Traded (Blood Ties Book 5)

My phone vibrated on the desk in front of me and drew my gaze. I lifted my head, snatched the thing as it shuddered, and glanced at the caller ID.

Hale…

I clenched my jaw and stared as the number flashed over and over and over until it went to voicemail. He wouldn’t leave a message, that I knew. No, he’d wait until tomorrow, then he’d call again and wait for the moment I gave in and answered. I shoved my chair back and rose from the desk while I rubbed the corded tension in the back of my neck.

Unreadable files.

The words were a thorn in my goddamn side. It’d taken the hackers days to pick apart the computer system we’d found in King’s apartment, only for them to come back with that. I ground my teeth and tore my gaze from the words as my phone vibrated on the desk once more.

“Sonofa—” I snarled and snatched it, ready to hit the button and answer the bastard’s call. But he wouldn’t like the outcome, I was damn sure of that.

But the moment I snatched up my phone and saw the number on the screen, I stopped. Because it wasn’t Hale’s. I lift it to my ear and answered the call.

“We have him. We have the bastard!” Harper barked in my ear.

“King?”

“No, Daniels. We have Daniels.”

I winced and braced my hand on the edge of the desk. It wasn’t really the information I was hoping for, but I’d take it. “Give it to me.”

“Ever heard of the Vault?”

“The black-market facility for information.”

“Yeah, the one we use from time to time. Men we pay to access certain information. Well, Mr. Daniels is one of the key players.”

I jerked my head upward. “He is?”

My mind raced as I tried to think of how that fit.

“And according to my source, he has not just information on Hale, but on the other splinter cells, as well.”

My heart hammered at the words. “Daniels? Macoy Daniels.”

“Macoy Daniels,” Harper repeated. “Hale didn’t just keep him around for his vile need to destroy you, but for the weasel’s ability to hide information.”

Maybe I don’t need King?

The thought filled me. “Fuck.”

“Fuck, indeed. I’ll send you what we found. The rest is up to you.”

I gave a nod. “Thanks for this.”

“Just promise me one thing. When you find the information you need, tear that bastard to the ground.”

In my head, I saw the piece of shit standing between her legs with his hands on her thighs and the fly of his pants undone. “Oh, believe me…there will not be a damn thing left of him by the time I’m done.”

“Good,” Harper answered before he ended the call.

It floored me for a second. I’d always thought Daniels was a slimy piece of shit, but I hadn’t thought he actually had a purpose, let alone a purpose that’d been kept hidden from me. That nerve twitched in the corner of my eye as I straightened. I snatched my keys from the corner of the desk as I rounded it and grabbed my jacket.

Carven…

I lifted my phone and typed a message, but I stopped before I hit send. I needed him here, protecting her. Even if I had another way to get the information I wanted, she was still the only thing worth protecting. I backspaced instead, then typed:

I’m out. I’ll be back later.

Then I slipped the phone into my pocket. Whatever information Daniels had, it was something I needed to find out alone. I strode from the study and out of the house, then climbed into my Audi, now that it was fixed. The entire front had needed to be replaced after Vivienne’s little joyride. Still, I loved her damn spirit.

I started the engine and backed out, left the house behind, and went the long way around to the storage yard. By the time I got there, my mind was a damn mess trying to piece it all together. I watched my rear-view mirror as I slowly turned and pulled into the street.

My chest tightened at the sight of the warehouse. I was risking too much, gambling too lightly. Not only did I have Castlemaine here, I had Daniels, as well. In the same goddamn room, too. That random water leak wore at me as I pulled into the driveway, entered the code, and waited for the towering gates to open.

Razor wire drew my gaze. It took my mind back to that night, the one when Vivienne had crashed my damn car into the gate in front of me. I shifted my gaze to the slight buckle that remained in the damn thing. The woman had left a lasting impact…

Just giving daddy what he paid for

My hands clenched around the wheel. I glanced at my phone, but I didn’t yet have the cameras set up in her new room. No, now I had something new to track. I lifted my gaze to the gate as it rolled open, then pulled the car into the parking space before I killed the engine and snatched my phone from the console.

A swipe of my thumb unlocked the thing and I opened up the app.

13 days.

Thirteen days until I made good on my promise and claimed her, body, mind, and soul. I glanced at the app, the one which tracked her cycle.

Think of the implications!

The doctor’s roar resounded in my mind as I strode to the entrance and unlocked the door with my code. Two armed men stood in the foyer, one obviously waiting for me.

“Status?” I demanded.

“The leak has been fixed. It was some problem within the sprinkler system, somehow it was overridden. But we’ve fixed that and all rooms have been checked. We were just transferring Mr. Castlemaine back to his room.”

I followed him along the corridor to the room Jack shared with the vile fucking bastard who was now a lot more useful to me than I’d realized. If it hadn’t been for Vivienne, I would never have known how damn important the piece of shit really was.

We stopped outside the door and as I waited for the guard to unlock it, a chill swept through me, raising the hairs on the back of my neck. The door to the room swung open and movement came from inside. But the edges of my vision were nothing but a blur. One that made my heart boom as I slowly stepped inside.

Jack Castlemaine stood at one end of the room, glaring at Daniels.

“No…no…” Daniels shook his head the moment he saw me and stepped backwards as his eyes widened.

The guard followed me in and closed the door behind us.

“The Vault,” I said carefully. “I want you to tell me about it.”

Daniels froze, which was more telling than anything else, and as I watched, he changed in front of me. Gone was the whimpering mess he’d portrayed himself to be. His spine straightened, not that he had a lot of that in the first place. I held his stare as I watched him relax, those pale lips barely curling at the edges.

“You want to threaten me?” he murmured as he glanced behind me at the guard with a shrug. “Go ahead. You won’t find out a damn thing.”

I said nothing, just fixated on every flinch he tried to hide as I moved closer. Jack didn’t move in the corner of my eye, just watched as I stopped in front of the…pathetic excuse for a human.

No… NO!

Vivienne’s screams resounded in my head as I stared into the depths of his rotten soul. “There are no threats from me, Daniels. That’s one thing you should know. It was a hard lesson Killion learned.”

There was a twitch in his cheek.

His breaths deepened.

“But he did,” I continued. “Right before Ryth shoved a knife into his groin and sliced through his artery, then her stepbrother pressed a gun to his head…and blew his brains out.”

Then there were no breaths from Daniels.

No color, either.

It drained from his face, to leave him ashen and empty.

“I could replay it for you,” I offered. “Or I could give you a blow-by-blow recount of how he begged for his life. After all, I not only set up the entire thing, but I recorded it, as well. Every. Perfect. Moment…of his end.”

“You…” he panted. “You bastard.”

He saw me then, saw me for what I truly was.

I was a result.

And the end for all their vile fucking games.

“But you won’t have that end,” I continued softly. “No. I have something special planned for you, unless you decide to change my mind. Now.” I stepped closer, so close I almost touched him. “I’d like you to tell me about the Vault.”

Daniels shook his head, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

“No,” he denied. “No…”

“There’s always Pen though, right, Daniels?” Jack Castlemaine broke his silence.

I slowly looked over my shoulder. “What did you say?”

His gaze was unflinching. “His sister, Penelope Brooks, he calls her Pen.” He shifted his eyes to Daniels.

“No…” Daniels hissed. “No, you fucking don’t.”

But Jack didn’t stop. “She’s his sister, currently living in an assisted living community near here in Green Acres.”

Daniels released a moan.

“A place Daniels visits every other Thursday,” Jack continued. “And he pays her bills. He loves her, as much as someone like Daniels could love.” He shifted that icy stare my way. “You could always start there.”

Adrenaline raced through my veins.

It was what I’d needed.

A way to break him.

I gave a slow nod and stepped backwards as I reached for my phone.

“No,” Daniels forced through clenched teeth as I swiped my phone open and selected my contacts. “NO”!”

I pressed the number and lifted the phone to my ear. It was answered on the second ring. “I have a job for you,” I stated.

“NO! NO, YOU SONOFABITCH!” Daniels roared.

“Penelope Brooks, living in an assisted living facility in Green Acres.”

“OKAY!” he broke, and slowly crumbled to the floor. “I’ll tell you…I’ll fucking tell you!”

I stopped and turned my head.

“I‘ll fucking tell you!”

He sounded broken. A pity. I would’ve loved to watch real agony descend for the bastard. Daniels shook his head. “I’ll tell you whatever you want.”

“The Vault,” I pushed.

“Fine.” He looked up at me. Were there fucking tears in his eyes? “I’ll tell you.”

“No,” I answered coldly. “You’ll do better than that. You’ll take me.”

He just nodded as tears slipped down his cheeks. “Fine, whatever you want.”

My gut clenched at the sight of his blubbering. Hale trusted this piece of shit with his fucking information? I don’t know which one of them disgusted me more. I lifted my phone. “Stand down for now. I’ll let you know if I need you.”

“Will do,” came the voice on the other end right as I ended the call.

I glanced at the guard behind me, a guard I trusted with the storage yard, that was all. But I couldn’t call Carven, or Colt. I needed them right where they were, guarding the only thing in my life worth protecting.

“Use me,” Jack said. “Let me come with you. You trusted me before, so trust me now.”

I turned back to the man who’d been useful to a point. A man I’d used and manipulated and kept like a prisoner in this place, waiting for the moment I could use him again.

Trust.

It was such a fragile thing.

“How did you know about the sister?”

Jack just gave a shrug. “You have your sources and I have mine.”

I fought the quirk in the corners of my lips.

“You do this and you’ll start a war you can’t bluff your way out of,” Daniels warned.

But I didn’t look away from Jack. “Who said I was bluffing?” In an instant, I knew. This was what I’d felt right before I stepped in here. This was what I was meant to find. “Can I trust you, Castlemaine?”

“As much as I can trust you,” he answered.

Damn if that wasn’t the truth.

“You’ll all die for this,” Daniels barked as I turned to the guard behind me. “Gather what weapons you’ll need, we’re taking a road trip.”

The Vault was exactly what it promised. I stared at the black mirrored-glass front wall of the building as I sat in the vehicle. From what I could see, there was only one way in and out, and that way was fitted with electronic locks and cameras. No doubt there’d be a swift and deadly reaction the moment we gained access. At least Daniels was right about one thing…this was…suicide.

“You sure you’re ready for this?” Jack asked beside me as he stared at the same damn problem I had.

I waited for my racing thoughts to slow as I tried to pick apart every damn scenario of how this might play out.

But there were no thoughts. There was no planning…

There was just a face.

And those commanding brown eyes as she looked up at me from her knees. “No, but I’ll do it anyway.”

He followed as I strode to the Explorer parked in front. The driver’s door cracked open and the guard climbed out.

“Watch our backs, Seb.” I opened the hatchback of the four-wheel drive, pulled out the drawer, and grabbed the bolt cutter. “This could turn ugly fast.”

“Will do.” He pulled his gun as I closed the back and strode around to the vehicle’s back door.

“Out,” I commanded as I opened the door and scanned the street.

Green Acres turned out to be the perfect location, an hour’s drive from the city in a quieter but more exclusive town. There was money here, and it showed, from the Bentleys and Range Rovers which lined the streets to the suits at midday on the men who passed. They kept their heads down, their focus not on our business as they passed. Which was a good thing. Because today our business was violence.

Daniels slipped out, still glaring at me. I ignored the heat of his stare, grabbed his arm, and shoved him forward. “Move.”

He stumbled as we cut across the street toward the building. Jack was behind me, not running, not causing any concern. He wanted this as much as I did. I felt it in him, that same hunger that drove me. Not for the first time, that surge of confusion rose where he was concerned. But I pushed that aside and drove Daniels ahead of me across the street.

A pang cut across my chest as I lifted my gaze to the cameras. “Get us inside.”

“He’s watching,” the bastard said as he followed my stare. “He’ll come for you.”

“Not if I come for him first,” I responded. “Inside, now.”

He stepped up to the access pad and punched in a sequence of eight digits. I didn’t watch him; it didn’t matter. I had no intention of coming back to this place after I’d taken what I came for.

The locks clicked open and Daniels pushed the mirrored door inward. The moment I was inside, I realized it wasn’t just mirrored glass, but reinforced, as well. Bulletproof. Fireproof. But not London-proof. Right now, that was all that mattered.

I shoved him forward as the interior lights came on automatically. Jack’s steps were strangely comforting behind me, even though I missed the ruthlessness of the sons.

That pang in my chest grew savage. As the lights came on, illuminating the hallway to a set of steel doors in the back of the building, I recognized the ache for what it was…fear.

Beep.

My phone chimed. I pulled it from my pocket.

Hale:

What the fuck are you doing, London?

I stared at the message as my pulse pounded. “Get us inside, Daniels.”

His eyes were wide as he met my stare. He knew. He fucking knew.

There was nothing I wouldn’t do to keep my family safe. I gripped the cutters in one hand and clenched the other, my thumb moving to massage the faint mark around my finger. Desperation filled me as Daniels stepped up to a keypad and pressed his thumb to the screen.

A green light came on the sensor a second later and the heavy vault door unlocked with a click. In front of me, the three-inch steel door swung open. No one moved, not for a second, until Daniels glanced at me. “I tried to warn you.”

With my heart thudding, I stepped forward and pushed the heavy door further open. The room was a giant safe. Numbered steel boxes lined the walls. My breath caught at the sheer number of them, and I scanned the rest of the room as the lights above brightened.

“Jesus,” I whispered as I stepped further into the vault.

“You wanted the information, then here it is,” Daniels muttered. “But it won’t help you.”

I jerked my gaze toward him.

“It’s all encrypted,” he said, but when he said it, his focus shifted.

“What do you mean encrypted?”

Daniels just fixed me with a cold-blooded stare. “You didn’t think he’d just hand it all over, did you?”

That same panic rose. But I swallowed it as I watched his eyes flick to a drawer on our right.

“Hale is the other person you’ll want,” Daniels added as he smirked. “He is the key to unlock all this.”

I shifted my gaze to Jack, who said nothing, just stared.

“That was why he wanted you,” I said, as the pieces fell into place. “Because you were one half of a key.”

Of course it was. Hale did nothing unless it served him. All I had to do was to look around to know that. Rage tore through me as I fixed on this vile…sick…bastard. “So, let’s make good on our deal and send you to him.”

I gripped the bolt cutters and stepped forward.

“London…” Jack started.

But it was too late.

Far too late.

No…NO!

Vivienne’s screams resounded inside my head as I grasped the bastard by the shirt and drove him backwards. I was that hunter, that killer…that ruthless empty shell of a man I once more. Daniels stumbled under the sheer force of my thrust. He windmilled his arms as he tripped and slammed back against the steel boxes along the wall.

“If he wants you back,” I snarled as I reached down and grabbed his hand. “Then that’s what I’ll give him.”

“NO!” the bastard screamed. “NO!!”

I lifted his hand and closed the jaws of the cutters around his thumb. Emptiness consumed me as I forced my weight onto the steel and bore down.

Daniels screamed and howled, his eyes wide.

Inside my head, the thrashing of the woman I loved drowned out his sounds of agony.

Crunch.

Blood flew, sliding down the tool until it hit the floor at the same time as the thumb. He clutched his wrist as I released him and fell to the floor. I was so calm, so utterly fucking empty as I bent and picked up the thumb from the floor. I dropped the cutters and reached into my pocket with the other hand.

I wrapped the thumb in my handkerchief and glanced around at the steel drawers. “Encrypted, huh?” I muttered as I stepped forward and pressed the drawer for it to slide open. The small chip inside gleamed under the overhead lights. “I bet this one isn’t.”

“Fuck YOU!” Daniels screamed, until the glint of the chip caught his eye.

Fear made him gasp and widen his stare as I lifted the thumb toward the tiny chip. “Whose is this, Daniels?” I shifted my gaze and bored into his. “Answer the question…whose…is…this?”