Page 57 of Guarded from Treachery

He lifts his chin. “That’s fine. We’ll need you to bypass the security there. I’m thinking I can go, and?—”

“I can go,” Erik volunteers. “Not that I think there will be any explosives there, but just in case…”

“Good idea,” Dante agrees. Since Erik is our resident HAZMAT expert, itwouldbe helpful to have him there. While it doesn’t seem likely that we’ll come across anything of that nature, one thing my years in the Army has taught me is always be prepared for the unexpected.

“Okay.” Dante glances around the table. “So it’ll be me, Erik, and Matt. Rhi will stay here. If we leave here at five, it’ll put us in Dallas past dark. Half an hour recon, then we go in. It works out in our favor that the estate is on the market, so there shouldn’t be anyone around.”

Once we all nod our agreement, Leo clears his throat. “There’s something else. It’s not directly related to the findings on Remington, but it’s something to take into consideration.”

Dante turns to the screen. “What is it?”

“I have a web crawler set up,” Leo replies. “It’s supposed to look for similar characteristics to Isla’s case—pregnant women in their twenties and thirties who’ve reported being followed or nearly abducted. At first I kept the search small, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Then all of Texas. A few days ago, I expanded the search to the entire country.”

My stomach twists into a knot. “And?”

“Yesterday, I found two women who fit the description. One in New Orleans, another in Oklahoma City. Both were pregnant and had made police reports claiming they were being followed.” He stops. An ominous silence follows.

“The woman in New Orleans disappeared,” he finally continues. “And the one in Oklahoma City died in a house fire. She was only identifiable by dental records. Investigators found evidence that it was arson.”

Every muscle in my body tenses. “Shit.”

“It might be unrelated,” Leo adds. “But I thought it was something to look into.”

“It is,” Dante replies. His expression is grimmer than ever. His gaze shifts to me, his eyes dark with understanding. “It won’t happen to Isla. We won’t let it.”

It’s all I can do to stay in my seat instead of leaping up and sprinting to Isla’s apartment and spiriting her away to a deserted island where no one can hurt her. Through a gritted jaw, I reply, “We damn well won’t.”

“So it lookslike there’s only one heat signature on the property.”

As Erik joins us in the cluster of trees we’re gathered in, he tucks the thermal camera back into his pocket. “I ran the perimeter of the property,” he adds, not the slightest bit winded after his ten-minute run. “There’s one person in the gatehouse at the main entrance, but that’s it.”

Dante jerks his chin in approval. “Good. So this should be a simple in and out.” He glances at me. “And the security is all set?”

“All set,” I confirm with a final look at my phone. “All the alarms are deactivated, though they’ll still report as being on. And I hacked into the security cameras, so they’re all playing on a loop. If anyone looks at them, they’ll just see footage from an hour ago.”

“Nice.” Erik claps my shoulder. “I don’t know how you do it. But I’m always impressed.”

“It’s nothing.” My watch vibrates, and a little text appears on the screen. Isla’s name pops up alongside a short message.

Don’t worry about texting me back. Just be careful. Please.

I told Isla we were investigating a lead and I know she’s worried about my safety. Which isn’t necessary; breaking into an abandoned estate is one of the least risky things I’ve done, but it’s still nice to hear.

Quickly, I scribble a response.

I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’ll be home soon.

Then I look up from my watch to find Dante and Erik both looking at me with shit-eating grins. “What?”

Dante’s lips twitch. “Nothing.” Pausing, he pats my arm. “We’ll figure this out, Matt. And she’s safe. That’s the most important thing.”

“I know.” Emotion creeps in, but I lock it down. This isn’t the time. Now is for focus and strategy and finding out what, if anything, happened here. My jaw sets. “Let’s do this.”

Dante nods. “I’ll take the main house. Matt, you check the guest house. Erik, you’ll be lookout.”

“Got it.” Erik pulls his hood over his head. In the dark, with black paint on his face, he looks more shadow than person.

Dante and I follow suit, so we’re just a small huddle of unidentifiable figures in the night. “Alright,” Dante, adds in an undertone, “On my count, we head out. You know the drill. Any evidence, make sure it’s recorded. Or take it, if necessary.”

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