Page 34 of Brick
Movement at the entrance of the building made her lean forward.A guy stormed onto the sidewalk, Bray in his arms.The footage had no audio, but her son’s face was red, his mouth wide as he screamed—for his mama.
Natalie clapped her hand over her mouth.Her chest squeezed as though she’d been thrown into a vise.The compression was too much to bear.
She watched as the guy opened the back door of the truck and strapped Bray into a car seat before climbing into the front passenger seat.The other friend got in the back.A moment later, Keetan stormed out, got in the driver’s seat, and peeled away from the curb.
Her heart was ripped from her body all over again.And to add insult to injury, she had to watch herself run out to the sidewalk, her hands framing her face as she stared at the taillights.
It was a memory that’d never leave her mind.
She hadn’t followed because her car was parked in the parking garage and her keys were inside the apartment.
By the time she’d gotten her shit together, her face was on the news.
Brick’s warm arm wrapped around her shoulders.“I know that was hard to watch.”
She kept her fingers over her mouth and nodded.The room was silent, and she was suddenly acutely aware they weren’t alone.Judging by the lack of noise from Taschen and Zain, she figured they’d already watched the footage.
“That’s it?”she asked, filled with dread, her voice strangled.She turned to Brick.Their faces were barely inches apart.
A muscle in his jaw jumped.“No, that’s not it.”His fingers drew small circles on her arm.“I’m going to show you something else, and I really want you to try to focus.”
She scrunched her face.“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Look at the surroundings.Try to remember if you’ve ever been in the area or who Keetan knows who’d be in such a place.”
Apprehension plucked her skin into gooseflesh, then slowly his meaning sunk in.She gasped.“You know where he is?”
“I’ve got an idea, yeah.”
“Show me.”If she knew how to work the damn program, she’d do it herself.
Brick quickly tapped a drop-down menu and downloaded a new file.“Once Ghost got the security footage, he was able to track down Keetan’s vehicle.Looks like he knew exactly where he was taking Bray, and it wasn’t back to his place.”
The wrap she’d eaten earlier threatened to come back up.She swallowed and waited for the next video to load.“Where is he?”
“A neighborhood near downtown.Keetan disappeared into a parking garage and came out fifteen minutes later.Because his windows are tinted, we couldn’t tell if Bray was with him, but Ghost followed him home through more footage and saw him drop off his friends and return to his place by himself.”
Brick hit a couple of buttons and another video played.Keetan’s truck turned into a low-rise parking garage.“Ever been here?”he asked.
She shook her head wildly.“No, I haven’t,” she said, her voice reaching a frantic pitch.“Keetan and I weren’t on good terms for a long time.He didn’t take me anywhere, and if he has friends besides Tommy, a fellow police officer, I don’t know them.”
They were close.Finally had a clue as to where Bray could be.But all they knew was the area.A sickening realization hit her.“What if he passed him off to someone inside the garage?And Bray left with a stranger in another vehicle?”
Oh dear lord, she was spiraling.Her breath came out rapidly and she tried to get to her feet, but Brick’s gentle hands on her shoulders eased her back down.“We don’t think that’s what happened.Keetan’s truck is the only vehicle that emerges in a twenty-six-minute time span.It’s most likely he took him to one of these places.”He nodded at the screen.“There’re a few businesses nearby, and an apartment building.Looks kind of seedy, but I think the latter is our best shot.”
“An apartment building with how many units?Shit, this is impossible.”She channeled her fingers through her hair.
Brick caught her chin with his knuckle, forcing her to look at him.“This is anything but impossible.You’ve got three guys here who’ve lived and breathed the most hellish places on earth and come out the other side.”
She nodded, taking a deep, shuddering inhale.
“We’ve got guns, a drone, smoke bombs, and these assholes”—he jerked his head toward Zain and Taschen—“with a hankering for breaking faces and a soft spot for kids.He’s coming home, honey.Gimme a couple hours.”The unwavering drawl of his voice made her hurl herself into his arms.
She wouldn’t have relief until Bray was safe, but this was something.
***
In a normalsituation, Brick wouldn’t dream of taking Natalie along on a mission like this.But he didn’t have enough men to leave someone behind with her, and more importantly, Bray needed her.If the child was there—and he prayed that was the case—he’d be terrified and in need of his mother.
