Page 102 of Arrogant Bastard

A red haze crowds my vision, and I have to fight to stay conscious. “I’m going to kill you,” I vow in a voice I barely recognize as mine.

He chuckles. “Let’s not make such dire promises to one another. Your woman already tried once and failed. Now if I were the eye-for-an-eye type, I’d pay her back in kind.”

My grip tightens around the phone. “You already tried to kill her once, you asshole. You touch a hair on her head, and I’ll hunt you down to the ends of the earth.”

“You won’t need to go to all that trouble. My terms are simple. Seventy-five million in return for your Faith. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” I respond immediately.

“Excellent. This time, I’m going to demand a quicker turnaround. You have until six p.m. Account details will be on your phone in the next minute.”

The line goes dead, and my world turns to ash. The sound of an engine turning over finally drags me from the depths of hell. I look up as Linc screeches to a halt in the SUV. Mitch pulls up in the limo seconds later. They both exit.

“Sorry, sir. We saw no signs of her,” Mitch says.

“It’s fine. I know who has her,” I reply calmly.

They exchange glances. “This Galveston guy?” Linc asks.

I nod and hold up the gadget. “And I have her location.”

“Okay. We did find someone else though.”

“Who?”

He holds up his phone. It’s the same guy Faith was talking to outside Lisa’s office. Except now he looks very dead. “We think it’s the mole you mentioned. The gunshot wound looks self-inflicted.”

I stare at the picture for another second before I dismiss it from my mind. “We’re leaving. We’ll call the institute on the way. Get them to deal with it. And Mitch, mobilize the rest of the team. Leave one man behind at the house to look after Debbie. Get as many men as you can on the chopper. The tracker I put on Faith is still moving. Give us a call before you leave the house. I’ll give you the final location.”

I round the hood and climb into the SUV. Linc jumps into the passenger seat. I hand him the gadget, and he inputs the coordinates into the satellite navigation as I step on the gas and accelerate out of the Fallhurst Institute parking lot.

“You’re sure it’s her?” he asks after a few minutes.

I nod. “I put a tracking device in her clothes.”

He stares at the green dot for another minute. “If he sweeps her for bugs—”

“Trust me, I know,” I snap through gritted teeth. The very real possibility that I might lose the only lifeline that connects me to Faith throbs with each heartbeat.

I try to focus on the road and the twenty-seven miles that lie between us as Linc pulls out his phone and calls the agency with news of the dead agent’s location.

The moment he hangs up, my phone rings.

“Yes?”

“I see there’s been a development.” It’s Fionnella Smith.

“Yes. Your plan failed. Spectacularly. Your mole managed to get his fucking hands on Faith. And now Galveston has her.”

“Damn. Listen, son, I’m—”

“No. I don’t want to hear it. We tried it your way. It didn’t work. We have nothing more to discuss.” I hang up and tighten my grip around the steering wheel.

“We’ll get her back,” Linc mutters.

“Fuck yeah, we will.” We ride in silence for another couple of miles.

“They’ve stopped moving,” Linc says as he taps the coordinates into his phone.

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