“I’m glad he’s working on it, but I already called someone.” She’d known exactly what Henry would want her to do. This was beyond what Nate had done in the past. She knew he would try his hardest, but she felt better with her choice.
“I’ll go grab our order from Stella’s.” Holly got up from her seat. Laura had been running around town trying to help out their overworked sheriff’s department, but Holly had stayed right by her side.
“I can’t…” She took Poppy into her arms. She had to eat. She fed their baby, and her fear couldn’t take priority. “Thank you.”
Holly nodded. “And I’m calling Stef. I think you should move in there for a while.”
She wanted to argue, but it made sense. Talbot Manor had good security, and she would have help. There was so much she still couldn’t do for herself.
“Tell him I’m going to need a room close to hers,” Michael said. “And I’m going to want to look at his security.”
“Wait, Jen and baby Logan are there.” She hadn’t thought about the fact that she could be putting the Talbots at risk.
Holly frowned her way. “Do not let Stef or Jen hear you say that. They won’t let you go anywhere else. I would take you to our place, but we don’t have the same security. What Stef does have is enough rooms for me to stay with you, too. Michael can protect your body and I’ll hold your hand.” Before Nell could protest, Holly was shaking her head. “Don’t argue with me. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes. This is going to be fine. If what Seth told you is true, they won’t have killed him.”
No. They were going to sell him to someone who would kill him.
How far away was he? Was he hurt? Was he praying she made the right moves to find him?
Holly pushed through the door, and it wasn’t more than a moment or two before Nate walked in. His uniform was wrinkled and there were spots of blood marring the khakis, but that was from the accident earlier in the day.
He pulled his hat off as he approached her. “Nell, I need you to understand that I’m on this. I’m not going to stop until I find Henry. I’m going to call in some law enforcement from around the area so Cam and I can work on this. He’s got contacts.”
She forced back a groan as she shifted. This would have been so much easier if she hadn’t been split down the middle and stapled back up. She patted Poppy’s back as she looked up at the sheriff. “I appreciate everything you’ve done, and normally I would put this all into your hands, but I don’t think you can solve this. If we don’t find Henry in twenty-four hours, we have to suspect that he’ll be taken out of the country. You can’t work there.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes,” Nate vowed.
She heard someone moving out in the hall and breathed a sigh of relief. He’d told her he would be here quickly, and it looked like he’d kept that promise. She was going to have to buy a whole lot of carbon footprint offsets, but for once she was grateful for private planes. “You won’t have to because I called in some favors.”
“I don’t think he’ll call it a favor,” Michael pointed out. “I think he’ll call it a family responsibility.”
There was a quick knock and then a big man with sandy blond hair was walking through accompanied by another man with golden-brown hair. Ian Taggart was dressed casually and had a duffel bag over his shoulder.
Tennessee Smith carried one as well. She’d never met the man, but Taggart had told her he was in Dallas and wouldn’t be left behind. Introductions were quickly made and Nate offered the former CIA agents use of the station house as a base of operations.
“Thank you, Sheriff Wright,” Ian replied. “We’ve already got a line on the group that has Henry. I’ve got a couple of hackers, one who has some ties to people on the Deep Web, and we’ve identified a group of mercenaries who do work for some shady people. They’re based in Colorado Springs, and we caught them on a few of the traffic cameras between here and there. We’re working on real estate in the area where they could keep him until they move him out.”
“It’s harder here than in a city,” Ten Smith explained. “But you need to understand that even if they move him, they won’t kill him. From what we’ve uncovered, a couple of lower-level members of the Jalisco cartel believe the rumors that Henry knows where a fortune in drugs and cash is stored.”
“He doesn’t.” Ian set his bag down. “From what I’ve managed to piece together, one of the partners used Henry’s faked death to steal a shit ton of money and blame it on him. Henry’s got no clue and that dude is now dead, so we’re working with people who have no idea what’s going on.”
None of this made her feel any better. She held on to her daughter. “If Henry doesn’t know anything, he doesn’t have anything to barter with.”
“Ah, but I actually consider it good news.” Tag moved in front of her. “Henry is going to figure out what’s going on. He knows how to play this game better than anyone.”
“He’s been here before,” Ten added. “He’s tough. He’ll play for time and we will find him, and then we’re getting rid of the problem for good.”
“By putting them all in jail?” Nell asked.
Ten’s face went still. “Uh…”
Ian nodded, an oddly angelic expression coming over his face. “Yep. Jail for all of them. We’ll make sure of it.”
Nell felt tears slip from her eyes.
