Bradley set the mug of tea on the table in front of Alexis. She sat, braiding her hair, her gaze out the window. Her thoughts a mile away. The big padded chair in the FBI conference room dwarfed her frame, making her look younger. As did the braids. That, and the shell-shocked look on her face didn’t make him feel better.
“Lex?”
She winced and looked at him, then at the tea. She dropped the braid. He pulled a chair close to her while she blew on the tea and took a sip. “Thanks.”
“It’s nothing.” He wished it was more.
After seeing her frightened panic, and Lincoln’s arm across her throat, he still hadn’t relaxed. He wanted to rage. Or punch something. He’d known what it felt like to be helpless before. Bradley didn’t like it one bit.
“I’m trying not to be freaked out by you, but you’re not making it easy.”
Bradley leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Sorry.” He needed to bleed off this anxiety and relax.
She shook her head. “You don’t need to apologize. It’s not your fault. I’m on edge as much as you are.”
He took her hand and said, “Want to tell me about you and Lincoln?”
“Not really.”
“Humor me.” Because there had to be some kind of connection. Between their friendship and the fact Rachel had been kidnapped. “What’s with you and my cousin?”
“You mean, what was with me and him.” She sighed, and he knew he didn’t need to respond to that. Just a symptom of the shock. Alexis had to state some things out loud, just to force her brain past that thought and onto the next one.
“I keep seeing him lying there.” She winced, shook her head. “I don’t even think he liked me, not really. I thought we were friends, but that was before he tried to…” Her voice trailed off.
Bradley stilled. “He tried to what?”
Alexis continued, not answering his question. “There was always something…off about him, but he was nice to me. He stayed my friend, even after everything came out… He was nice to me.”
Now wasn’t the time to ask her about that. He needed her to talk this out. To get past the fear.
“Yesterday he got pushy. Like he thought we should be…involved.” She glanced up and saw whatever was on his face. Probably nothing good. “I turned him down. He didn’t take it well. Then today, he kept saying all this was my fault. Like I’m the reason Rachel was kidnapped, and I was going to have to fix things. But what do I have to do with the money?”
Bradley shook his head. His parents had loved Alexis, but it wasn’t like they’d put her in their will. If anything happened to both Bradley and Rachel, the money went to a charity. “Lincoln might’ve wanted the money for himself.”
“Or his father does. I always thought it was odd that he didn’t just keep the old man out of his life, but I guess some abused kids stick with what they know.”
“Uncle Francis was horrible to him.”
Alexis nodded. “He told me some stories, and I wondered if it didn’t mess him up. But why go after the money? Did he, or they, really want it for themselves?”
“Could be they felt slighted when the will was read. Figured they deserved some of it.” But that meant Lincoln had been working with his father to get the twins’ inheritance.
“And to take Rachel just to get their hands on it?” Alexis frowned.
Why did that seem so cute to him? He wanted to kiss the crinkle between her eyebrows. He said, “The FBI are finding Uncle Francis. They’re unpacking Lincoln’s life so they can figure out to what extent he’s involved.”
“Like, if he’s the mastermind, or just working on someone else’s orders?”
Bradley nodded.
“What about you? Did they send you in here to find out if I’m involved as well?” She straightened in the chair. Bracing for a blow she thought was coming.
“I know you’re not.”
“Walker doesn’t seem convinced. He glared at me the whole way here in the car.”
“Lex, he’s pissed someone got killed before he can get answers. He’s determined to get to the bottom of this, even if it’s just so he doesn’t break his professional streak at finding kidnap victims.”
“He seemed pretty determined to prove I was involved. He’s probably looking for a link between Lincoln and me.”
“Is there one?”
“We’re friends. Texts. Phone calls. Emails. We’re connected like that.”
“When you were explaining there was a friend over during the time the ransom video was sent, you mentioned texts. The FBI didn’t find anything but bland conversation with an unregistered phone.”
“So Walker thinks I’m communicating in code with the kidnappers, that being Lincoln?” She glanced at the window. “Too bad he’s dead, so Walker can’t get it from the horse’s mouth that when I said, ‘I’ll see you soon’ that I actually meant I’ll see you soon.”
“I know you’re worried.” Though, she didn’t look worried. She looked more scared.
“But the truth will come out.”
“Before or after the kidnappers find out Lincoln is dead and cut their losses? Shoot Rachel and move on to a less complicated target.”
Bradley said, “I can’t think about that. I’m barely holding myself together as it is. When I saw you on that screen and Lincoln slapped you I just… I lost it.” He’d already told her they’d shown up because of the FBI surveillance. She hadn’t taken it well.
And didn’t do more than press her lips together now. “I’m sorry. You don’t need my drama when you’re worried about Rachel.”
“That’s not it. I’m worried, but you’re here and I can help you. Or try, at least.”
“That was what I wanted to do for Rachel. Be there.”
He sat back in his chair. “You wanted him to take you?”
She shrugged. “For a minute there I figured it would be better than sitting here doing nothing. Or getting accused of being involved.”
“When Walker asked you who was at your house, why didn’t you give him Lincoln’s name?” It came out a little shorter in tone than he’d have liked. “Trying to protect him?”
“At the time, yes. I didn’t want someone I considered a friend being subjected to the same treatment I was. Do I wish I hadn’t? Yeah. If it meant Rachel would have been found already.”
The tears in her eyes were enough to wear him down. “You didn’t know. He kept it from you, so how could you?”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“But not this.”
There was more she wasn’t saying. He could see it in her eyes. “You can tell me anything, Lex. I want you to know that I’ll never think less of you no matter what.”
“Don’t say that.”
He read the truth on her face. She didn’t want him to make it easier for her to say it. She wanted to keep her own confidence. Keep those walls between them, so she didn’t have to brave the vulnerability of letting him in. Bradley had known her long enough he could see all that in her eyes as well.
“I really thought Lincoln was my friend.”
He didn’t tell her that he’d have set her straight, had she told him. He knew things about his cousin that would send her running.
“How am I supposed to trust anyone?”
“Even me?”
“You know what I mean,” she said. “I’m going to doubt my judgment and always wonder if I’m being duped. Again.”
He knew this was, at least in part, about her distracting him from the conversation they’d been having. But she didn’t say anything without a reason. She really was worried.
He scooted his chair closer to her. “You can trust me, Lex. I promise you that I’m never going to do anything that will cause you to regret believing in me. And I’ll never take your trust for granted.”
He was going to protect her. He figured she thought she was protecting him—even if she was doing it by keeping her secrets. She was determined to keep hold of the one thing she still had left. The shreds of her honor. Alexis would never do anything but safeguard the people she loved. And she was about to get a healthy dose of what it meant for him to do the same for her.
He lifted halfway out of his chair and kissed her forehead again. “I’ll be back.”
When, he didn’t know. But it was a promise he was going to keep. Alexis could be sure of that.
So long as she was here with the FBI, she was safe.
Bradley was going to get his sister back.
God, help this to work.
He nodded to an agent who noticed him walk toward the hallway. When the guy looked away, Bradley ducked into the stairwell. Two minutes later he strode out into the underground parking lot where he’d left his truck hours ago.
The FBI was going to know he’d left, but he didn’t have time to worry about that. He had to do this—preferably faster than they could scramble to catch up to him.
They were likely also monitoring his cell phone, which he’d managed to retrieve from one of the agents who’d been on his security detail. He would get in trouble for this. But if it worked, he wasn’t going to complain when they slapped him on the wrist. Alexis was safe, and he was going to make it so Rachel was as well.
Bradley pulled past the barrier. The guard station. Onto the street, where he headed south. He connected his phone to the truck’s Bluetooth and called the number that had been communicating with Alexis. Lincoln’s phone, the one the FBI had never found. Would it even be turned on? If they thought they could be tracked through it now, it might have been tossed.
The call rang through to a voicemail account for that number, a generic message. When the tone sounded, he gripped the wheel and said, “I want my sister. You want the money. It’s time to end the games and just make the trade. We all get what we want, everyone walks away happy, and no one else gets hurt.”
He was letting his vulnerability show. They’d know he had a weakness—the people he loved getting hurt—but Bradley was past caring. This needed to be done. Now.
“Pick the place and time, and I’m there.”
Bradley ended the call and tossed the phone in the cup holder. He navigated D.C. traffic, weaving between lanes and making random turns. As soon as they contacted him—if they did—he would toss the phone out the window.
If the FBI caught up with him before then, so be it. He wasn’t going to apologize for what he’d done. He was a SEAL, and SEALs didn’t sit back while someone else took care of the people in their lives. They were front line. Battle-ready. This was a gamble, but if it really had been Lincoln and his father—Bradley’s uncle—behind this, then it was a family issue.
And family was what it would take to resolve it.
The FBI didn’t care about his sister the way he did. They only cared that it would be high-profile if they lost a kidnapped senator. They’d kept the whole thing under wraps so far. He was marginally impressed at the way they’d locked the whole situation up tight. No one even knew there were dead Secret Service agents and a missing civil servant.
Bradley needed someone at his back, though. So he made the call.
“Preston.”
“It’s Bradley. I got a problem.”
“Your sister has been kidnapped, and you’re headed to trade the money for her freedom.”
Bradley’s foot slipped off the gas. “How did you know that?”
“We’ve been working this since the 9-1-1 call went out from her house.”
Relief washed over him. “I called you that night.”
“I know. I had a team member get injured on an op and I was at the hospital most of the night. But I put a couple of the guys on it straight away.”
Bradley said, “I could really use some backup on this.”
“Two cars behind you. A red BMW.”
“That’s you?”
“One of my guys. Quartz.” Steve said, “I realize now I should have put a man on the former assistant. That was my bad. We honestly didn’t know there was a connection between you. Quartz said when she almost got shot…” He went quiet for a second. “Well, let’s say we’re now devoting resources to maintain her continued safety.”
“I appreciate that.” His insides were still chilled at the idea of Alexis getting hurt.
“Tell me when and where the meet is, and I’m there,” Steve said. “Quartz will provide cover.”
“Will do. Then I’m going dark. I have to keep the feds from barging in.”
“Copy that.”
“Thank you.” Bradley swallowed down the rush of emotion.
“Anytime. You know that, right? No matter what you decide about the job, Double Down is here for you.”
Bradley scrubbed his hand down his face. “I really appreciate that.” He hung up and kept driving, not wanting to think on the tremble in his voice when he’d said that. Just the fact his friend was already pitching in meant a whole swath of the stress was gone now. He had backup.
He didn’t get far before a text came through.
Gravelly point. One hour. No feds.
Bradley looked for the red BMW, but didn’t see it. It was still there, though, he was sure. This Quartz person was just good at surveillance. He forwarded the message to Steve and got a reply back straight away.
I’ll be there.
Bradley tossed the phone out a window, drove a mile down the street and pulled into a parking lot. He sat and thanked God for his friend being able to take his back on this. There was no way he wanted to face the kidnappers alone. Whether it was his uncle or not, he wasn’t looking forward to the showdown this was going to be. And yes, he could have the FBI with him, regardless of what the message said. But they would want to take over. To run the operation and leave him with no say as to how it went down.
Bradley had planned missions. They might be professionals, but so was he, and he’d rescued kidnap victims the world over. This was what he did. And the fact this was looking like a family issue made him all the more sure he should be the one to face these guys down.
God, am I just trying to convince myself this is the right move? Truth was, even with all he’d seen and done he didn’t think he’d ever been this scared in his life. Rachel could die. She could be dead already for all he knew.
The money. He couldn’t say he didn’t care at all about it. Truth was, those dollars were a part of his parents he wanted to share in. He could start his own business, or do some other good with it. If he didn’t give it away to criminals.
But it wasn’t worth more than Rachel’s life.
He pulled into the parking lot at Gravelly Point just as an airplane flew overhead, landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. So low, the roar eclipsed everything and the truck windows shook. His life seemed out of control like that. Careening to whatever end this situation was going to have. Hopefully it would be nothing but a safe landing, not a fiery crash that involved the loss of life.
God, help me get Rachel back safely.
Steve parked beside him a couple of minutes later. Dressed much the same as when they’d walked through Steve’s offices the day Rachel had been kidnapped. Bradley met him with a handshake.
Steve opened the trunk of his car and handed him a bullet-proof vest. Bradley looked at it, then at his friend. “Humor me.”
“Fine.” He put it on. “Thanks, I guess.”
“We’ll get her back. Without you getting hurt, yeah?” The intensity in Steve’s eyes was one Bradley remembered well.
“One question.”
“Shoot,” Steve said.
“How’d you know a 9-1-1 call went out from Rachel’s house?”
Steve’s brow furrowed. “We monitor several properties. Relatives. Friends and family we want to make sure are safe.”
“Who is she to you?”
Steve glanced aside. “Not nearly what I want her to be.” He looked back at Bradley. “But that’s her call.”
Steve was the potential relationship in Rachel’s life?
“When I got out of the hospital and caught up, feds were already crawling over the whole situation.” He eyed Bradley. “The former assistant. That the girl you told me about?” The one in the video. Not said, but implied.
Bradley nodded.
Steve shook his head, then slapped Bradley on the shoulder. The back of his hand was covered with leathery scars. “Slow playing it. Overthinking everything, just like always.”
“Unlike you?”
Steve’s gaze sobered. “I’m thinking the tide may’ve just turned on that.”
Bradley didn’t have time to ask what on earth that meant. A black van pulled into the parking lot.
“That them?”
Bradley checked the weapon he’d stashed in the back of his belt. “Guess we’ll find out.”