Page 82 of Safe Haven

I head for the stairwell, knowing I can get to the main floor faster on foot than I can if I wait for the elevator. Owen and Luca catch up with me just as I reach my destination, and the three of us storm out into the lobby.

A lobby packed with fucking kids.

“What in the hell is going on?” Owen scans the area. “How are we gonna find them in this?”

“Quickly.” The bad feeling I have is only getting worse, and I start elbowing my way through the crowd, looking for the familiar head of wavy blonde hair that slides through my fingers every night.

I’m halfway across the room when a freckle-faced girl with bright red hair steps in my path. “Are you looking for those two ladies?”

I zero in on her. “One blonde and one with dark hair and glasses?”

She nods, pointing toward the back exit of the hotel. “They went out that way with the guys they were with.” Her nose wrinkles. “They didn’t look very excited about it though.”

Thank fucking God for nosy teenagers. “How long ago?”

She shrugs. “Maybe five minutes?” Her brows pinch together. “Could be more. I was watching cooking videos on my phone.”

Videos. Good call.

I thank her before turning for the front desk. I cut in line, going straight to the front. “I need to see the feed from your security cameras.”

The woman on the other side looks me over, eyes scanning my black tactical gear. I wear it because it’s a convenient way to manage all the weapons I regularly carry, but it’s also pretty fucking useful when it comes to opening doors I probably shouldn’t be let through.

“Oh my gosh. Did someone call the cops?” Her eyes widen. “It’s been so hectic here, but I didn’t know anything bad happened.” She turns and hustles toward a door behind the counter. I round the curved edge of the reception desk, catching up to her quickly. Luca and Owen are right behind me as we step into a small, dimly-lit room where a security guard sits in a chair playing on his phone instead of doing his job.

“The police need to see our security footage.” The girl from the front desk does the hard work for me and saves me from having to lie.

The security guard fumbles his phone and quickly stands up, swallowing hard at the sight of me, Owen, and Luca taking up most of the space. “Yeah. Sure.” He turns to the bank of screens. “Anything specific?”

“The one directed toward the back entrance. Starting ten minutes ago.” I step in behind him, eyes fused to the screen as he starts to play the recording.

Sure enough, at about five minutes in, Audrey and Becca appear with the two dead men beside them. They lead the women out the sliding door and into a waiting vehicle.

I point at the blurry SUV. “Do you have a feed that will give me a better view of the car they got into?”

“Uhh...” The security guard fumbles around his desk, trying to get me what I want.

I turn to Owen. “Call Butch. Get him here as fast as you can.” I swing back to face the security guard. “I want you to send any video you have of those men or the women with them to this email address.” I grab a pen and write across the closest piece of paper. I shove it at him. “Now.”

He jumps a little at my barked order. “Yes, sir.”

I stride past both Luca and Owen, going out into the lobby, headed for the stairwell.

“Butch says he can be here in five minutes.” Owen is right on my tail with Luca on his. “What’s the plan?”

“The plan is to find Audrey and Becca.” I take the stairs two at a time, racing up to our floor. Knocking the heavy metal door at the top open, I go to my room and drag the key across the sensor, turning as Luca and Owen do the same. “And then we kill anyone who fucking touched them.”

“I KNOW THESE guys.” Butch enlarges the video playing on my phone as he rattles off three names. “They’re low-level criminals who’ll do anything for a buck.” He hands me back my phone. “How long have the girls been gone?”

“According to the security footage, they walked out of here fifteen minutes ago.” Up until this minute, I would have beenthrilled to discover I was only fifteen minutes behind my target. But up until this minute, Audrey wasn’t the one in danger. Now fifteen minutes might as well be an eternity. “Do you have any idea where they might have taken them?”

“A few, but only one of the locations is close by.” Butch starts walking, heading for his truck. “Since it doesn’t seem like Trevor has anywhere of his own to go, they’re probably taking them to one of the properties the two bigger guys inherited when their father died.”

I stay right with him as he walks. “Brothers?”

Butch nods. “And they’ve got about three brain cells between both of them, which could work in our favor.” He unlocks his truck, motioning for us to get inside.

“How would them being dumb work in our favor? My experience is, the dumber people are, the more dangerous they tend to be.” Luca wedges his tall body into the back seat of the extended cab. It looks uncomfortable as hell, but Butch knows where we’re going, and that’s all I care about.

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