Page 154 of Heartless Legacy

Like they did me, burying her identity so deep to keep her under their control or to sell her off to someone else. Malcolm took me. He could’ve taken her too.

Holden says, “Once I get the patient records, I’ll dig into the families’ names that are sponsoring them.”

Finn asks, “What are you over there plotting, Pet?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“That’s right. No plotting is happening.” That’s because I already have a plan.

Chapter 90

Deacon

Iwalk into the middle of a war zone. Judging by the look on Kendall’s face, Thea was the one who set off the bomb. She’s got that look on her face that says she’s threatening him to come at her so she can put him on his ass. She’s been wearing that look more and more. I’m happy to see it’s return, but I can’t bask in it right now, because Kendall’s on edge and it’s hard to rattle him. “What’s happened?”

“My mother’s alive.” Thea says as her right hand inches towards the small of her back. That must be the current location of her knife. Her laptop’s open on the couch, and there are printouts of pictures all over the floor and table. Whatever evidence she has to that fact is likely in that mess.

“Okay, where is she?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out.”

That sets Kendall off again. It didn’t take as long to get to the bottom of the argument as I thought it would, but that doesn’t explain why he’s now threatening to zip tie her and haul her off to the box. This has to be about more than Thea sneaking off.

“You wanna go to Nags Creek?” I say, with a shrug, “I don’t see the problem with that.”

“Tell him, princess.” Kendall snaps. “Tell him how you plan to get information on your mother’s whereabouts.”

“I’m going to use what I’ve got to get close to Wade Bishop, so his daddy notices me. What do you call it? A honey pot?” Thea sticks out her chest and flips her hair to sell it. “It’ll be easy. Wade asked me out before.”

Not exactly the plan I expected to hear. “Okay, someone explain this to me like I’m a two-year-old.”

Thea gestures towards her laptop. “There’s a Rockridge facility in Connecticut. My mother was there after she disappeared.”

“What makes either of you think this place has ties to Bishop or The League?”

She says, “Evan Bishop is the third piece of Malcolm’s evil Trium. I already know the other two were involved in the facility here, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to see if Evan knows anything.”

I pick up the laptop, reading the web address and article about arts and crafts at Rock Mountain Rehab. I spot Hailee Laurent right away under a fake name. “Any proof she’s still there?”

“None.” Kendall grits out. “There’s no record of her after that picture was taken. No discharge paperwork.No chart. Which is why it’s a stupid idea to cozy up to the son of the man who’s best friends with the people who kidnapped and tortured you.”

The yelling starts again. I let it go on for a few more minutes while I click through the website. “This doesn’t say it has any affiliation with Rockridge, so how did you come to that conclusion?”

Thea says, “Holden was messing around with the website and found a link.”

I can’t keep the shock out of my voice when I ask, “You brought him in on this?”

“He brought me in on it. I went to his room to see Finn, and Holden’s attempt to kiss me went sideways when I saw that picture.”

Kendall grimaces. “Holden and Finn? What part of secret agency did you forget today?”

“Relax neanderthal.” She says, rolling her eyes, “I didn’t tell them about you or my plan. I left right after I saw the picture and came here to look into this place myself. I called the tech team to help me get into their files and logistics for some recording devices. I didn’t know they were gonna call you.”

“Three names will always warrant an immediate call to me. You know which names they are?” Kendall holds up his hand and ticks off on his fingers, “Bishop, Cox and Lazarro. It doesn’t matter if it’s a man or woman, I don’t care what age they are, or if it’s just a coincidence that they have the same name. They’re all threats until proven otherwise.”

I understand why Thea wants to get close to the Bishops, but there’s no way she’s had time to come up with a plan outside of using Wade’s supposed attraction to her. I don’t doubt Wade would be happy with the attention, but his father might have put him up to approaching her to begin with.

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