Code Name: Aries by Janie Crouch

35

Ian

“It was amazing. It was amazing, right?” Wavy’s voice was high and excited as she slipped out of the black dress she’d been wearing.

She obviously didn’t understand what seeing her standing there in only stockings, garters, bra, panties, and heels did to me, but I forced myself not to throw her on the bed like I wanted. The drooling, on the other hand, I couldn’t stop.

“It was amazing,” I said. “You were amazing.”

She spun around, that huge grin still on her face. “The show sold out. I thought maybe you or François were pulling some strings, but he swore on his mother’s grave that it was all legit.” She pointed at me. “Is that true?”

I held up a hand. “Scout’s honor. I had nothing to do with any sales, except for the four that I bought before the show started.”

I couldn’t believe the price François had charged me, but he swore, again on his mother’s grave, that it was the price he’d been able to get for all of her paintings. At this rate, Wavy very definitely would never have to work as a waitress again.

I walked over to her and hooked an arm around her waist. “When you’re super famous, promise me you’ll still take me out on yachts and have your way with me.”

She wrapped her arms around my neck, her grin turning into something very feminine and beautiful. “I will have my way with you on every yacht and every other possible surface for as long as you’ll have me.”

“That’s going to be a very long time. Quite a lot of surfaces.” I slid my arms down and hooked them under her hips, lifting her so we were face-to-face.

“Oh, I hope so,” she said, bringing her lips against mine.

I carried her toward the bed. “Can I talk you into wearing this all the time around the house?”

She chuckled against my mouth. “Around the house. I like that.”

She was so happy, so relaxed and comfortable. It was all I could do not to let out a curse when my phone chimed. It was Landon, given the ring tone. He wouldn’t be calling unless it was something important.

I lowered Wavy down to the bed, sliding my hand down her thigh. “Hold that thought and that position,” I said with a wink before grabbing my phone from the nightstand.

I called him, not wanting to take time to text. “What’s going on?”

“We need you down here.”

I stiffened. “What happened?”

“We got another video from Erick Huen. He mentions Wavy by name, Ian.”

“Fuck. I’m on my way.”

Wavy was staring at me now, sitting up. She knew something was wrong. “What is it?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it and then be back up when I can.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Is it something Zodiac Tactical–related or is it something related to Mosaic?”

Damn it. I wanted to shelter her from this, didn’t want her to have to carry it, especially tonight. “We received a video from Erick Huen.”

“Then I’m coming with you.” She was already moving off the bed.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“No more secrets, remember? We work this out together.”

I nodded. She was right. Loving her meant loving her enough to let her do the hard things when she needed to, even when I wanted to shelter her from them. “Okay, let’s go.”

We were dressed and down in the office less than ten minutes later. Landon was there as well as Isaac. Sarge was still MIA with Bronwyn. I hadn’t seen him since Callum had traded her to Sarge for talking to Wavy.

Landon nodded at us as we came in the door. “I’ve got Callum on video call. He’s already seen the footage once. I’ve also got the tech team standing by. They’re running everything they can on it.”

“Good.” I led Wavy to a seat at the conference table next to me, then turned back to the screen. “Thanks for being here so late, everyone.”

“Are you sure Wavy should be in here for this?” Callum asked.

“Wavy can speak for herself.” I grabbed her hand. “And if she wants to be here, then yes, she gets to be here. This involves her as much as any of us. More.”

Landon sat back down at the table across from us, next to Isaac. He smiled gently at Wavy. “I don’t disagree, but I want to warn you that it’s pretty brutal. It’s Erick Huen being his asshole worst on it.”

“Totally up to you, Rainbow.” If she wanted to leave, that was understandable. Nobody would judge, and definitely no one would think any less of her.

“I’ll be okay,” she whispered, but her hand trembled in mine.

I nodded at Landon to start the footage. As soon as Erick’s face came on the screen, Wavy went ramrod straight. This was probably the first time she’d seen him since her captivity.

I held a hand up and Landon stopped the footage right away. I leaned over so that only Wavy could hear me. “Hey, not too late to change your mind. You can go upstairs, and we can take this a piece at a time later.

She shook her head. “I’m all right.”

She didn’t look all right, but I nodded at Landon to continue.

Erick was leaning back in an office chair, arms crossed over his thin chest. He looked smug.

“I’m sad that I wasn’t invited to Wavy’s art show,” he said. I wanted to rip his throat out of his body. “I’m glad she’s doing so well. The last time I saw her, she didn’t seem quite as lively. I’ll admit I’ve missed having her around. Maybe you’ll let me borrow her sometime, Ian? I’m sure we could work out some sort of a deal.”

I would torture him slowly before I killed him.

“Come on,” Erick continued. “Mano y mano.”

“Ian,” Wavy whispered. I held out a hand for Landon to stop the footage again. “I remember something. I remember something. I need to draw. Please.”

Isaac rushed out of his chair and grabbed her some paper and a pencil.

“Do you want us to wait?” I asked her.

She shook her head, pencil already racing across the paper. “No, go ahead.”

I watched her for a few more seconds. This didn’t seem like the painting the other night, which had hurt her. Now her expression was almost peaceful. Her hand flew over the paper, but there was no nosebleed.

I nodded at Landon to continue.

“Your woman has such a beautiful scream, Ian. Sometimes I watch the video footage just so I can hear it.”

My hands clenched into fists. That fucking bastard was going to die.

“Of course, you had a nice scream. I have that footage too. Maybe we should run a comparison.”

Everyone was looking at me, but I didn’t give a shit what Erick said about me. It was Wavy I didn’t want upset. But it was like she wasn’t listening to what Erick was saying now.

Good. Let the fucker monologue. I was glad she wasn’t paying him any mind.

“You want to kill me right now, don’t you, Ian? Like you killed Grant. It must be frustrating how I’ve been hiding from you. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be hiding for much longer. I’ll see you soon, Ian. You too, Wavy.”

He waved his fingers, bye-bye, taunting us like the petulant child he was.

She was still drawing as I asked Landon, “Is that it?”

“Yep.”

I would watch it again, but not right now. Not in front of Wavy in case she did decide to pay Erick any attention.

“What was the purpose of this?” I asked no one in particular.

“He’s trying to provoke you is our best guess,” Callum responded.

Landon leaned back in his chair. “Erick has never been terribly stable, boss. He doesn’t like that Wavy had an art show and that you guys are getting back to a normal life. He’s trying to shake things up.”

That sounded right. “Let’s use his own arrogance against him. What can we find out from the video itself?”

“Jenna and the rest of the tech team are checking for ambient noise,” Isaac said. “There was a little bit, but we don’t have anything definitive yet. We’ll see if it matches any island.”

“That’s daylight behind his window,” Callum pointed out. “But I’m not sure that helps us at all.”

“It tells us he made the video before the actual art show unless he sent it from fucking Australia. Why would he wait until nearly midnight to send it?”

“I think he’s still messing with you like Landon said.” Isaac leaned forward in his chair. “He waited until you were settled in for the night, then sent it.”

“Or maybe he had something planned for earlier and it didn’t go the way—”

I stopped midsentence as Wavy touched my arm. “Ian, this place, this is the place. I don’t know why I remembered it now. Something in Erick’s voice. I’ve been here. I’m absolutely positive.”

There was no way anybody could doubt the sincerity in her voice, and there was no sign of any trauma or nosebleeds or pain. Maybe like Rayne had been saying all along, her mind would tell her when it was ready.

And evidently hearing Erick Huen’s voice again was what it had needed to be ready.

The fact that he might be instrumental in his own downfall made this all the more poetic.

I looked at the drawing, then held it up so everyone else could see.

The drawing was exceptionally detailed, and much of the architecture of the building she’d drawn was quite unique.

“That looks like a church,” Landon said.

Everyone else agreed.

“A church building converted into a lab, that could work,” Callum said. “Scan that over, and I’ll get our systems on it as well.”

Wavy stared at the picture.

“This is it?” I asked her again. “You think you were held in this building?”

“I think so. I remember a cold floor and this stone . . . it could definitely be this stone.”

That was enough for me, given that and the other things she’d remembered with Dr. Rayne’s sessions. Sunny, the sound of a bird, perhaps seagulls.

“We need to concentrate on the islands off the California coast,” I said. “You were taken to San Diego in that warehouse, left there to die.” My throat constricted as I said the words, but they were true. “If you were on an island off the coast of San Diego, that would make sense.”

She stared at the picture again. “I’m sorry I’m not more help, but this image, I can’t explain it. I had to draw it. It’s definitely something I know.”

I grabbed her hand. “Your mind was ready to remember. That’s enough for us.” I was glad it hadn’t caused her any pain to come up with it.

Landon had already scanned it and sent it to the tech team. We watched the video again. This time, Wavy flinched as Erick spoke.

“I think I’ll go upstairs,” she finally said as we looked at it once more. “I don’t want to see or hear him anymore.”

“Okay, I’ll come with you.”

She shook her head. “No, you need to stay down here. I’ll be fine. You know how secure this building is.”

I stood up anyway. “There’s absolutely no way in hell I’m allowing you to go upstairs by yourself. You’re not going anywhere by yourself.”

She smiled, relief evident.

I cupped her cheeks as we stopped by the door. “Hey, this total honesty thing goes both ways. If you’re feeling nervous, even if it seems like you shouldn’t be, you tell me. That’s how it works. We don’t keep things from each other.”

“You’re right.” She leaned her forehead against mine. “I’m sorry.”

“Come on, let’s get you up to bed. Try not to let this thing ruin your big night.” As soon as I said it, I knew that was true. “That’s probably what Erick was trying to do. Steal your night. Don’t let him, Rainbow.”

She straightened in front of me. “I’m not going to let him take anything else of mine.”

“That’s my girl.” I kissed her. I didn’t care if anyone else was around. Then I wrapped an arm around her and led her toward the elevator.

“Holy shit!” Landon yelled and we both stopped. “Tech team has a match, like a goddamn literal match for what Wavy drew. You’re right. It’s a private island off the coast of San Diego.”

She looked at me, eyes wide. I cupped her cheeks and kissed her again. “Looks like you just turned Erick’s plan against him.”