Page 83 of (Un)Rivaled

I nodded. “She’s in the parking lot, worried about you. Go.” I looked at Laurel. “I’ll take care of David.”

“Oh, bullshit,” she hissed. “There’s no way I’m leaving now.”

“Get your mom somewhere safe, Laurel,” I said, gripping my bat as I walked closer to the hallway. I didn’t wait for them to leave, instead stalking toward the hallway. My steps were light, trying to keep David unaware of my presence. When I reached the double doors, I turned the corner, spotting him pulling books off the shelves. As they tumbled out around him, wads of cash fell from their hidden centers, landing at his feet.

Jesus Christ. There had to be thousands of dollars on the carpet. Yet David kept pulling things off the shelves, not bothering to look away from his task. When I was sure he didn’t have a weapon or anything else on him, I stepped into the room, leveling my bat at his face. “Where is she?”

David jumped back at the sound of my voice. Fear was a strange expression on his face. For so long, he had been the puppeteer, ruining other people’s lives to line his pocket. But now, he was the one out of control, the one trapped in someone else’s web. If my wife weren’t part of this asshole’s collateral, I’d tip my hat to the blackmailing bastard. I’d never forget the sight of David flailing, looking like he was a half-second away from soiling himself.

But as soon as he locked eyes with me, David snarled, “What the fuck are you doing here, Anders?”

“Something I should have done a long time ago.”

Before David could say another word, my bat collided with the side of his head, and he sank to the ground, his blood mixing with the piles of money he was so desperate to obtain.

“Didyou have to hit him so hard?” Tomas groaned, motioning toward David on the other side of the room. “You’re lucky you didn’t kill him.”

I shrugged. “My conscience is clear. David deserves a lot worse than that hit, trust me.”

Tomas shook his head, plugging David’s phone into his laptop. He muttered to himself as he worked, but I didn’t care enough to make out the words, too focused on the man bound in front of me. We’d kept him in the office but tied him to one of the dining room chairs. Looking at the once proud man trussed up with his old gym socks stuffed in his mouth was almost enough to make me smile, but the ticking clock on the wall was a reminder that every moment he stayed unconscious was one less second we had to find Devyn.

“Fuck yes,” Tomas smirked, running his hand over his mouth. “I was right—the kidnapper used a different burner to contact David.”

“Can you track it?”

“I can’t, but one of my associates can hack into the system and pinpoint the location for us. It’ll take a little bit of time–”

“We don’t have time,” I growled. “Devyn doesn’t have time.”

Tomas glanced at his watch. “We have another hour, Gray. Let me try.”

I nodded and moved back toward David. I used the tip of my bat to poke at his stomach and smirked when he groaned. His ruddy brown eyes opened slowly, and he cursed when he tried to pull at his hands. Muffled yells came from behind the socks tucked in his mouth, and I just shrugged. “Sorry, I didn’t get that. Do you want to try again?”

David’s body practically radiated with anger as he tried to lunge out of the chair to get to me. I stalked over, pointing my bat at his face. “If you want to walk out of this room, I suggest you do not fuck with me, David. I want to know everything the blackmailer demanded from you, including the drop-off location. If you tell me that, and it helps us find Devyn, then we’ll let you go.” I casually leaned against the bookshelf. “If you don’t…I can’t guarantee what’ll happen next.”

David groaned against the gag, and I leaned forward, taking it from his mouth. “Fuck you, Anders. You were a pain in the ass kid before, and you’re still a goddamn loser?—”

“Nuh, uh, uh,” I said slowly, holding up the socks. “I said you needed to be helpful. That did not sound helpfulto me.” Pressing the socks close to his mouth, I continued, “You want to try that again, or should I use you for batting practice?”

“I don’t give a fuck what you do to me; I’m not talking.”

“Wrong answer,” I said as I shoved the socks back into his mouth. I was about to make good on my threat when Laurel strode inside, Calla tight on her heels. She held a laptop, smirking as she set it on David’s lap.

“Recognize him?” I couldn’t make out the screen, but all the color drained from David’s face. He screamed something against the gag, but Laurel continued without bothering to take it out. “That would be William Garber, a land surveyor who just happened to pass away from a heart attack a week after you two met. Coincidence, right?” She slammed the laptop closed. “I couldn’t quite connect all the pieces, at least not until I got the files I needed from Gray’s dad.” She smirked. “Or should I say,mydad. Because not only did he trace the money to find the man you hired to kill William Garber, but he also figured out why you had him killed.”

The air sucked out of the room at her words, all of us waiting to see what she would say. But the words didn’t come from her. Instead, Calla spoke up, showing him a map of the town. “You were never interested in the land here, were you? At least, not for development.” She turned the page, pulling out a financial transaction. “How long have you been using drug money to fuel your empire, David?”

My eyes widened as I stared at her. “That’s what this has been about? Drug smuggling?”

“An extensive network of drug smuggling,” Laurel added before cocking her head at her stepfather. “He’s been buying up land, using them as drop-zones for cartels andother agencies. They’re giving him a lot of money to keep their operations clear.”

Calla stepped closer to David, her brown eyes narrowed in anger. “I don’t really care why the fuck he did it. I just need to know one thing.” She kicked him in the shin, and David cried out. “Did you have our father killed?” David glared at her, so she reached back, ready to slap him, but Laurel took her hand first.

She moved Calla back, and when I noticed how hard she was trembling, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. She gave me a grateful smile and took a slow breath, rubbing her pregnant belly like it was the only thing keeping her from falling apart.

Laurel leaned forward toward David. “Now, all I want from you is a yes or no. If you admit to killing our father and help us find Devyn, all this evidence can disappear.”

“Laurel!” Calla gasped.

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