Page 81 of Savage Escape

Maybe itwasn’ther fault. Maybe she was carrying around the guilt because she knew her father wasn’t.

Caden reeled in shock at this revelation.

Maybe it wasn’t her fault.

Which meant what?

That she wasn’t as bad of a person as she thought she was. Thatmaybeshe deserved happiness. Thatmaybeshe was a person Nathan could want.

It took her a long minute to realize her phone was ringing and even longer to find the capacity to pick it up.

“Hello?” Who even had her number? She’d gotten the phone maybe three or four days ago.

“Caden.” Jackson’s no-nonsense tone was on the other end.

“Jackson,” still reeling from her revelation, she could only sputter, “how’d you get this number?”

“What do you mean? I’ve had this number since day one.”

“I mean, how’d you get it? My phone has been locked since day one.”

“Like it was hard guessing your password. You’re obsessed with him. I guessedNatein two tries.”

“Shut up.” Caden was blushing hard. “What do you want?”

“Nate has been taken.”

“What?” Ice ran through her veins. “What are you talking about—I literally just left. What do you mean, he wastaken?”

“We think he was going after you when he was intercepted and taken. His tracker is on its way to Mexico.”

“Well, shit.”

“Are you coming back or is this it—no more Caden in our lives?”

“Yeah, I’m coming back.”

“Good.” His voice was clipped. “We’re bugging out in a few hours. Be at HQ before then.”

31

CADEN

Mexico was hot, dry, and, so far, aggravating.

Caden hadn’t taken orders in a long time and hadn’t been on a team even longer. Taking orders was not something she was used to doing anymore. So when Jackson told her she was on the distraction team instead of the extraction team, she got annoyed.

“I’d rather be on the extraction team.” She knew this wasn’t how teams worked or how orders worked, but she had to try.

“Too bad you’re on distraction duty.” Jackson wasn’t paying much attention to her but to the layout of the building in the maps before him.

“Distraction duty is too far from the action.” She wanted to get Nate.

“You’ll be a liability—you’re too close to it.” He finally looked up from the maps and scowled at her.

“You are all literally his brothers. How are you not too close to it too?” How was she a liability when they were his brothers? It didn’t make sense.

“That’s why you, me, and Holden are on distraction duty andnotextraction. Maddox is heading up the extraction team. We’llget Nate, but in order to do that we need you on the distraction team and I don’t want any more shit about it.”

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