The Revenge by Tijan

“I did.” She sounded so smug. “And don’t worry, I really made sure nothing could be traced back to me.”

I was afraid to ask what else she’d done.

She heard that they were able to trace her and hadn’t liked it, not one bit. But they didn’t realize that the choice was always going to be Bailey.

So, I was waiting.

In the meantime, I pulled my team from Calhoun.

Once we got the signal, I was moving in to grab my twin.

I sat up. “When and where?”

She handed over the paper. “He’s being moved at one tomorrow morning and that’s the address. I looked it up. It’s a house. But from what I hacked, it sounds like they’re only holding him there for the night. Then he’ll be driven to another safe house outside of state lines.”

“Can you track where the second house will be?”

She paused, biting her lip, before she shook her head. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to. I’ve looked at other trips where they’ve moved a high-priority subject, and some messages weren’t relayed over the internet or technology. Coordinates were given to one agent, who then traveled to the house and gave the message face-to-face.”

That meant we had one opportunity. And that also meant they’d be watching.

Her hand fell to my arm. Her thumb stroked over my pulse on the inside of my wrist. “It’ll all work out. We have Chrissy back. You can grab Chase, and then maybe you can find out everything you need. You can move in on your grandfather, finally.”

That was the hope, but I was tired. I was tired to the bone.

“Tell me you wiped everything, because they’re going to come after you.”

She nodded, her teeth sinking into her lip again. “I did. I will.”

No one else was looped in.

“You’ll have to stay back.” I exhaled sharply, bending forward so my forehead was resting on her knee.

Her hand came down on the back of my head and held me there. Her fingers slid through my hair, and she began massaging the back of my scalp.

“It’ll be okay.”

I grabbed her shirt and fisted it. “It’s not. Leaving you behind is never okay.”

“But it’s necessary.”

I lifted my head, knowing she could see how heavy this was weighing on me, but I wasn’t shielding myself from her. Not anymore, not with what I was about to put us both through. “Is it, though? Is there another way?”

“Your brother won’t tell you what you need to know while he’s in custody. You have to take him. You have to know what he knows. He’s the one putting you in this situation.”

I looked at the paper.

I looked at the address.

I looked at the time.

I had thirteen hours.





WITNESSES TO BE CALLED FOR QUINN CALLAS’S DEFENSE TEAM

After weeks, the prosecution has rested their unfair case. Circumstantial evidence is weak, there is a lack of witness testimonies and holes were found in their timeline. The head attorney for Ms. Callas says they have a strong argument to present to the court. They are confident their client will be rightly acquitted.

—Inside Daily Press





FIFTY

Bailey


“Why are we doing this again?” Matt asked, his head inclining over mine as we were weaving in and out of Naveah.

Matt didn’t know what was going down tonight. And we only had a small window to get into place. I was outside the door, almost on Kash’s heels as he left for his top secret mission. My guards were with us. Kash wouldn’t be alarmed if we went to Naveah.

But from Naveah is where we needed to lose the guards.

Yes, yes, I know.

How stupid of me to lose my guards. They’re on us for a reason. Blah, blah, blah.

But I figured I already knew where the bad guys were. Calhoun was somewhere in Greece. Kash told me that, and I doubted he would’ve traveled back in the few days since Kash had pulled his guys from Calhoun. And the other bad guy was Kash’s twin brother. We all knew where he was; that was the whole point of tonight.

So, one night. I was willing to risk it.

Matt just didn’t know any of this.

We were fast coming to the time when I would have to clue him in, but before that, I marched over to Tony, who had a girl gyrating on his lap.

His hands were on her waist and he was leaning back, a lazy smirk on his face, watching her. His eyes trailed to us and I noticed the caution coming over his face.

Be scared of me, buddy. Be very scared of me.

That gave me a warm feeling.

My hands found my hips, and I nodded at the girl. “Get rid of her.”

He frowned, his eyebrows lowering. His hands kneaded the side of her waist. “Why?”

“Do it. Now.” I was not messing around.

He noted it, and nodded, patting her on the bum. “Get lost.”

Such kindness from such an asshat.

She glared at him. “Are you kidding me?”

He wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. “Yeah. Get lost. Team Brainiac makes me soft anyways.”

She harrumphed, flicked us a look, then saw Matt, and a sultry smile came over her face. “Hey there.”

Matt wiggled his eyebrows at her, waving his fingers, too. “Hey there.”

Tony sat up. “Really?”

Matt snapped back to attention. “Right.” He jerked his chin toward the dance area. “How about you go give me a dance out there? I’ll watch from here.”