“We have one,” growled Henry.
“Who?” demanded Wes. “You keep talking about your inside source but if they’re so effective, how is it that the Black Raptor Society is still holding court?”
“My source’s identity is classified for a reason.”
Wes fixed Henry with a penetrating stare. “Fine,” he said. “But even so, maybe Hastings here has further information for us. We could use him and your source to come up with a plan. At the very least, we could hold him for ransom in exchange for something we need.”
“I work for the government, McAllen,” said Henry. “I can’t condone—”
“And I’m a cop,” interrupted Wes. “The time for following protocol is long gone, Henry. I want Nicole safe. I’m doing this, whether you help us or not.”
Suddenly, Henry took me by the arm and led me back toward the house, keeping us moving until we were out of earshot of Wes and Natasha.
“Nicole, this isn’t what we agreed on,” he said, keeping one eye on Wes over the top of my head. Wes had leapt into the bed of the truck and was now attempting to shimmy Holden toward the edge of the tailgate. “All I needed from you was to get the truth about Catherine Flynn out of Natasha. I wasn’t counting on having to deal with your hot-headed boyfriend’s poorly planned schemes.”
“We agreed to help each other out,” I said with a nod. “But I never promised to blindly follow your lead.”
“And what about Natasha? Hm? Don’t think I didn’t see that little heart-to-heart you two were having out on the porch. Did you even bother to ask her about Catherine, or do you also prefer a more direct, violent approach such as kidnapping?”
I glared at Henry. “Don’t demote me to the Raptors’ level. I asked Natasha about Catherine. She closed up. In case you haven’t noticed, she’s not very forthcoming about her past. What do you suggest I do?”
“Get close to her,” ordered Henry. “She’s your mother, for Pete’s sake. Figure it out.”
“I’ll do my best,” I replied curtly. “But in the meantime, we have a more pressing situation on our hands. Holden is bound to be a wealth of information for us. Are you really going to let Wes handle that on his own?”
For a very long minute, Henry and I simply stared at each other. A crashing thunk and a muffled yell echoed back to us from the pickup truck, bringing our silent battle to an end, and Henry walked back to the pickup truck. With Holden wedged between his boots, Wes looked down at Henry expectantly.
“All right, then,” said Henry, grabbing hold of Holden’s bound feet. “Are you going to help me drag this kid into the barn or what?”
With a reckless grin, Wes replied, “Let’s do it.”
30
As I watched Henry and Wes haul Holden out of the bed of the pickup truck, I couldn’t help but wonder how we had stooped so low. In all of the chaos, I’d never questioned my own set of values. Sure, when the Raptors had taken Wes, I had crossed some lines, but smoking out an office building and teaming up with one of the Raptors’ own didn’t seem half as bad compared to the actual act of kidnapping. Henry was right. We had officially sunken to another level. Maybe Natasha had had the right idea all those years ago. Maybe running away and letting the Raptors ruin someone else’s life was the only way to ever escape their influence.
Holden struggled against Henry and Wes, his yells of protest muffled behind the piece of duct tape across his mouth.
“Keep yelling, buddy,” said Henry, tightening his grip around Holden’s boots. “No one’s going to hear you out here.
Wes lifted Holden from beneath his armpits, and together with Henry, they marched him across the yard toward the small barn behind the farmhouse. Natasha and I followed along behind them, and I slid open the barn door so that they could slip inside without hindrance.
The barn was cold, but the frigid temperature didn’t do much to dilute the strong smell of manure and horse hair. As Henry and Wes deposited Holden on a pile of hay, a speckled mare stuck her head out over the top of her stable door and blew air through her lips. Spittle sprayed down on Holden’s head, and he threw a disgusted look upward at the horse.
“Good girl,” said Henry, patting the mare’s nose.
I planted my hands on my hips and stared down at Holden. “So what exactly is this supposed to accomplish? Now that we’ve rivaled the Raptors in the fine art of kidnapping.”
“An eye for an eye,” replied Wes. He looked at Holden with a twisted scowl. “Although I never threatened to kill him, so we’re not quite square.”
“And we’re never going to be,” I insisted. My stomach churned at the look of disgust on Wes’s face. I took his hand, leading him away from Holden, Natasha, and Henry so that I could speak to him privately. “Babe, are you all right?”
“As all right as I can be under the circumstances. Why?”
“I just… I’ve never seen this side of you before,” I admitted. I massaged his cold fingers between my own warm palms. “You seem so angry.”
“Angry?” He reached up, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear before cradling my cheek in his hand. “Nicole, that is an understatement. I’m livid that these people have worked so hard to hurt you and your family. We can’t wait around for the Raptors to lose interest in us. Even if they did, they would find someone else to terrorize. Holden is the weak link. If we can get him to talk, we can figure out the best way to tear down the Raptors from the inside.”
“And what makes you think he’s going to tell you anything useful or true?” I asked. I glanced over
