t compete. “You love her?”

  I blinked. “That is what you heard out of everything I said?”

  Tuck chuckled. It was forced, an attempt to clear some of the tension in the air, but it was there. “Well, we did have it on pretty good authority that you’d never let yourself go down that road again.”

  “That’s not important right now—” My words cut off at the ding from my computer that alerted me to a new email. I turned back to the screen. It was from the kidnapper. A photo appeared.

  Kennedy. Pale. Eyes stricken. And the side of her face swollen and battered.

  He was hurting her. And I would end him for it.

  43

  Kennedy

  A flash went off in my face. It was a small cell phone one, but it was enough to have me wincing and shielding my eyes. A throb reverberated in my skull, the pain sharp and stabbing as my vision began to blur again. But none of that distracted from the pain dancing across my chest, the vise that seemed to grip my heart.

  “Mom?” My voice was raspy as though I’d smoked a pack a day since birth.

  She typed out something on her phone and then placed it in her pocket. “Hello, darling. You’re looking a little shabby.” A flicker of annoyance passed over her face as she glanced at Doug. “Was that really necessary?”

  Doug’s face reddened. “I didn’t mean to. It’s just—she was getting away.”

  My mother’s hand fluttered across her face as if flicking away a gnat. “It is what it is. Have you given her water?”

  “Yeah, she just had some.”

  My eyes followed them as if watching some sort of twisted tennis match. It was as if they were discussing the weather, not their kidnap victim. I swallowed, but my throat didn’t seem to want to obey, the motion sticking. “Why?” I was a broken record. I didn’t even care about the how. How she’d found me. How she’d orchestrated this whole thing. I only wanted the why. But at the core of it was only one question. Why did she hate me so much?

  My mother scoffed, lowering herself into a chair opposite my bed. “Because my dipshit husband and son couldn’t be trusted to handle anything.”

  I blinked rapidly. I didn’t think I’d ever heard her curse before. I didn’t recognize the woman in front of me. She’d always seemed so weak, almost fragile. Forever going along with whatever my father wanted. Doting on my brother. Tolerating me.

  I searched my memories, my mind reeling, trying to find any hint of that in this person I saw before me. Snatches of moments flashed. She had always gotten what she wanted. Somehow, every year, we vacationed at her preferred destination, ate at the restaurants that were her favorites. My father had hated the house we lived in, but my mother loved it, so we stayed.

  I studied her carefully, and the truth of our relationship hit me with the force of a freight train. She’d hated me because she couldn’t manipulate me. I never seeme
d to bow to her will quite enough. Wouldn’t date the sons of her friends she deemed eligible. Wouldn’t starve myself into that size two. Avoided her ladies’ lunches at the club like I might catch a plague. They’d all seemed like little things at the time, but they were the types of things my father and brother always acquiesced on. I never did.

  “You knew what Dad was doing?” The smoker’s rasp was still there.

  My mother scoffed. “Of course, I did. I told him to be cautious, to cover his tracks better, but the man’s ego never could be tamed.” I guess even she didn’t have total control over him. She pulled out her phone, checking the screen. “It shouldn’t be long now. I’m guessing that photo will encourage your beau to move more quickly.” She glanced up at Doug. “Maybe your beating the hell out of her face wasn’t so bad, after all. Might have to do a little more of that if he dawdles.”

  Doug stiffened. “I didn’t hit her. She fell. And I’m not hurting her. You said no one would get hurt.”

  “Oh, shut up.” In a movement swift and surprising, Mom pulled a gun from the purse in her lap and fired twice. Doug slumped to the floor.

  I screamed, jolting back in surprise. The movement had my vision blurring again, and my head pounding. This had to be a dream. A nightmare.

  My mother rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, like you care whether the man who beat you to shit is killed or not.”

  But I did care. I might’ve wanted to give Doug a swift kick to the balls before sending him to jail for a decade or so, but I didn’t want him dead. But the thing that sent ice sliding through my veins was the absence of emotion on my mother’s face. She was totally and completely numb. How had I missed that all these years?

  “You really should be thanking me. The original plan was for you to come to an unfortunate end.”

  “W-w-what?” I hated the tremor in my voice.

  Mom chuckled and placed the gun back into her purse. “You’ve had quite a few near-misses lately, haven’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  She grinned, and it was a bit feral. “Your bike. The gas leak at that shitty little apartment of yours.” She took a moment to examine her manicure as if checking to see if shooting a man had chipped her polish. “I made the mistake of hiring out on that. And you know what they say. If you want something done right, do it yourself.”

  My head spun. She could’ve killed Jensen—my stomach pitched—or even Noah with that gas leak. One glance at the woman who’d been my mother for decades, and I knew she wouldn’t care. But it didn’t make sense. Killing me would get her nothing.

  She rubbed her thumb along the edge of her nail. “I see you trying to put the pieces together, but you’re missing the key one.” She paused, her lips pursing. “Your grandmother died. She left everything to you, your brother, and an assortment of charities.”

  My jaw went slack. Helen Barrington had never been warm and welcoming to me. She’d always kept me at arm’s length. I didn’t think I’d ever seen her hug another living being. But she had always kissed my father’s cheek whenever we went to her home. She’d seemed to love him in her own way. Her leaving him nothing, even after what he’d done, didn’t compute.

  Mom straightened in her chair. “Charities, when her own daughter-in-law was being thrown out of her home. Did she have no family loyalty?” My mother might’ve lost her twenty-million-dollar home, but I knew she had a trust fund from her own parents that paid out a yearly sum that was more than enough for a comfortable existence. Just not one with caviar and couture.

  She brushed a strand of hair back that had fallen free of her perfect chignon. “I’ll admit, I was understandably upset at first. I shouldn’t have looked to end your life when there were obviously other options, but I was hurt that you’d betrayed us so.” The woman was deranged. It was as if she were apologizing for raising her voice, not trying to kill me. “But you’ve done so well for yourself, finding an almost suitable match.” Her nose scrunched. “His family is abysmal, but he’s made up for that with his tenacity and business sense. He won’t even miss the piddly amount I’m asking for. And then we’ll all go our separate ways.”

  Tears welled in my eyes as waves of nausea swept through me. This is what I came from. Manipulation. Greed. Selfishness. “Please, don’t.” I awkwardly scooted myself towards the edge of the bed, swinging my bound legs over. “Please, don’t do this. You can have Gran’s money. I’ll sign it over to you.”

  Mom removed the gun from her purse. “That’s close enough. And what do you take me for? A fool? Like that signature would stand up in court. You have two choices. You can play along like the obedient girl you always should’ve been, or”—she flipped the gun over in her hand—“I can kill you. And all that money will go to the person who’s named in the will I had drawn up.” She grinned. “Don’t worry, I signed it for you, so it’s all official. Now choose. Behave, or die.”

  44

  Cain

  I strode towards my bedroom.

  “Cain! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Walker called after me.

  I went straight for the safe, keying in my code and placing my finger on the scanner. It beeped as it opened, and my hand made a beeline for the metal box in the back. My fingers were the only thing needed to unlock this case, their prints the only code. I lifted the Glock out, checked the magazine and chamber.

  “Oh, shit,” Tuck mumbled.

  I hated guns. Anything that could cause death and destruction, really. But I also understood better than most that you never knew when violence would show up at your door. The deeply rooted need I had to prepare for that possibility meant that I’d logged more than enough hours at a shooting range to be proficient with the weapon in my hands.

  Walker grabbed my shoulder in a grip meant to stun. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Are you just going to knock on Doug’s door and pull a gun on him?”

  I pushed to my feet, pulling a holster from the box and clipping it to my jeans. I slid the gun in. “I wasn’t planning on knocking.”

  “Do you want me to arrest you?” I ignored Walker’s words and headed for the door. “Do you want to get Kennedy killed?”

  That stopped me in my tracks. I turned slowly, facing Walker and Tuck head-on. “What do you want me to do? You have nothing. Not one thing that could get you a warrant. The time on their deadline is running out. I’m not going to stand by and let them keep hurting her. Did you see her face?!” The ferocity in my words grew with each sentence until I was yelling. That image of Kennedy’s bruised and swollen face would haunt me forever. My chest heaved, but I lowered my voice. “They’re going to kill her.”

  Tuck took a step forward. “You’re not going in alone.” Walker cursed, and Tuck turned to face him. “You know he’s right. We have to go in now. Get creative. Find a reason.”

  Walker ran a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Okay. This is what we’re going to do. Vest up. We are going to Doug’s because he’s the one person we haven’t talked to yet to see if he’s seen or heard from Kennedy. When we get there, if we hear a scream, sounds of imminent danger, Tuck and I breach. You,”—Walker pinned me with a stare—“stay the fuck outside.”

  Like hell, I would. But I nodded. Walker would forgive the lie later on.

  “Let’s go. I’ve got gear in my truck.” Walker strode out of the room, only to come face-to-face with Jensen.

  “What’s going on?”

  Tuck pulled J to him, kissing one temple, the other, and then her forehead. “We’re going to go ask Doug a couple of questions.” Jensen opened her mouth to say something, but Tuck silenced her with a kiss. “Please, just this once, do what I ask without fighting me on it. Go back to the ranch. Take care of Noah. Let me rest easy knowing you’re safe.”

  Jensen’s eyes reddened. “What about you? Are you going to be safe?”

  Tuck hugged her tighter to him. “You know I always am, Wilder.”

  Fuck. Jensen had almost lost Tuck once, and here I was, br
inging him into more danger. “Tuck, why don’t you go with J?”

  His head jerked in my direction. “Don’t say stupid shit. We’re in this together.”

  Jensen straightened from Tuck’s hold. “No, you’re right. You need to go with them.” Her gaze traveled over us all. “Please, be careful.”

  “We will.” Walker pulled J in for a quick hug. “Tell my girl I love her, and I can’t wait to marry her.” Jensen nodded, and we all took off, piling into two separate vehicles. Jensen and Anna on their way to the ranch, and Tuck, Walker, and I headed for Doug’s.

  Walker pulled the address up on his navigation system as Tuck studied a map. “He rents an old cabin at the base of the mountains. It borders national forest land, so no one’s around.”

  My jaw tightened, that familiar click sounding in my ear. “The perfect place to hold someone.”

  Nothing else was said as we curved our way up the mountain roads. The only thing running through my mind was a chant. Be okay. Be okay. Be okay. As if I could will Kennedy’s state of being into reality with my mind alone.

  We pulled to a stop at the base of a steeply inclined drive. Walker turned off his truck. “We go on foot from here.” We climbed out, and Walker handed out Kevlar vests.

  I slipped the weighted material over my head, tightening the straps. I looked up, watching as my friends checked their weapons and vests. They always had my back. No matter what. No questions asked. “Thank you.” Two sets of eyes met mine. “You’re my brothers.”

  We stood in a circle, gripped each other’s shoulders. No other words of affirmation or gratitude were necessary. We knew we were each other’s chosen family.

  Walker released the hold first, starting up the side of the gravel drive, sticking to the tree line. “We play this smart. Tuck and I take point. Cain, you remain outside until we’ve cleared the building.”