The Rebel King (All the King's Men Duet #2) - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,19

Grim’s end of the line. “I knew you were a ruthless son of a bitch, but even I underestimated you. You handled yourself well and you aimed straight. Right in the throat on the first shot. Not bad. You sure you shouldn’t have enlisted?”

The panic of those moments rushes back. Adrenaline coursed through every vein and deployed to every vital organ in my body when I saw that man pressing a gun to Lennix’s head. I knew something had to have gone wrong if Grim’s team wasn’t on their tail, but didn’t have time to process that.

Grim had a location and the team struck out for the cave where Lennix’s geotracker had led them. They must have been detected somehow because the team found six locals dead and the cave empty. Grim had half-joked about the action coming to me, but it did. I was in the trees, waiting for instructions, an update—something, when Abe and Nixon came into view, guns trained on Wallace and Lennix and headed for that boat. I didn’t even pause to think.

Aim. Fire.

It was as instinctive as when my father taught me to hunt. I felt more for the first deer I put down during hunting season than I did for that cretin who held Lennix hostage.

“King?” Grim asks again, all humor stripped from his voice and replaced by concern. “Maxim, you there? You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.” I release an extended breath. “I’m sure. Just a long few days. And to answer your question, my father would have lost his shit if I’d enlisted. Owen, yeah. He could have, since the military looks good on your record when you’re running for president. But me? Nah. He wanted to keep me close so I could run his empire.”

Ironic, since wanting me close ended up pushing me so far away.

“Speaking of your brother,” Grim says, “thank him for the reinforcements. With those time constraints, pulling a team like that together would have been much tougher without him calling in some special ops favors for us.”

“Yeah. Between his guys and yours, we got it done. I know I was being a tyrannical asshole, but—”

“They had your girl. I would have been the same if I were in your shoes. And you know I’ll always have your back. How many scrapes have we gotten each other out of?”

“A helluva lot,” I answer with a chuckle, “but this one meant more than all the others combined.” Nix means more. Grim knows that better than anyone.

“How’s she doing?” he asks.

“Sleeping.”

“The doctor said she’s okay?”

The image of Lennix’s swollen, discolored cheek and the black and blue bruises ringing her neck, where that bastard choked her, haunt me, torture me. I want to fly back to Costa Rica and drain that damn river myself until I find him.

“Uh, yeah,” I reply, swallowing a fresh wave of rage. “The doctor said it’s just bruising and getting the drugs Abe gave her and Wallace out of her system.”

“They saw some intense shit. There could be some PTSD, some trauma, nightmares. The mental and emotional toll might be greater than anything we see on the outside.”

“Yeah, she has a therapist she sees regularly. They’ll discuss it in her sessions.”

“And all this is still under the radar, right?”

“Miraculously, yeah. Or maybe not so miraculously. It was in CamTech’s best interest to keep it on the low. They never went public with the kidnappers’ demands, so it didn’t get beyond friends, family and a select few high-ranking CamTech execs. Since they were scheduled to be away for a few more days, Nix’s staff here was none the wiser.”

“And the service team?”

“Paco’s family was told about the failed kidnap attempt, and we’re taking care of them. The rest of the team believe they got stranded in the jungle. Not too unusual for Talamanca.”

“Almost like it never happened.”

“Except it did,” I remind him tersely, “and it’s still happening until we find that body.”

“Working on it.” Even though we aren’t face-to-face, I can picture Grim’s scowl and the irritation is clear in his voice. “Why don’t you get back to your actual job, taking over companies and saving planets and shit?”

I allow myself my first real grin in days. “Believe me. I am. Jin Lei’s head might explode if I don’t get some work done. I’ll dive into one disaster at a time until Nix wakes up.”

“I’ll keep you posted on what we find.”

My grin fades at the reminder that Abe may still be out there, even though the odds are