thing that mattered, right now, was her safety. Fuck, I’d rather she ended up with Granville than in danger or hurt. I was furious with her for being so reckless, but at the same time, I understood. If I’d been in her situation? I’d have done exactly the same.
Finally away from Alstone town and out on the open road, Cass put his foot down, increasing our speed, navigating with one hand on the wheel, the other clenched tightly around the gearstick. The atmosphere in the car was thick with tension, only slightly easing up once we were flying down the familiar coastal road, the ocean on our left, past Alstone Castle, towards the docks.
As we drew closer, Cassius slowed down, the SUV’s headlights cutting through the darkness. The only light came from the stars that occasionally appeared between the clouds that covered the night sky.
“Cass!” my brother hissed urgently. “Stop!”
My eyes followed the direction of his outstretched arm, his finger jabbing against the windscreen.
Winter’s car.
Tucked away, off the side of the road, the matte-black paint blending into the shadows.
Cassius pulled to a stop just behind the Fiat 500, sending a shower of dust and gravel flying up around the wheels, and I jumped out, not bothering to wait for him to turn the engine off. Jogging over to the front of her car, I placed my hand on the smooth metal surface.
It was ice-cold.
Fuck.
I jogged back to the SUV, leaning into Weston’s open window. “The engine’s stone cold. She must’ve been here a while, and the fact she hasn’t come back—” I cut my words off abruptly, scrubbing my hand across my face, unable to articulate my worst fears.
“Shit,” Cass swore softly, his eyes darkened with worry. “I’ll park here. Eyes and ears open, all of you. Let’s go get our girl.”
TWO
I shrugged off my suit jacket, rolling up my shirtsleeves, ignoring the biting cold air. Tugging at my collar, I wished I’d been wearing my usual jeans and hoodie. Don’t get me wrong; I liked a sharp suit, tailored to fit, but I was always more comfortable dressed down. Right now? This suit was a fucking inconvenience.
“Here,” Cass grunted, emerging from the boot and throwing me a bundle of fabric. I opened it to find a black hoodie, and I pulled it on over my shirt, tugging the hood over my head.
“Cheers, mate.”
He nodded and tipped his head towards the road leading to the docks, his brows raised in a question.
“Let’s go.”
We all filed into a line, working together as we’d always done, seamlessly, silently, reading each other’s minds. When we reached the entrance to the docks, I held up a hand behind my back, signalling for them to wait.
Peering around the corner, my eyes scanned the area, cataloguing every detail.
The white painted guard hut by the entrance barrier was empty, and the whole place seemed quiet. Too quiet.
I noted the cameras mounted on high stalks and on the side of the guard hut, and indicated to my boys so they were aware. Crossing the entrance, I flattened my body against the side of the hut, Z in position next to me, poised and ready.
“Nothing. Except…that full mug of coffee.”
I followed Zayde’s gaze, noting an Alstone Holdings branded ceramic mug, balanced on the table in front of the monitors, and a dog-eared open book next to it, face down. The spine was creased, the title and author name written in a language I couldn’t read.
“Stay alert. Someone must’ve been here. Recently,” I told the others in a low voice.
“The coffee looks cold to me,” Cassius commented, peering through the window. “There’s a film on the top.”
Fuck. Whoever had been on guard duty could be long gone.
Time to check out the rest of the docks.
We moved stealthily around the corner of a low building, avoiding the cameras. Where was Winter?
My gaze was drawn to a crumbling stone building by the water’s edge, set apart from the rest of the docks. Every single instinct in me screamed that this was where I needed to be.
Keeping to the shadows, I ran.
I burst through the doorway, the door itself wide open, hanging at an angle.
Fuck. I couldn’t see anything.
I heard the sounds of my boys falling in behind me, a solid presence at my back. I straightened up.
Whatever was going on here, we’d get to the bottom of it. No one fucked with what was ours and got away with it.
We’d bury them.
Lights flickered on overhead, and I spun around to see Cass