Page 72 of Duplicity

“We heard shots outside the van. I jumped into the front seat, and they shot at us while I drove up here as fast as I could.”

“Good decision.” Jasper nodded.

It wasn’t as though she’d actually been thinking, though. She’d been blind to any semblance of logic or working out a good plan. Panic. Instinct. Thankfully, her training had kicked in, and she’d headed for backup. It had been that or she’d have driven all the way back to Benson.

No contest.

“They grabbed him and took him. At least, that’s what I think I heard.” She fought to retrieve the memories. “It must have been North’s men, right? They need him to do something?”

If they didn’t need Simon alive, they would probably have killed him here, moments ago.

Now she really was going to throw up.

Jasper glanced at Peter. “Surveillance on this place.”

Peter nodded. “I’ll find out if the cameras were on outside. Everything else was off, but something might have been missed. Maybe we can get a shot of the car.”

Cat pressed her lips together to keep from mentioning how that was a serious long shot.

Peter turned and jogged for the front door of the spa. Jasper taped down the bandage and said, “That’ll hold it for now.”

He took a step away and Romeo took his place. “We’ll get you a ride. I want you to go to Mom and Dad’s place. Stay there, stay safe, and I’ll call as soon as we find Simon.”

Cat frowned. Stay there? Be safe and pretend Simon wasn’t scared for his life somewhere. That he wasn’t back in his nightmare. Romeo wanted her to sit on her hands and let him find the manshecared about. When he was free and all right—because she was the one who was going to find him—she would think about how she really felt. The fact that Simon Olson was a man she could love.

A man she might want to spend the rest of her life with.

“Don’t argue with me, Cat.” Romeo stepped back. “I’m going to help Peter. He and I have got this.” He slapped a hand on his chest. “Let us take care of it.”

He strode away.

Jasper had done the same, talking to the blonde. Her friend was dead—Cat could see it on her face.

No way could Cat convince her brother to let her help him and Peter. They didn’t want her to get hurt, thus trying to convince them to include her would be a waste of time and energy that she could put toward helping Simon instead. No point arguing when her brother was as stubborn as her. They wouldn’t let her help? She would just work the problem herself.

She got up, turned, and looked into the van.

There could be something in the stuff here that would indicate how to find him. Or a message he’d left. No, that was unlikely. But would he be able to reach out?

Would he have access to the communication network he’d built wherever they took him? Maybe if she somehow got one of the phones he’d been tracking, she could connect with him.

Another unlikely scenario.

But she had to try something, and right now, anything was worth it if it could be the thing that got him back.

I need a way, Lord. Help me to figure this out.

But in the end, she had to make peace with losing him. She had to accept that God was still good even if she never got Simon back. If he was lost forever from his family. She had barely begun a relationship with him, and yet, she would grieve deeply. She couldn’t imagine how Simon’s twin and his sister, plus the rest of their family, were going to feel the depth of their loss.

A tall woman with short, cropped hair and FBI on her vest strode out of the front doors. Earpiece in. Gun in a holster on her belt. But it wasn’t the woman who caught Cat’s eye, it was the young man who walked in front of her.

She started toward them.

A helicopter buzzed over the spa’s main building. Life Flight. They landed behind the building, which had to either be an open space big enough to accommodate them or an actual helicopter landing pad. Not that surprising, considering the spa catered to that kind of clientele.

Justice Spears spotted her coming, and his face twisted into a sneer.

“Sorry that we ruined your birthday party.”

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