The Rebel King (All the King's Men Duet #2) - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,8

all the people who might die if it falls into the wrong hands,” I say. “Or did you forget about that?”

“Of course, that’s our primary concern.”

“Of course it is,” I say, my words heavy with sarcasm. “So again, what is your plan?”

“We have K and R on Doctor Murrow. Our insurance provides a negotiator to intervene and drive the ransom as low as possible.”

“Which typically takes weeks, sometimes months.” My hand clenches into a knot at my side. “That motherfucker will kill Lennix in forty-eight hours.”

“We’ll, uh . . . do our best to include Ms. Hunter’s safety in the terms we negotiate.”

“This is a madman, Vale. He may want your money to fund whatever his agenda is, but that’s not what’s fueling him. The money won’t be enough.”

“Well, we cannot turn over the vaccine. You know that. What would you suggest?”

“Like I said, I have my own security specialist, Brock Grimsby. Authorize your negotiator to fully apprise my guy of the situation. I’ll determine what we’ll do from there.”

“You’ll determine? Don’t think you can come in and take this over. This is still my operation to manage. We have a crisis plan.”

“He’s given Lennix forty-eight hours to live. From what I’m hearing, your crisis plan doesn’t include a way to stop him, so I’m damn well taking this over. Get in my way and get crushed, Vale. You and that glorified drugstore you’re running.”

“Glorified—”

“I don’t have time to pander to you. I don’t have time to stroke your ego. There is one thing I care about right now, and that’s getting her home.”

“And Doctor Murrow?”

“Yeah, him, too, but at least the kidnapper might negotiate for him. He considers Lennix disposable.” The awful image of Paco’s execution replays in my head. “And we’ve seen how he treats disposable hostages. They end up dead.”

4

Maxim

“CamTech can’t help us, King.”

Grim’s blunt assessment lands on me with crushing weight. I’ve tried all day to attack one thing at a time to sort out this shit storm. I haven’t allowed myself to think about what’s happening to Lennix right now or to even consider that she won’t come home.

Grim’s words, though, spoken with such deliberate, honest force, send me to collapse, weak-kneed, in my seat. I rest my elbows on the desk in front of me and steeple my hands, pressing my forehead to the tips of my fingers.

“What’d they say?” My voice sounds calm, but there is a riot in my head, an angry mob throwing stones and setting fires in the streets.

“First of all, they have no idea where they’re being held,” Grim says, sitting on the other side the desk, probably watching me for signs of detonation. He’s the one who has kept tabs on Lennix for a decade. He knows what she means to me. “They were last seen at the Bribri reserve where they were staying, but Talamanca is mountains and jungle so dense and wild, you could hide for years if you tried hard enough, and no one would find you. It’s about as off the grid as you can get.”

An image from Nix in the video passes through my mind. Pushing her hair back, the bracelet I gave her glinting in the light.

“The bracelet,” I say, some hope flaring in the so-far-bleak news. “Can we use it to find her?”

“You mean even though you didn’t activate the geotracker in the bracelet?” Grim asks, one brow cocked.

“What was I supposed to say? ‘Nix. I know this is our first date in, oh, ten years, but could you wear this tracking device so I can monitor your every move? Thanks.’”

“You could have explained that it’s standard practice for people in your position to issue tracking devices to significant others, yeah. This is why.”

“It just wasn’t that kind of night.”

“Well I hope you had a nice romantic fuck, but now it’d come in really handy if you had activated that chip.”

“Solutions, Grim,” I say through a cage of teeth. “Can you activate it remotely? Is it too late?”

“Not sure. They could be underground. Underwater, for all we know. There’s no way to know the conditions where they’re being held. With them being in such a remote place with no Wi-Fi, satellite, or electricity—finding that signal could be like pulling a single thread from the rainforest.”

“But that’s exactly what I need you to do. If anyone can, it’s you.”

Grim gives a terse nod and rubs a hand over the back of his neck. “I’ve had an initial conversation with CamTech’s negotiator.”

“And?”

“Like I

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