Logan (Blue Halo Book 1)

Logan dropped his phone into the middle console of the truck, starting his engine. Grace said she’d wait inside. Good.

It had been another long day of security consultations and paperwork. At least he’d gotten a morning training session in with Blake. A short session was better than nothing.

Flynn and Liam had spent the day at the hospital guarding the women. Logan had met with the rest of the team after his workout to discuss his upcoming meeting with Nicole. They were all in agreement that he would do the interview. Even though he hadn’t shared anything about Grace’s history, they knew it was heavy. Knew it was something that couldn’t, or shouldn’t, get out.

He hadn’t told Grace about Nicole and the interview. He’d been planning on it, but then they’d kissed, and the kiss had been followed by making out on the couch after dinner…then her panic attack.

A muscle ticked in his jaw at the memory of what she’d told him last night.

He’d just turned a corner when his phone rang, Wyatt’s name popping up on the screen.

“Hey, Wyatt. You found anything for me on that green car?”

“I found it on some traffic surveillance. It was a rental, under the name of a Scott Pilgrig. He’s a reporter for the Idaho News 6 team. Mid-thirties. Caucasian.”

Logan frowned. Why would a reputable reporter trail Grace around town, running her into a pole? Was he so desperate for a story that he was willing to risk losing everything? Was he trying to make her the story? It didn’t make sense.

Unless it wasn’t Scott driving the car…

“Nicole Fleece told me she was the only reporter left in town.” Of course, she could have been lying. Logan didn’t trust the woman. “Do you know which hotel or motel he’s staying at?”

“Unfortunately, no. His colleague readily admitted he was due to return to the office today, but he never showed.”

Big fucking red flag.

“I know. Not looking good,” Wyatt said, reading his silence. “I’ll keep looking into it from my end.”

Logan turned onto the street with the hospital. “And I’ll keep an eye on Grace from mine.” He pulled into the hospital parking lot. “Did you find anything on her?” he asked quietly.

He almost cringed, hating that he’d gone behind Grace’s back to find information. But after her revelation, and when she didn’t reveal the guy’s name or whether he was alive or dead, there was no way Logan wasn’t taking matters into his own hands.

That’s why he’d sent Wyatt security footage of Grace from Blue Halo and asked the man to run a facial recognition search. It was also why he hadn’t pushed her for more information last night. There were other means of finding out what he needed to know.

Grace wouldn’t be happy. But now that he knew her past, it was a matter of safety. He cared about the woman and he needed her to be okay.

“Yes, I did. You sure you want to know?”

He knew what his friend was really asking. Was he sure he wanted Wyatt to tell him before Grace did. Because once he knew, there was no going back.

“Tell me.”

“Her real name is Grace McKenna. When she was twenty-one, she was kidnapped from her home. A week later, she was picked up by a man driving on Route 128 in Massachusetts. The medical reports read severe dehydration, malnourishment, deep lacerations to her chest and thigh, as well as sexual assault.”

Logan scrunched his eyes shut. Hearing the details was damn painful, but it needed to be done.

“Who was the guy?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Kieran Hayes. He got mixed up in drugs in his teenage years. There’s not much information on the guy in the system. Not even a picture. He was raised by a single mom who lived in a trailer park in Stockton, California. His mother OD’d and died when he was eighteen. Nothing in the system for him bar Grace’s report, and he disappeared after Grace got away.”

So the asshole was alive. Goddammit. “Shouldn’t she have been placed into a safe house?”

“According to the police report, she was assigned one, but never made it there. She disappeared shortly after being released from the hospital.”

“Disappeared?”

“Yep. And on her seventh year of being missing, she was officially declared dead.”

Jesus Christ. He leaned his head back against the headrest, his brain moving quickly, sifting through all the information.

“Who would have helped her create her new identity?” Logan asked, more to himself than to Wyatt. “Because a bartender definitely wouldn’t have the skills or resources on her own.”

“Her father was, and still is, a US marshal. He would have had the means to create a new identity and make sure it was bulletproof.”

And there it was.

The reason she’d talked to Barret. The reason she didn’t ask for help. The reason she was still hesitant to tell Logan everything. The final piece of the Grace McKenna puzzle fit into place. “He would be in a lot of trouble if that ever got out.”

“To protect his daughter,” Wyatt said, “I’m sure he saw it as a risk worth taking.”

Of course. Most parents would move heaven and earth to protect their kids.

Logan sighed. “And her mother?”

“Passed away when she was little. Heart attack. Looks like her father raised her.”

“Another reason she wants to protect him.” He undid his seat belt. “Wyatt—I need you to find this Kieran guy.”

“Already on it.”

If Logan found him, he was a dead man. “Appreciate it. And Wyatt, are we able to keep this information between us?”

He trusted Wyatt’s team, but they weren’t family to him. Not like his guys. And if this information got out to the wrong people, neither Grace nor her father would be safe.

“Was planning on it. Talk again soon, Logan.”

Hanging up, Logan climbed out of the truck.

He spent the entire walk to the doors debating whether to come clean to Grace about what he’d learned. How would she take it? Not well, he was guessing. Not when she worried for the safety of herself and her father.

He needed to tell her, though. Especially if he wanted a relationship with the woman. He just had to hope she’d forgive him for the methods he’d used. Trust him to not put her or her father at risk.

Logan spotted her the second he stepped through the door. She held a phone to her ear in one hand, and small pieces of paper in the other.

“I love you.”

Logan heard her father’s voice through the line before she hung up. When she turned her head, her eyes widened slightly at the sight of him.

He smiled in an attempt to put her at ease. “Hey, honey. Ready to go?”

Pushing the phone into her pocket, she returned the smile and nodded. He didn’t miss the strain lines around her eyes.

His gaze darted to her hand. “What’s that?”

Her smile slipped, eyes narrowing. “Someone took photos of me. They dropped them on the floor as they left.”

“Photos?”

Taking them from her outstretched hand, he flicked through the images, just biting back a curse. “What the hell?”

She lifted a shoulder. “I’m assuming it was one of the reporters.”

His hand went to her cheek. “Who gave you this?”

Her gaze shifted to the front desk. “The receptionist.”

Slipping his fingers through hers, he tugged her behind him, stopping at the desk. The woman looked up. Her eyes widened slightly, a reaction he was used to ever since the community found out about his team.

“Hi.” The woman sounded slightly out of breath.

He smiled. “Hi. We need more information on who dropped these pictures. Is there security footage we could check?”

“Um, there are cameras, but it’s live footage watched by our security team. It’s not recorded.”

Dammit to hell. “Could you describe the man for me?”

“I can try. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt. He was bald. Shorter than you, maybe six feet. Slim build…that’s all I really remember. Sorry.”

Hopefully it would be enough to either match or dismiss Scott Pilgrig. He’d ask Wyatt to send through pictures of the reporter later tonight.

“Thank you.”

Turning around, hand still holding Grace’s, he led them out of the hospital. The second they stood on the sidewalk, he scanned the street.

He made his way to the car, one hand firmly on the small of Grace’s back.

“The green car was a rental,” he said as he helped her into his truck. “A reporter by the name of Scott Pilgrig leased it.”

He walked around, climbing behind the wheel.

Grace nodded. “Makes sense. He probably sees me as an easy source of information. Although, why he didn’t just come and talk to me, I have no idea.”

Yeah, Logan wasn’t sure what the hell was going on. But he planned to find out.

He shot a glance across to her as he drove out of the parking lot. “Grace, I need to know—how did you get away?”

He hadn’t intended to ask that question right now, but suddenly, he needed every detail he could get.

Grace took a deep breath before turning her head toward him. He might not have been expecting to ask it, but maybe she’d been expecting to hear it. “He kept me in his basement for a week. He was supposed to deliver me to his boss. He… He worked for a trafficking organization.”

Logan tensed.

Grace hurried to continue. “The last couple days, he’d started talking about how he couldn’t give me up. How he wanted to keep me as his.” He saw the shiver that rocked her spine. His hand immediately went to her leg. “That night, when he came into the basement, I could tell he was on something. Some sort of drug. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was acting really paranoid. He just kept saying he couldn’t lose me. He couldn’t let anyone else have me.”

She found a string on the side of her pants and began to fiddle, focusing on it. “He pulled out a knife. Said that he needed to mark me as his.” When the fingers playing with the string began to tremble, Logan’s hand shifted so that it sat over hers.

“What happened next?” His voice was tight and low.

“He attacked me. I remember his weight on top of me as he cut. He wasn’t trying to kill me. Just scar me. He went for my thigh first. Then my chest. The pain of the knife slicing over my skin…it was something I’ll never forget.”

Fire laced his blood. “Then what, honey?”

“When he went for my face, he shifted his body just enough for me to knee him between the legs. His movements were more sluggish than usual because of whatever he was on. He dropped the knife, and I just lunged for it, grabbing it and stabbing him in the stomach. Then I ran. I had no idea where I was or where I was heading. I just knew I needed to get as far away from the house as possible.”

So damn strong.

“I ran until I reached a road. I ran in front of a car, forcing the driver to stop. The rest, I barely remember. It was a blur of white hospital walls, nurses trying to talk to me… By the time the house was located, he was gone,” she finished.

He opened his mouth, readying himself to tell her about Wyatt. About what he’d learned. Then Grace sighed. Leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

God, he hated how tired she looked.

“Let’s do something tonight.”

The words just slipped out. He would, of course, make sure she was guarded by him and his team. But she needed at least the illusion of freedom.

“Anything that doesn’t involve danger or threats or men who do unspeakable things sounds good to me.”

Lifting her hand, he kissed the back of it. “Done.”