Page 55 of Ethan's Command

Ethan put his hands in his pockets wanting to show the boy he was relaxed and it wasn’t a big deal. “So why did you get into the SUV at school? Did you think you knew the driver?”

Liam shrugged. “I thought it was Ren. I got a text that I thought was from him. He asked if I could bring him some stuff from his locker to the gate. I got the stuff and put it in my backpack. Then when I got to the SUV, I thought he was inside, so I got in to give him his stuff. It wasn’t until we were moving that I realized Ren wasn’t in the truck.”

Liam looked down at his hands. “I guess that was pretty dumb wasn’t it?”

“No,” Ethan said. “Not at all. You expected it to be one of your friends. You had no way of knowing it wasn’t.” Ethan paused and then asked. “But what made you think the text was from Ren if it wasn’t from his usual phone number?”

“The way it was signed. Ren always signs everything with a capital RN.”

Jackson shot a look at Ethan and Ethan got the message. His opportunity to grill the man’s son was over. “Thanks for telling me. One last question, where’s your aunt?”

Jackson tilted his controller and cursed. “She sent me a text about a half hour ago that she was going home to get some sleep.”

“Huh,” was all Ethan said but his gut clenched. He’d just come from Brooklyn’s place and he was pretty sure she hadn’t been home. Maybe they’d crossed paths. He blew out a breath. “Well, I’m glad you’re doing well Liam. How about when you’re up to it, you come by the ranch and see Mojo put through his paces?”

Liam stopped playing and grinned. “It’s a deal.”

“You hang in there,” Ethan said and offered his hand to Jackson.

The two men shook hands. “I really do owe you,” Jackson said with a glance at his son.

“No worries. We’ll talk soon about coming to the ranch.” With that, he gestured to Mojo, who had been waiting patiently at his feet, and the two walked out of the room.

A nurse in the hallway frowned at Mojo and was about to say something when Cooper and Nova strode up, Nova’s badge out on her belt. “The dogs are with me,” she growled.

The nurse shot her a look but said nothing as she went back down the hallway.

“How’s Liam?” Coop asked.

“Doing well. He’ll have to get over the mental stress but he’s a strong kid, I think he’ll be okay.”

“I’ll say,” Nova agreed. “Not too many kids would have been able to escape and run through the rainforest like that. Impressive.” She frowned as her phone went off. Glancing at the screen, she swore. “Is Brooklyn in there?”

“No, why?”

“I need to get the thumb drive from her. The IT guys managed to crack the encryption software but there was some kind of self-destruct sequence, so we couldn’t see anything that was on it. They said that the original on the USB drive will not have the same safeguard. If we get that then we can see what the hell is on that drive.”

Ethan’s stomach dropped. “Brooklyn still has the drive?”

“Yeah, in all the confusion no one got it from her.” Nova frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Ethan held up a hand as he called Brooklyn, but the call went straight to voicemail. He immediately called the comms center and put it on speaker.

Bellamy picked up. “Yo, brother. What’s up?”

“I’m with Cooper and Nova. I need you to check the cameras at Brooklyn’s place. Is she at home?”

“Sure.” The sound of typing came down the line. “Nah man, she’s not there. She hasn’t been there since you guys left last night.”

“Shit.” Ethan ran a hand through his hair as Mojo whined at his feet as if sensing his sudden stress.

“What’s going on?” Bellamy asked.

“Brooklyn still has the drive and she’s missing.” Ethan’s chest hurt. Nothing could happen to Brooklyn. He just couldn’t take it. She had to be safe.

“We don’t know that she’s missing,” Nova said. “Just that she’s not at the hospital and not at home. Maybe she went to get some groceries or something.”

Ethan shook his head. “She sent a text to her brother Jackson saying she was going home to go to bed because she was exhausted. Also, her car is back at her place. She would’ve needed to call someone or take a ride-share home.”

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