Page 74 of Rescued Hearts

Gray’s voice rose and fell as he spoke to his brothers again on the phone, giving them the latest information about her sister and the tracker. When he ended the call after a few brief minutes, she met his stare.

“We have to be smart about this,” she said. “We can’t trust Sully’s word about any of this. If he’s looking for diamonds, then he’s desperate. God, how could I be so clueless? I look at my bead stockall the time. Every single day. I take inventory of all the items.”

“You probably wouldn’t notice more clear glass gems.”

She shook her head in disbelief.

“My brothers are digging into everything right now. And tracking down that phone’s location. I already have a good idea of where it is on the map, and they do too. I just want to ask you a few things about your ex.”

She nodded.

“That van is an expensive model. And he had no steady job. No credit. And he paid cash for everything.”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t think any of that was odd?”

She shrugged. “Looking back, I’m not sure how I ever missed it. But in the thick of the relationship, no. I thought he was just being private, not secretive.”

“That’s not someone being private. It’s someone hiding something.” He gentled his tone, giving her the impression he wasn’t blaming her for missing something.

“I thought he had a trust fund or family money and didn’t discuss it with me because he thought talking about money was crude.”

“He couldn’t exactly tell you about his illegal activities.”

She snapped her head around to pierce him in her stare. “Your brothers found something on him.”

He gave her a grave nod. “The background check shows a lot of red flags, but nothing solid yet. They’re digging deeper now. But it’s bad, Honor. You know about his fake ID. But he’s been on the move for a long time, living just under the radar. And there’s a pattern.”

“What kind of pattern?” Her voice wobbled.

“All the places he’s lived in also have reports of high-profile burglaries. Missing coins. Cash. Things that were easy to move.” He shot her a glance. “Especially jewels.”

Her breath hitched. “You’re saying he’s breaking into places?”

“Not just places. Homes with high-value collections, namely jewelry. A few years ago, there was a home invasion. The victim was a woman. Married. Her husband wasn’t home. The intruder tied her up, took the jewelry collection and vanished. The case hit a dead end. No information at all on the thief.”

Revulsion washed over her. “Oh my god.”

“He never told you about his source of income because he couldn’t. You weren’t his partner, Honor. You were his cover.”

She waited for pain to slash through her. The thought of a person she once had feelings for using her that way should hurt, right?

“I broke up with him because I felt like we’d drifted too far apart to ever be close again. I felt like I didn’t know him. Turns out I was right.”

Gray rested a hand on the back of hers. “I’m sorry, Honor. You did the right thing in leaving him. Now we’re going to stop him and get your sister back.”

Her gaze snapped back to her phone. The pulsing dot hadn’t moved. Her whole body tensed. She was barely holding it together.

Gray pressed harder on the gas.

The road stretched ahead, dark and forbidding, but Honor felt the shift. They weren’t reacting anymore.

They were hunting.

* * * * *

Gray barely had time to slam the van in park before he was leaping out and rushing around to grab Honor. With her fingers clasped in his, they rushed toward the ranch house. Honor trailed along in the wake of his long strides, jogging to keep up.

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