Memorizing Mace (Twist Brothers Book 2)

by Bex Dane

  "I'm taking it seriously," Mace snaps. "I'll handle it. I just got her back. All right? Give me a week to regroup, and then I'll go after Diablo."

  "I don't think we have the luxury of a week to regroup, Mace." Foster sounds very father-like in the shadows like this.

  "I'll take care of it myself."

  "No," Foster replies.

  "Mace, we can't let you face this alone." Mila is once again one of the nicest people I've ever met.

  "We're in. This is too big for you alone," Cutter says. "Trust me, bro. I've been where you are and if you guys hadn't shown up, I'd be so screwed."

  "You handled Morganna without us," Mace reminds Cutter. "Can we take this somewhere a little less out in the open?"

  Foster nods and turns away with Mila. "In the house."

  Cutter and Cass follow them.

  Mace leans down to kiss me once, but his lips are strained and hard now. "Sorry."

  "They care about you, and they know now you care about me, so they want to help. I think we should hear them out."

  He sighs and takes my hand as we walk out from behind the cabin, up the front steps, and enter Mila and Foster's living room.

  Everyone is sitting on couches looking worried. Remy and Sutton walk in behind us. "What'd we miss?" Remy asks.

  Mace rolls his eyes. "You've gotta be kidding me."

  Cutter tells Remy the same things he told Foster. I don't like the way Cutter minimizes the importance of my data, but I'm used to controlling my ego when working with men. In the end, they always come to me for my data. They just don't see yet how it can help us.

  Remy and Sutton take seats opposite us, and we all sit in silence for a moment. It is a dangerous situation, and we have to be careful how we approach this. "I go in as bait." The words blurt out of my mouth before I have a chance to process what it means.

  "No." Mace replies instantly. "Nothing that puts you at risk."

  "I'm at risk already. What're we gonna do? Wait for someone to show up here? Then we still don't have Diablo or Giselle. We get the middle man. We need to make them think they have me so they lead us to Diablo."

  "No." Mace is louder this time, his jaw tight.

  "You got another way to find Giselle? We're not even sure if we're looking for Giselle or Diablo or both. We'd have to have a two pronged approach to hunt them down." I don't like arguing with Mace in front of all these people, but he needs to agree so we can start planning.

  "I don't like it. I want to hunt him alone," Mace growls. "Lola stays here. You guys watch her for me, and I'll get Diablo."

  "What if Giselle put the hit on Loralei?" Cutter asks.

  "Then I'll go after her next," Mace replies shortly.

  "She is in the wind," Cutter says. "No one can find her. She has money and influence all over the world. She can get people to hide her anywhere. We have to act fast before she leaves the country."

  "I understand why you're against it, Mace." Foster chimes in. "But it might be our only move at this time."

  "We'll make sure she doesn't get hurt." Remy sits up straight and looks Mace in the eye.

  Mace returns the look with a doubtful squint.

  "We'll set Loralei up with tracking devices. Take every precaution." Cutter's voice is grave. He knows how serious this is, but I agree our only option is to be proactive.

  Mace sits unmoving with his eyes on the floor. I place my hand on his bicep. "I'm an undercover cop, Mace. I know how to handle myself and how to execute an op like this. You need to have faith in me and your family right now."

  "Faith." He huffs and shakes his head. "Fine," he says quietly. He lifts his gaze and narrows in on Cutter. "You make sure nothing happens to Lola. This guy already had her once and almost killed her. I don't like the idea of giving him a second chance."

  "We know you don't like it, but it'll be worth it in the end when Diablo is off your tail, the bounty is gone, and you bring Loralei back here without having to worry about snipers in the trees."

  He nods. "Okay."

  "Good. Let's get to work."

  ***

  Two days later, Mace ends a call with Helix. "He set it up for tomorrow at four pm. Still not comfortable with Helix doing the drop off." Mace runs his hands through his hair.

  I look up from my laptop. "He's the only one who would legit do it. Anyone else and they'd suspect."

  "He's a wildcard, and he'll be the one closest to you."

  I stand up and walk over to Mace. "I think he's looking forward to proving his loyalty to you. I got to know him when I stayed at his place and trained with him. He's a good guy under the harsh surface."

  Mace scoffs and doesn't smile. "I don't like the way it went down. You talk to him at Dragon Lounge, the same night you're getting explosives on your garage and cars running you off the road. Who else told them you were back?"

  I raise one finger to stop him. "It wasn't Helix who spread the news I was back from the island."

  "Who then?"

  "Griffin. My ex."

  "The creep who was looking in your window?"

  "Yep. Right after you attacked him on my porch, he went and called Diablo. I couldn't believe it when I saw it in his phone records. Diablo made a bunch of calls after that. Probably organizing the explosives and the tail on me."

  He props his hands on his hips and cocks one knee. "Your ex is involved with Diablo?"

  "It looks like it. Apparently our fathers weren't only pedaling vitamins, they were dealing drugs. It pisses me off Griffin would betray me like that. Then he went and told Diablo I was looking for Hannah Clark and started this whole kidnapping-bounty nightmare."

  A vein bubbles in his neck. "Where does this Griffin asshole live?" Uh oh. The Volcano is active again.

  "No. Mace." I place my hand on his chest. "We're not going after Griffin. I'm only telling you this so you can trust Helix. He's not the one who betrayed me."

  Mace stares at me and nods. "Fine. First Diablo, then Griffin."

  I have to laugh at him. "They are not on the same magnitude at all. Diablo is a major drug trafficker. Griffin's just a druggie trying to get in good with him. Small fish. We need to focus on Diablo. What did Helix say?"

  He stares over my head for a second as if the change in topic has scrambled his channels.

  "On the phone just now? Where is the dropoff tomorrow?"

  His gaze snaps to mine, and his eyes grow dark and serious. "Right. Okay. Ocean Beach Hotel. Good location. One main road into and out of the area. Water on the north side."

  "Good. We need all the advantages we can get against Diablo. Or Giselle. Whoever we're dealing with here."

  Mace reaches down and hauls me up against his body. "Not losing you. Not now."

  "You won't lose me. And we'll get this cloud out from over our heads."

  "It's not a cloud. It's a bounty."

  "We'll get rid of that too."

  He kisses me and drags me over to the bed. His kisses are desperate and urgent as he lays down on top of me. The mix of adrenaline and fear turbocharges my system. The anxiety rush is like an aphrodisiac. From the rigidness of Mace's body, he's nervous too but also getting off on the thrill. "I'm a bounty hunter now, Mace. You're gonna have to accept that I take risks like this."

  He kisses down my neck. "No."

  "Yes. It's who I am. I wouldn't ask you to change who you are."

  He stills and looks up at me. "Right."

  "So stop fighting it. Let's roll together. Let's be a team. An unstoppable duo."

  He laughs.

  "And with your family at our backs, what could go wrong?"

  He doesn't answer. He continues to ravish me and take me to the edge of ecstasy several times before letting me feel the full force of it.

  After the heat cools, and we're lying in bed together resting, I brace my arm on his chest and trace my fingertips through his hair above his ear. "I have a lot to live for now, Mace." It comes out as a whisper, but he didn't like it when I said I had nothing to lose.
I want him to know I'm going to do everything I can to stay safe and return to this bed with him.

  "Me too." His arm squeezes around my waist, and he smiles down at me.

  Yep, definitely have a lot to live for now. Not letting my future with Mace slip away now that it's actually within my grasp.

  Chapter 19 The Handoff

  Mace

  She's wired with the best and latest technology. Tracking devices in her purse and phone, and a small mic in her bra. He'd have to take off her clothes to find it, and there's no way I'm allowing it to go that far.

  Her confidence is sexy as hell and not unfounded. She's a pro. I trust her. It's Helix and the unknowns that keep pinging my protective instincts and making me want to call this off.

  Too late now. It's go time. I give her one last kiss and put all the things I can't say into it. She sighs and stares up at me with those eyes that always end with her naked. "I won't let anything happen to you."

  She nods. "I know. Remember, if you need it, Sutton has access to the database on Diablo."

  I wrap my hand around her neck and squeeze. "Okay." We don't even know if we're dealing with Diablo, and all the data in the world can't keep her safe, but I'm done fighting her on this. "Stay safe."

  "Will do." I kiss her quickly and pat Helix on the shoulder harder than necessary. They walk out to the entrance of the Ocean Beach hotel while I listen in a rented van. Helix is wired with a hidden body cam but unarmed per their conditions. We're meeting a go-between here, and he'll take us to whoever placed the bounty. My money's on Diablo, but Cutter, who is in another car with Cass at the parking structure exit, thinks Giselle is behind this. She doesn't want to spend the rest of her life in prison, and Loralei is the only one of her victims who survived and is brave enough to talk. We'll find out soon enough.

  Helix grips Lola's upper arm, and she pretends to resist as he forces her to the meeting spot. They approach the grand piano in the lobby of the Ocean Beach Hotel. No one is there yet, so they have to keep up their bickering act.

  "I don't understand what this is all about. Why are we here?" Lola does an awesome petulant child routine.

  "Shut up."

  "Don't tell me to shut up. You brought me here against my will. I should call the cops." She crosses her arms and lifts her chin. She's doing well so far.

  "Quiet."

  About ten minutes into our wait, I'm starting to think our go-between—who said his name was Simon—won't show. I'm about to say something when a man with dark hair approaches them. He's wearing a slick black suit with a white dress shirt, unbuttoned at the top. He casually steps up next to Loralei.

  "Simon?" Helix asks the go-between. It's probably not his real name, but it doesn't matter. He's not the man we're after.

  "Excellent work, Helix." Simon eyes Loralei like a piece of meat, and I want to jump out of the van and pound that look off his face.

  "Pay up." Helix raises his palm turned up.

  Simon puts a hand on Loralei's arm. "The boss said you wait. As soon as I deliver her, he'll transfer the money into your account."

  "How long will that be? I ain't got all night."

  "An hour. The second I drop her off, you get the money. Can you wait sixty minutes?"

  "You'd better not be blowin' smoke."

  "You have my word."

  Helix chuckles, and my gut tightens as the man tows Lola back toward the entrance to the lobby. She keeps up her struggling ruse. Simon stops, pulls a gun, and Lola flinches and whimpers as he stabs it into her back. "Stay put, Helix. Don't follow me."

  Simon makes an unexpected turn toward a side door that leads to the parking structure. He forces her through it. My heart stutters as the door closes, and we lose our visual of Lola. She's alone with him, and we don't have eyes on her.

  "Helix!"

  "On it."

  Helix's camera shows him opening the door and entering the parking structure. No Lola.

  On her feed, we hear her and Simon's steps echo on concrete.

  "Hey! What are you doing?" Lola's voice sounds panicked. "Don't touch me."

  "Checking you for a wire."

  Damn. Damn.

  "Don't take my watch. Hey! That's my purse why did you throw that in the trash? That's my personal property."

  The scuffle intensifies, and she's really fighting now.

  "I can't listen to this," I say to no one in particular, but everyone is listening. We're all on this call and listening to Simon take off her mic and throw out her phone.

  "She's okay, Mace. Trust her," my dad responds.

  The thud from the speaker tells me he found her microphone and tossed it too. The last thing I hear is footsteps walking away and then nothing.

  "No. We can't lose contact." I'm trying to rein it in, but I feel like screaming. "Helix, you got her in your line of sight?"

  "I heard a door close," he says. "I'm heading that direction, but I don't see them."

  "We need to watch the exits and track any cars that leave. Helix, watch the main exit and call out each car that leaves. We have to split up." My family and Wayne are stationed in separate vehicles around the hotel. We weren't supposed to split up, but we have no choice now. We don't know what car she's in.

  Helix's camera shows a car leaving the structure. "Black Mercedes exiting right now."

  "We'll take it," my dad says.

  "White van came out of the delivery entrance," Wayne says. "I'm on it."

  "Sutton…" I'm choking on the panic in my throat. This is chaos. It's falling apart. We've lost her.

  "I'm here, Mace."

  "I'm seeing red. I can't keep track of all these cars."

  "We got it." She sounds calm and in control. "Mila and Foster are following a black Mercedes. Wayne is tracking a white van."

  "We can only track six vehicles, max. What if they're in the seventh?" Shit. I'm losing it like a rookie. I feel like I'm ten years old again trying to pay attention in class, but everything is zipping around in a whirlwind.

  "Helix will check any we can't follow. Blaine and Sequoia are on their way. Remy has his staff on standby if we need them." Sutton's voice reassures me. She's paying attention. She's following all the moving pieces for me and staying one step ahead. Thank God for Sutton.

  "Black Tesla," Helix calls out. "Tinted windows."

  "Cutter and Cass take the Tesla," Sutton replies.

  "Got it." Cutter's voice. Also confident. Good. Cutter is good in situations like this. Unlike me who is bouncing all over the place.

  God. I'm useless to her if I can't focus on something.

  "Black Suburban exiting right now." Helix calls the next car as I see the front bumper pull out of the structure.

  "Mace, you take the black Suburban," Sutton orders.

  "What if…"

  "You need one target. The black Suburban is your target. Don't worry about anything else."

  "Got it." I take off following the Suburban and for a second, my brain cooperates, zooming in on the license plate number and calling it out for Sutton.

  "Good, Mace. Remy, you're next," Sutton says, her voice shaking slightly, but she still sounds under control.

  "Silver minivan coming out next." Helix keeps adding moving pieces to this chase. "Male driver. I stopped him, but couldn't see in the back of the van. Got a sketchy vibe from him, but no Simon. Worth a follow." He calls out the license number.

  "I'm on the silver minivan," Remy replies.

  Who's next? What's next? Fuck. My brain is all over the place. Where the hell is she?

  "Helix, Blaine and Sequoia should be entering the parking structure right now."

  "I see them."

  Okay. I give up trying to follow what everyone else is doing. I'm on the Suburban. I trust my family to do their part.

  "How long has it been since we've heard from her?" I ask Sutton.

  "Fifteen minutes. My guess is they've left the structure already. They wouldn't sit in their vehicle knowing she was wired. They probably hit the
road, especially if they're supposed to hand her off within an hour."

  "Shit." The thought of Lola getting handed off to anyone without me there to protect her… "Fuck."

  "Mace. You gotta keep it together. You're on the black Suburban. She could be in there. Everyone update your location."

  My dad, Cutter, Remy, and Wayne call out their status, but I have to stay focused on my goal. "The black Suburban is heading up into Glen Canyon."

  "It's not the Tesla." Cutter makes the call.

  "Cutter and Cass, pull back and head out to meet Mace in Glen Canyon." Sutton is still in control and I'm still focused on my one target.

  "No other cars have left the structure," Helix says. "We cased every inch. No one else in here right now."

  "Position yourselves at each exit and be prepared to follow in a car." Sutton is doing a great job. Thank God for her skills because I couldn't do this alone.

  Wayne eliminates the white van, and Remy gives another update.

  The road forks, and I can't see the Suburban. I guess and turn right, but there's no sign of them. "I lost the Suburban. Fuck. This is so fucked up." I bang my fist on the steering wheel. I lost the one car I was supposed to follow. "If she gets hurt because of me… "

  "We got 'em covered, Mace. We got 'em," Cutter says.

  "We're spread all over the Bay Area and I just lost my target!"

  "Where are you?" Sutton asks.

  "O'Shaughnessy Boulevard. Glen Canyon."

  Deep in my brain, I hear Lola's reminder about her data. "Sutton, check Loralei's intel for a residence in Glen Canyon associated with Diablo."

  "Good idea. Stand by." Several tense moments pass. "Yes! Diablo ordered flowers delivered to a home in Glen Canyon. 1211 Congo Street."

  "Got it." I program it into my GPS and make the turn. "I see the Suburban. Sutton, I love you."

  "I love you too! Awesome."

  Remy chimes in. "Not the silver minivan."

  Sutton's voice ramps up when she replies. "Remy, get over to Glen Canyon ASAP. We're getting closer. I can feel it."

  "It's not the Merc." My dad's voice confirms what I thought.

  The Suburban pulls into the driveway of a house overlooking a steep canyon. It stops next to two other cars. "They're in the garage of the address Sutton gave us." Simon gets out of the driver's seat and walks around to open the passenger door. "There she is. Loralei just got out. She's fine. Not hurt. Hands not tied." I can't hide the relief in my voice. No more looking. We found her. "Simon is still with her." I can't tell if she still has a gun at her back. The garage closes, and I lose sight of them.