Page 85 of Break

“We could send her home. Draw him out.” Both Vincent and I glare at Harrow and his idiotic idea of using Mina as bait.

“Absolutely fuckingnot. You guys are not going to set her up as bait. You’d literally be leading her into the lion’s den.” Looking at Coop, I laser in on him so he sees how fucking serious I am. “I will not allow that to happen.”

Tossing a pen at the table, Vincent leans back and crosses his arms. “Agreed.”

Cooper holds up his hands in surrender. “So, we don’t use Mina as bait. But we still need to figure out how to catch him.”

Harrow speaks up. I really want to tell him to shut the fuck up after his ridiculous suggestion, but I bite my tongue. “What if we use a decoy? Someone who looks like Mina to draw him out?”

Vincent jerks in his seat, sitting up straighter. “I used to work with a woman at my last job who could pull it off. She’s thin, young, has dark hair. Her build is about right. Their faces aren’t too similar, but I bet she can pass for her from a distance.”

I’m not in love with the idea of sending anyone alone into that home with him, but honestly, if it’s not Mina, I can accept it.

“Give me the info and I’ll reach out to her captain and see if we can pull her in. Aside from this newest piece of garbage,” Cooper says, waving his copy of Danny’s letter in the air. “Is there anything else to go over?”

“What happened with Olson?” I ask, sneering his name. Bryce Olson should be jailed for feeding information to Danny. He helped keep Mina in an awful situation for far too long.

Tugging at his chin, Coop leans back. “He’s gone. I can’t really share more than that because of privacy issues, but he’s a non-issue.”

Narrowing my eyes at him, I grit out, “But he’s not a cop anymore, correct?”

Leveling his stare at me, he tells me all I need to know with fire behind his eyes. “Correct.”

“Thank fuck,” Ethan mutters.

“How’s she been doing?” Cooper asks, looking at Vince.

“Besides this setback, she seems to be adjusting well.” Vincent looks at me, asking if I’d agree with that.

“She is,” I tell them. “There’s also the hiccup with her divorce proceedings that she’s finding discouraging. Honestly though, there’s nothing we can do about it right now.”

“What hiccup?” Coop asks me.

“Well, she’s filed papersandcharges against him, but since we can’t find him, they are undeliverable. He has no idea that she’s divorcing him. I’m sure that’s not going to go over well once he finds out,” I share that last as an afterthought.

Harrow scoffs. “Yeah, he’s going to fly off the handle.” Leaning on the table, he clasps his hands and studies both me and Vincent. “Look, it’s clear you all care about her, more than just a client if I’m not mistaken.” I want to respond, but he holds up his hand to stop me.

“I’m not saying anything negative, just making an observation. You all clearly care, but I’m going to throw this out, anyway. What if we inform his parents that the courts are looking for him to serve papers? Send someone new who wouldn’t know that we’ve already questioned them about his location. Let it slip that she’s filed for divorce. Obviously, they’ve been in contact with him. This could be a way to throw him off and draw him out prior to when he plans for Mina to arrive back home.”

It’s evident Cooper likes this idea, but he waits for a response from either Vincent or me before saying anything.

Vincent and I wordlessly debate this, and I know it’s not a bad idea. Vince shrugs when he sees my acquiescence. “We need to do something besides sitting and waiting. We’re already sticking to her like flies on shit. Poor girl can barely go to the bathroom without one of us following her.”

Cooper throws in a bonus to get a verbal agreement from me. “I’ll double the patrol we have watching your place and put someone on her out of uniform if you all leave. You just have to give me a heads up.”

Sighing, I let my head fall back and stare at the ceiling. “I fucking hate it, but it’s not a terrible plan. Give it a day. Send them over to his house first, like they’re looking for him, just in case he’s watching the house already. Then over to his parents’ home. Make it look like they’re trying all their options.”

Cooper nods, happy that I’ve conceded. “I’ll get something worked out. If there’s nothing else, why don’t you all grab her and head on out?”

Thank God. I’m eager to see her and ensure that she’s not spiraling. I suspect she’s holding it together as best she can. She’s a lot tougher than I previously gave her credit for. So, when Vincent and I walk into the room where Ethan and Mina are waiting for us, my chest starts to pound, seeing her curled up on his lap, sobbing into his chest.

He’s leaning his face against the crown of her head, shushing her and mumbling incoherent words in an attempt to soothe her.

“Christ, sweetheart,” Vincent chokes out, then circles around the table to squat down and look at her face, brushing her hair back. “Mina. You’re killing me here.” He looks up at Ethan, pleading with him to explain how she got to this point.

Ethan answers him, speaking softly to prevent disturbing her. “Just all hit her at once, I think. She wasn’t really talking for a bit, then just sort of dissolved into this.” He looks at me with concern. “I didn’t know what else to do, so I just picked her up.”

“Mina, honey? Can I get you anything?” I ask her and am relieved when she answers me, shaking her head no.

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