can look.”
Gray straightened and zeroed in on the movement in the house, and the first thing his stare landed on was the revolver tucked into the back of the man’s jeans. With the rug pushed aside and the hatch in the floor open, the man carried a tray slowly down the stairs. Gray guessed they were steep, perhaps more of a ladder than stairs, considering how careful the fucker was being. With each step, he dropped at least a foot.
“We should free Jackie tonight.” Because all Gray could picture right now was that son of a bitch forcing himself on Jackie. Would he do it before or after dinner? It was fucking sickening. “He’s just one guy, Darius. We can take him. They’ll be two tomorrow.”
“We can’t afford any mistakes now,” Darius replied grimly. “It’s highly possible Warren calls this—whoever the fuck he is—before he heads out. If he doesn’t answer, it could make Warren suspicious.”
Gray cursed and went around a corner. They were so close. Mere feet away. And yet, Jackie wouldn’t know that he was getting rescued soon.
Stay strong, Jackie. We’re coming.
“We should get out of here.” Darius joined him and stalked over to the fence, which he leaped over with a hand planted on the top. “We have planning to do.”
Gray hated it with every fiber of his being but jogged after and jumped over the fence. Fuck, it felt wrong to leave Jackie behind.
They returned to the mountain range, and Gray went with honesty and felt this was the wrong decision.
“I’m not ruling anything out,” Darius said, “but we’re not doing shit until I’ve spoken to Willow.”
Fine.
Gray brought out his flashlight and lit up the ground so they could find the boulders where they’d left their backpacks.
Darius pressed his phone to his ear and stayed at the bottom of the hillside. “Switch to UV before you sit down anywhere,” he advised. At Gray’s confused expression, he added, “UV light exposes scorpions.”
Oh. Oh, fucking brilliant. See, that was a problem that didn’t exist in Washington.
“I think I’ll just wait here with you.” Gray attached his flashlight to one of the belt loops on his pants and hoped the light would scare away any dangerous critters. Then he brought out his phone. He wanted to study the pictures he’d taken.
“So, what’ve you got?” Darius and Willow were seemingly skipping past greetings and going straight to intel. “No, I didn’t read them yet. Fill me in.”
The photo Gray had taken of the license plate rang a bell. DC plates. Taxation without representation, it stood out at the bottom. He swiped to the photo of the registration certificate and pinched the screen, zooming in so he could read.
The car was registered to a Buck Raymond.
The certificate expired three years ago.
“Hold on, Squeezy, I think Gray’s got something.” Darius stepped closer and peered at the screen. “Good fucking job, knucklehead.” A spark of pride hit Gray in the chest. “Gray found the registration for Raymond’s car,” he told Willow, turning away. “It—yeah. Three years ago.”
Staring at his screen had robbed Gray of his vision, and when he pocketed his phone, he had to blink repeatedly and wait for his eyes to adjust again.
“Jesus Christ,” Darius muttered. “Well, it makes sense that it’s a nonviolent crime. They would’ve searched more actively otherwise.”
Gray frowned over at him but figured he’d get answers eventually. Done waiting and sick of fearing reptiles and insects when he was willing to murder another human being, he checked the settings on his flashlight and switched to UV. He didn’t know the reach—whoa. Fucking hell! There actually was one! Just one, though. Thank God. About ten feet away. It glowed faint yellow in the dark purple light. It couldn’t be more than two inches long. Gray quickly scanned farther, around the boulders, even in the cracks, but found nothing else. Welp. All right. He knew the backlight worked, that was for sure.
He jumped up on the widest rock where they’d left their bags, and he was grateful for its size. He left the UV light on and rested it on a taller rock. That way, they’d see if any deadly stingers got too cozy for comfort.
Squatting down, he dug through his backpack to find the food kit he’d brought earlier. Darius had shrugged, clearly not prioritizing food for such a short outing, but Gray was getting hungry. Besides, if they were planning on being out here all night, they would need some extra energy.
By the time Darius wrapped up