Page 74 of Unravel You

“The day we had lunch, she mentioned she’d driven several hours to see me.” Iris smiled at the ground. There was a tinge of pride in her voice. Bridget’s attention made her feel important. Bridget handpicked her for a reason.

“Did she mention from where? A freeway? South, north?”

“She mentioned I-16 had been a nightmare that day.”

That narrowed our search for a black sedan. I picked up the phone again and called the head of security. “Anything on the route the car might’ve taken?”

“Not yet. We’re casting a really wide net here.”

“What if you assume the car headed toward I-16? There are hundreds of towns along I-16. She could’ve gone anywhere. But it’s something.”

“Okay, that narrows it down some. I’ll check traffic lights around I-75 south. We might get lucky.”

“Thanks.” The call disconnected, and I let out a breath. It’d come down to luck.

“Am I fired?” Iris’s voice quavered.

She had made a huge mistake, but right now I didn’t have the time nor the headspace to deal with her. I met Mom’s gaze.

She nodded. “I will deal with Iris. In a way, she reacted the way she did because of how I acted toward Valentina when you first got here. This is on me.”

“Iris is her own person. You can’t put this on yourself.”

“Let me worry about her.”

“Okay.” I turned my attention to Iris. “You’re staying in the house until we bring Valentina home. If Bridget reaches out to you again, you come to me immediately. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mr. Cole.” She followed Mom out of the study. No matter how sorry she was, the damage had already been done.

“Now we know it wasn’t Rebecca.” Ana walked to the door, wiping her hands on her dress.

Her ashen face told me she felt guilty about what happened. But she’d been right to help her friend. Valentina was a grown woman. Right or wrong, she’d made a decision based on what she believed to be the correct course of action. I had to respect that. I had to also start trusting that Valentina could handle herself. She wasn’t a fragile flower. She was brave and didn’t expect me to come save her, though that was exactly my plan. I didn’t trust Alex and Bridget would do the right thing after they got their money.

“Now we know.” I offered her a smile. “Thank you for being there for Valentina. I can only imagine how scared she must’ve been for Max.”

“She was. I’m sorry, Derek. If I’d known about Alex, I would’ve tried to come up with a plan B.” Her eyes watered. “Do you think they’ll let Valentina go after you pay them off?”

I sat back on my chair and pinched my nose, but that didn’t keep the tears from coming. Ana stalked around the desk and threw her arms around me in an awkward hug. She sniffled and dropped to her knees in front of me. I wiped my cheek with the back of my hand. “I honestly don’t know. That’s why we need to find her before our time is up. Once they have what they want, who knows where they’ll go next.”

Tyler barged into the library and halted halfway when he saw me with Ana. When he spoke, his tone was soothing and slow. “The FBI agent wants to talk about the strategy for the drop-off. Got a minute?”

“I was just leaving.” Ana rose to her feet. On her way out, she exchanged a meaningful look with him. Yeah, I was losing my shit.

“What do they need? Did Bridget set a meeting place yet?” I asked. After the initial ransom note, Bridget had asked that all negotiations be done through the FBI agent. She knew I wouldn’t be able to keep a cool head after the picture she sent. “I’m getting so tired of her calling the shots.”

“I know. It’s almost over. Did the bank confirm the funds will be available in the morning?”

“Yeah. She’ll have her money first thing.”

“Okay. As soon as the wire goes through, Bridget says she’ll drop Valentina off on I-85 and text the mile marker. Once she’s out of range, I’m sure.”

I squeezed my hands into fists. “Is she fucking joking?”

“I’m afraid not. Don’t worry. Valentina will be safe. We’ll have several police cars ready to scoop her up and an ambulance on standby, just in case.”

My gaze snapped up.Just in case. There was a reason Bridget brought Alex along. To make sure I met her request quickly. He was volatile. She was fucking counting on that. She was also counting on the fact that I knew what Alex was capable of. That asshole made her life a living hell, and still he felt he had some sort of claim on her. His letter showed how little he thought of her and how much he thought he could still control her. He wasn’t wrong. A lump churned in my stomach. I stood and faced the window.

She went to him.

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