Page 129 of Mad Love

Ash was only silent for a moment. “Every heat signature I pinged, you guys took care of. There were eleven total.”

We’d assumed the eleven meant the ten guards and Gary.

But it was eleven guards and no Gary.

“He was never here,” I murmured. “How the fuck did we miss this?” What hadn’t we seen? Was there a tunnel or something that led out of here? We’d seen him on surveillance videos here hours earlier.

Royal’s lips pressed into a sharp line. “He knew we were coming.”

“How?” Knight wondered. “And where the fuck did he go?”

“Something isn’t right,” I murmured as Linc groaned behind me.

Ash cut into our confusion. “Seriously, guys, get the fuck out now. Police are less than three minutes away.”

Bishop clapped a hand on my shoulder. “We gotta go, Ry.”

“Everyone clear out,” Royal agreed, his voice a rumbling order. Court helped Linc to his feet. They headed for the back stairs, and I turned back around to look inside the room once more.

My gaze skipped over the three dead bodies, and confusion mingled with worry as I realized I had no idea where Gary was.

And Madison was in California, unprotected.

Part of me wanted to believe that Gary had made a run for it. That he was holed up in some foreign country, laughing about getting away from us. But Gary wasn’t my father. He wouldn’t be satisfied with simply getting away.

No, if he was going down, he’d take everything and everyone with him. He’d burn down the world he’d helped create before he ever surrendered it.

Which meant I needed to get to Maddie as fast as possible.

CHAPTER 46

MADDIE

I lasted fifteen minutes on my own before texting Chase and Tyler to see if they’d keep me company. I was worried about Bex. I was terrified for the guys.

In short, I needed a distraction.

But I never imagined it would come in the form of Tyler telling me stories about Chase growing up in England and all the trouble he’d gotten into.

Sometimes Chase smiled, but a lot of the time, he blushed and looked ready to kill her.

In short, it was hysterical.

“His father was livid,” Tyler finished, wrapping up a story about how, on a bet, fourteen-year-old Chase had raced his father’s most valuable car and totaled it.

“In my defense,” Chase said, also laughing, “I wasn’t aware that they’d only made thirty-nine of that particular model of Ferrari.”

I leaned back on the couch. I sat at one end and Tyler was at the other, dressed in fuzzy pajamas with rubber duckies on them, while Chase sat in a chair across from us. He looked almost normal in a pair of black sweats and an old band t-shirt.

“Have you two always been close?” I asked, my gaze pinging between them.

Tyler shook her head. “Not until I came to live with them a few years ago.”

Chase shot her a fond look. “She became the little sister I never wanted.”

Tyler rolled her eyes. “I think he used to be terrified of me when we’d come visit the family estate.” She wrinkled her nose. “My father hated it there.”

“Why?” I asked, curious.

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