Page 37 of Guarding Grace
I’d already considered that and made up my mind that there was only one option for keeping Grace safe. “She’ll hate it. I’ll have her stay at my place until this is over.” Pete deserved to have my full attention on keeping his little sister safe. This was the best and only way.
“Is she on board with that?” Lucas asked after a second of silence. He’d seen some of our previous frosty interactions.
“She will be.”
“Are you alone?”
“One sec.” I moved to the small conference room and shut the door. “I am now.”
“I wanted you to know that Omega is pretty sure they’ve pinpointed Pete’s location.”
My heart thundered in my chest. “That’s great.” A rescue might only be days away.
“I heard this two days ago, and the certainty has increased since then. This is still your ears only.”
“Yes, sir. Understood, sir.” I appreciated his confidence in me. He could count on me to keep this to myself.
“Later, sailor.” He disconnected.
CHAPTER 9
Terry
I pickedup Lucas’s call on the first ring. “Yes?”
“Duke is checking with his LAPD contact to get a current location on Russo. Then, as soon as we assemble the team, I want to pay the guy a visit and let him know Grace is off-limits.”
We all knew Lucas’s preference when visiting one of the crime groups in town, and that could be summarized asoverwhelming force. When it came to close-quarters combat or gunplay, the local bad guys didn’t stand a chance against the former spec-ops guys I worked with. But sometimes, the criminals were too egotistical to understand that.
To avoid drawing weapons, it was safer for us to have the numerical advantage and keep the dumbshits from wanting to start anything.
“I want to go along on that visit.” Knowing he wouldn’t like the idea, I added, “I want to look the fucker in the eyes and deliver that message.”
I could almost hear Lucas’s teeth grinding. “Okay. I’ll send Zane over to relieve you. ”
“Yes, sir. Hold fast.”
Zane was our newest addition, and so far he seemed a little cavalier to me—as if things outside of combat couldn’t turn dangerous in a hurry. That was a lesson I’d learned more than once. But he’d get there. More important than him being a former SEAL was the fact that Duke had personally vouched for him.
“How can I help you?” Grace’s assistant, Peyton, asked when I found her.
“I need to hang out and wait for an associate. Would it be okay to use Grace’s office?” I knew better than to make an enemy of the assistant by not asking her permission.
“Sure.” She pointed. “Right behind you. Who are you expecting?”
“Zane March is his name, but I don’t know his timing.”
She winked at me. “Got ya covered.”
The call came a half hour later. “Zane is on the way,” Lucas informed me. “Let me know when he arrives, and I’ll send you rendezvous coordinates.”
“Are we kitting up?” I had no idea how firm a statement Lucas wanted to make.
“No vests, handguns only. This is a friendly visit and discussion only.”
“Copy that. What about the warehouse?”
“Empty, but Jordy set up cameras to monitor for activity from here. One more word of caution…”
