The Devious Husband: Sierra and Xavier’s Story (The Windsors)

“Breathe,” Zach tells me as I stare at the live feed of Sierra being told about every gruesome thing I’ve ever done, her captor’s eerie scrambled voice audible. There isn’t a single identifiable clue in the video — just a clear white backdrop, and Sierra bound to a chair, her mouth taped shut. “Every police officer in the city is looking for her.”

Dion wraps his arm around me and holds me up while Silas and his wife both type furiously, trying to figure out where the live stream is coming from.

“So far, she’s given signs for abandoned warehouse, three men, bound with rope, guns, windows, and a breeze. She indicated that she was knocked out for a while, so we have no timing date to create a radius with,” Valeria says, watching Sierra’s every move. Her ability to stay perfectly calm despite the situation both awe-inspiring and terrifying.

“They have no idea who they’re messing with,” she says when Sierra flinches just slightly as she’s told about a guy I threw off the same bridge he’d thrown his pregnant ex-girlfriend off, “or what I’ll do to them when I find them.”

It wasn’t until an hour ago that I found out Valeria has been working a lot more closely with Elijah than I thought, going on missions with him to wipe out the list of people she memorized while she was taken captive. Neither of them told me that keeping her from being photographed mattered more for her safety than I could’ve possibly imagined.

“That’s another one that’s empty,” Ares growls, despair written all over his face as he and his wife tick of warehouses we think could meet the descriptions Sierra is trying to give us, the two of them directing joint teams of Silas Sinclair’s security personnel and ours.

Every single person that loves Sierra is here, except for Lex, Raya, and her grandmother, who aren’t aware she’s missing. It would be too triggering for Lex, and Sierra was right to demand I hide it from him, but I can’t help but wonder if maybe he could figure out where the fuck they’re keeping my wife.

“This was a gruesome one,” her captor says, his voice distorted. “Your beloved husband shot him in the stomach and watched him bleed to death.”

I can feel bile rising up my throat and take a calming breath, trying my best not to focus on the fact that all of my brothers-in-law are listening to everything that’s being said too. It isn’t just Sierra that won’t look at me the same anymore. I bury my hands in my hair, feeling fucking helpless.

“Sierra is doing well. She’s staying calm,” Luca says, his voice grim. “Her breathing looks even, and her eyes are clear.”

Zane throws me a reassuring glance, despite the pain in his eyes. “Her attention hasn’t slipped once. She’s given us clues letting us know she’s okay and repeating the same information steadily, in case we missed anything. You need to stay calm and get out of your head, because she’s going to need you when we find her.”

Raven gently squeezes my arm, her eyes red. “He’s right,” she tells me, her voice hoarse from her endless tears. “Right now, I’d just be grateful for how long that list is, and how well she’s keeping calm.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose as I stare at the screen. “She’s given us a sign to say there’s sunlight, so she’s clearly not underground. Where the fuck could she be, and why the fuck can’t we find her?”

I glance at Elijah, my emotions boiling over. “Undo that voice scrambling bullshit. None of this shit these guys are doing is working — they haven’t figured out where the feed is coming from, haven’t figured out what this guy’s source of information could be, and we can’t just sit here and expect to find her by checking abandoned warehouses without a fucking radius.”

“On it,” Elijah says instantly.

Hunter paces back and forth and pulls a hand through his hair. “Should we consider a social media appeal? Between my audience, Raven’s, and Faye’s, I think we might just be able to utilize the masses to find her.”

I shake my head. “I can’t risk that lunatic hearing about it and deciding to end his game early.”

“Zach, tell me you’re getting closer to finding something,” I ask as I glance over the list of people Sierra’s been told about so far. Zach has been helping Elijah find a link between them, but they’re both coming up empty. Most of them have been people I’ve taken out in my quest to find or avenge Valeria, but a few of them are random thugs from years ago. There’s no discernible pattern.

“Your list of enemies is too long,” Faye says, her usually sweet voice filled with uncertainty. I know they’re trying not to, but they all blame me, rightfully so. “We’re going down them one by one, checking all properties they own and their recent movements, but so far, nothing is flagging.”

“We’ve been checking all their financials,” Valentina adds, but I can’t find anything worth digging into.

I nod, and Celeste looks up at me. “Come take a look at this,” she tells me. She’s been reviewing the footage we were able to gain access to from surrounding blocks, tracking the helicopter to an open field, where it seems to have disappeared. “In this reflection, there’s a fraction of a tattoo visible.”

The image is so pixelated that it’s hard to tell, and I stare at it as our systems attempt to sharpen the image. “I’ve got his voice, I think,” Elijah shouts. He presses play just as the image of the tattoo sharpens, and my stomach drops when I recognize both the tribal tattoo and the man’s voice.

“I know where she is,” I shout as I take off running toward my helicopter, my pilot already on standby, Dion and Elijah on my heels.

Dion really fears flying, even more so in helicopters than planes, but he doesn’t even flinch as he straps himself in next to me. My heart is in my throat as we approach the warehouse I think she’s being kept at, the same one where I shot the cleaner that I’d learned had been abusing his daughter.

He’d been one of many that had been in charge of cleaning up our messes, and one day, his daughter had come to me, begging for help. I shot him in the head the next time he showed up at a site, and I should’ve just made sure he was actually dead before walking away.

I don’t know how he’s still alive, but I do know I’m to blame for what happened to Sierra. My past came back to haunt me, and she paid the price. “Hover over that field there,” I instruct as I begin to load my gun. “We’ll be shot down if we get too close. Lower me, and I’ll be able to run through the fields undetected.”

The pilot does as told, and both Elijah and Dion join me. We’ve only just made it halfway though the field when the warehouse in the distance goes up in flames, and all I can think about as I run as fast as I can is my wife strapped to that metal seat.