situation, and we have to be careful how we approach this. "I go in as bait." The words blurt out of my mouth before I have a chance to process what it means.
"No." Mace replies instantly. "Nothing that puts you at risk."
"I'm at risk already. What're we gonna do? Wait for someone to show up here? Then we still don't have Diablo or Giselle. We get the middle man. We need to make them think they have me so they lead us to Diablo."
"No." Mace is louder this time, his jaw tight.
"You got another way to find Giselle? We're not even sure if we're looking for Giselle or Diablo or both. We'd have to have a two pronged approach to hunt them down." I don't like arguing with Mace in front of all these people, but he needs to agree so we can start planning.
"I don't like it. I want to hunt him alone," Mace growls. "Lola stays here. You guys watch her for me, and I'll get Diablo."
"What if Giselle put the hit on Loralei?" Cutter asks.
"Then I'll go after her next," Mace replies shortly.
"She is in the wind," Cutter says. "No one can find her. She has money and influence all over the world. She can get people to hide her anywhere. We have to act fast before she leaves the country."
"I understand why you're against it, Mace." Foster chimes in. "But it might be our only move at this time."
"We'll make sure she doesn't get hurt." Remy sits up straight and looks Mace in the eye.
Mace returns the look with a doubtful squint.
"We'll set Loralei up with tracking devices. Take every precaution." Cutter's voice is grave. He knows how serious this is, but I agree our only option is to be proactive.
Mace sits unmoving with his eyes on the floor. I place my hand on his bicep. "I'm an undercover cop, Mace. I know how to handle myself and how to execute an op like this. You need to have faith in me and your family right now."
"Faith." He huffs and shakes his head. "Fine," he says quietly. He lifts his gaze and narrows in on Cutter. "You make sure nothing happens to Lola. This guy already had her once and almost killed her. I don't like the idea of giving him a second chance."
"We know you don't like it, but it'll be worth it in the end when Diablo is off your tail, the bounty is gone, and you bring Loralei back here without having to worry about snipers in the trees."
He nods. "Okay."
"Good. Let's get to work."
***
Two days later, Mace ends a call with Helix. "He set it up for tomorrow at four pm. Still not comfortable with Helix doing the drop off." Mace runs his hands through his hair.
I look up from my laptop. "He's the only one who would legit do it. Anyone else and they'd suspect."
"He's a wildcard, and he'll be the one closest to you."
I stand up and walk over to Mace. "I think he's looking forward to proving his loyalty to you. I got to know him when I stayed at his place and trained with him. He's a good guy under the harsh surface."
Mace scoffs and doesn't smile. "I don't like the way it went down. You talk to him at Dragon Lounge, the same night you're getting explosives on your garage and cars running you off the road. Who else told them you were back?"
I raise one finger to stop him. "It wasn't Helix who spread the news I was back from the island."
"Who then?"
"Griffin. My ex."
"The creep who was looking in your window?"
"Yep. Right after you attacked him on my porch, he went and called Diablo. I couldn't believe it when I saw it in his phone records. Diablo made a bunch of calls after that. Probably organizing the explosives and the tail on me."
He props his hands on his hips and cocks one knee. "Your ex is involved with Diablo?"
"It looks like it. Apparently our fathers weren't only pedaling vitamins, they were dealing drugs. It pisses me off Griffin would betray me like that. Then he went and told Diablo I was looking for Hannah Clark and started this whole kidnapping-bounty nightmare."
A vein bubbles in his neck. "Where does this Griffin asshole live?" Uh oh. The Volcano is active again.
"No. Mace." I place my hand on his chest. "We're not going after Griffin. I'm only telling you this so you can trust Helix. He's not the