Page 138 of Mad As Hell

“It’s us,” Ryan answered, his tone cold and detached.

As if prompted by my confusion, the camera zoomed in to show Ash, Linc, Court, and Ryan gathered. Ash gestured at the building and the others nodded.

“Where are you?” Bex asked, just as confused as I was.

Court’s mouth flattened. “It’s Phoenix. This was… shit, three years ago? We reno’d the entire place shortly after.”

“How the hell would she have known about this?” Linc wondered.

If there was one thing I’d learned about my twin, it was that she was sneaky as hell. I had a feeling she’d known more before her death than any of us could imagine.

“You guys have an office building?” I questioned. That seemed oddly normal.

Court scoffed. “No, we have a facility that we’ve kept as off the grid as possible as a base of operations. It has everything we could need from setting ops to interrogations.”

Okay, that sounded more like my guys.

A chill trickled down my spine. “Interrogations?”

Ryan’s arms tightened around me. “It’s necessary, Mads.”

“Sure,” I agreed, not sure I wanted more details.

After a few more minutes of talking, the guys walked to their cars and drove off and the video cut out.

But it wasn’t the last one.

There were several short videos, snippets of the guys talking, and even one of construction at Phoenix. Madelaine never spoke in them, but occasionally long blonde hair would fall across the screen.

Ash paused the videos and opened up a photo album with more candid shots of the guys spanning a few years. Madelaine almost seemed to have a stalker-like obsession with them, and when she somehow managed to get a picture of Linc looking like he’d just stepped out of the shower, we took a break.

Linc pushed away from the couch and rolled his wide shoulders. “That was creepy as fuck. How long was she spying on us?”

“And what did she find out?” Ash added, rubbing his jaw.

Court leaned forward, his head bowed as he braced his forearms on his knees. “Jesus Christ. How did we not notice she was following us?” Bex moved to her knees and rubbed a soothing hand over his back, her hazel eyes locking on mine.

“Because we were watching our backs for our fathers, not a spoiled princess,” Ryan muttered, shifting me off his lap so he could get up and storm out of the room.

Ash looked ready to follow him, but I waved him off and chased after Ryan myself. I caught up with him outside where he’d claimed one of the Adirondack chairs on the wraparound front porch and was watching the ocean.

I leaned against the railing across from him and waited for him to speak first.

“How did I miss this?” He stared at the horizon, like he was desperately trying to make sense of things.

“You said it before,” I reminded him. “You expected to have to worry about your dad. Not Lainey.”

“How could she have possibly known what we were doing? I mean, Ash buried Phoenix’s location.” His eyes lifted to my face, and I could see the confusion in them clear as day.

I tilted my head. “When it comes to Madelaine? Who knows how she knew. But we might be able to find out more if we go back and see what else is in those files.”

He nodded and got up, then paused in front of me. “You sure you want to keep going?”

I looked up at him and wrapped my arms around his back. “Yeah. I need to know what she knew. Maybe something will help us.”

He leaned forward and kissed me softly, slowly. I sank into the feel of his mouth on mine as he licked at my lips until I opened for him. His tongue stroked into my mouth, unhurried and almost reverent.

“I love you,” he said against my lips when he drew back for a breath.

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