Page 48 of Cautious

He said wedding. I kept pretending he was trying to scare me. I’d convinced myself that Blake would find me before anything too nefarious happened. I’ve had to live this nightmare in a state of denial because if I let the truth sink in, my fear would paralyze me. Then I’d be useless.

But staring down at the white lace fabric of the wedding dress in my hands makes it impossible to hide from the truth any longer. All those moments of my life when I was so desperately unhappy or scared, I comforted myself with the knowledge that things couldn’t get any worse. I always managed to find the silver lining.

Until now. Because I’m not sure things can get much worse than this. Only, deep down I know that’s not true. The elephant in the room is sitting on my chest making it hard to breathe. There are worse things than being forced to marry a madman.

Things like surviving the wedding night with a lunatic who’ll love nothing more than to make me bleed for his amusement.

Blake

“Sir?”

I turn automatically at the title, realizing belatedly that it’s one of the SWAT members calling Tate.

I don’t know why they’re still here. There is nothing they can do in any official capacity, but Tate and his guys decided to stay even after the FBI agents bailed. The black and whites left fifteen minutes ago, following behind the prisoners that were en route to the hospital. I’m sure I’ll hear back from the FBI duo when they realize the prisoners had to have bullets pulled from them, but I trust Tate when he says he has it covered.

“What is it, Gunner?” Tate asks, looking up from the map he’s studying.

“Soon as we found out a false flight plan had been filed, I put out word to a few friends,” Gunner answers.

“And?” Tate says distractedly.

“And one of those friends just called, telling me that a plane matching the description has landed at a private airstrip outside of Vegas.” We all freeze and look at him for a moment before jumping to attention.

“Vegas? Fuck, I know what he’s planning.” Even though I’m relieved as fuck he hasn’t taken her out of the country, I’m pissed off as hell that I know exactly why he’s landed there.

“We need a chopper now,” I bark at Arlo, who picks up his phone. I know he’ll be calling Jackson. The guy owes us a favor. If he lets me use one of his choppers, we’ll be even.

“Shit. By the time we get there, it will be too late.” I grip my hair before kicking the side of the truck.

“What’s his play here? Why risk Vegas when he could be out of the country by now?” Tate questions.

“He wants her for a wife. He doesn’t give a shit that she doesn’t want him. I suspect he’ll be heading to one of the chapels, although fuck knows how he’s planning on getting her to agree. My woman is as stubborn as the day is long. If she’s smart, she’ll create a scene as soon as she’s in a crowded place.”

But as I say it, I know she won’t put others at risk, not even for her own safety.

“He could have something over her, something he’s using as a way of forcing her compliance,” Marcus adds.

“Her mother! Where the fuck is Callie’s actual mother? If Christian has her, he could easily make Callie bend to his orders. It won’t matter what kind of state their relationship is in. She won’t just stand by and let him hurt her if she can do something to stop it,” Kellen shouts, drawing all our attention.

I close my eyes in frustration. I should have fucking thought of that myself.

“O’Neil, Mathews, do me a favor and go see what you can find out about the mother. Take Kellen with you and call when you have something,” Tate tells two of his men.

Kellen looks at me for the okay, and when I nod, he leaves with the others.

“Vegas is not my jurisdiction. They have their own SWAT teams. Though we have been called in before as consultantswhile they set up the same kind of thing we have here for some of the rural areas. I have friends down there, but I can’t come in any official capacity unless invited.” He runs his hands through his hair, frustrated. “Fuck,” Tate grumbles, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“What?” I ask, worried he’s just thought of something else I’ve missed.

“You’re right about not getting there in time, but I know someone who could be. It means owing them a favor though.” He curses, punching the buttons and holding the phone to his ear.

“Hey, Raindrop, I need a favor.” I can’t hear what the person on the other end is saying but whatever it is has Tate rolling his eyes.

“Well, if you take a breath and give me a chance to speak, I’ll be able to tell you.” He pulls the phone away from his ear, and I catch the tail end of a woman calling him a dickless asshat before he shuts her up.

“A woman is in trouble, Reign, and we can’t get to her in time. Do you remember a guy named Baylor from back home?” He waits for a beat before continuing. “Yeah, well, we have reason to believe he’s kidnapped a woman and taken her to Vegas. I’m sure you can imagine how helpful the local PD has been.” He rolls his eyes as he listens to her.

“We don’t know much other than he’ll be heading to one of the thousands of chapels Vegas has to offer. I’ll text you the coordinates of where the plane landed. Maybe you can figure out from there the most likely place he would go.” Tate stops talking abruptly, his face losing the softness from before.

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