Page 81 of Claimed By the Damned
I take a breath, the weight of the other discovery settling heavily. “The financial trail tie into the recent security glitch… the money trail for the payoffs… it leads back to someone on our payroll.”
Bastian’s expression hardens instantly. “Who?”
I pull up the sidelined file, spinning my chair to face him. "Luke Bradley. Perimeter security. One of Grim's guys."
Silence. Ryker goes utterly still, the restless energy vanishing, replaced by something cold and dangerous. His gaze flicks to Bastian, then back to me, absolute focus.
Then Bastian exhales. “We hold off for now. We don’t tip our hand until we’re ready.”
Ryker’s muscles stay coiled tight. "We’re just gonna let him walk around like nothing’s wrong?"
“For now,” Bastian confirms. "He's finished. He just doesn't know it yet. And he is not allowed anywhere near Lila. Don't worry, we'll keep a close eye on him."
I send a quick message, summoning Grim. Within moments, his heavy footsteps echo down the hall before he storms into the room, eyes scanning the screen, then narrowing at the name.
A harsh breath grates out of Grim, his jaw tightening until the muscles stand out like cords. “Luke Bradley.” He says the name like it tastes foul. His face, usually a mask of stoic menace, flickers with something raw, disbelief warring with a dawning, savage fury.Luke.A name tied to years of shared blood, sweat and tears. A man he’d trusted with his back in firefights that would make hell look like a vacation. “He’s been on my books for decades. Went through hell and back together. Trusted him with my life... fuck, trusted him with hers.” The last word is a bitten-off curse, the realization that this man, thisbrother-in-arms, could have exposed Lila, our pregnant Lila, to unthinkable danger hitting him like a physical blow. His eyes scan the screen again, disbelief chased instantly by a cold, dangerous rage.
“He’s been on Lila’s detail more than once.” He shakes his head slowly, disgust twisting his mouth. “That son of a bitch. I knew his markers were piling up, the gambling… but this? This level of treachery?” “I should’ve seen it coming. Iknew he had gambling problems, debts that kept pulling him under with the wrong kind of sharks.” His voice drops, roughened by bitterness aimed squarely at himself. “Just didn’t think… didn’t think he’d sellusout for it. For a bit of fuckingmoney.”
Bastian watches him carefully. “I know.”
Grim doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Then, quiet, dripping menace, he mutters, “I don’t take well to people who lie to me. Or to those who put the people I care about in danger.”
He turns to Bastian. “What’s the call?”
Bastian’s voice is cold. “We wait. We use him. And when the time is right—he’s yours.”
Grim nods once and turns to leave, the promise hanging heavy in the air. But before he's fully out the door, his phone buzzes audibly. He glances down, his expression instantly hardening. He stops, turning back, phone still clutched in his hand.
"Problem," he states flatly, his voice tight.
Bastian straightens, alert. "What now?"
"Just got an alert," Grim reports, his eyes narrowing. "Perimeter check pinged an anomaly half an hour ago. Luke Bradley isn't accounted for. He missed his last check-in."
Silence slams down in the room.
Bastian’s brows draw together. "Missed check-in? Or gone?"
"Assume gone until proven otherwise," Grim growls. "I'll pull the logs—"
"Already on it," I interrupt, fingers flying across the keyboard, accessing the security feeds Grim pinged. "West perimeter... disabled camera feed... timestamp matches the timeframe... Searching adjacent feeds..." Something ugly coils in my stomach. "Wait..."
I freeze the image on the main monitor, enlarging it. The grainy picture is a punch to the gut.
Grim sucks in a breath beside me. He reaches for the tablet linked to the security server, quickly mirroring the feed and highlighting key data points I just uncovered, the disabled camera icon flashing red, the exact timestamp matching Luke’s missing check-in, the specific path taken through a known blind spot. He shoves the tablet towards Bastian and Ryker. "Confirming Ethan's findings. Disabled sensors here... blind spot exploitedhere. This was planned."
Bastian leans forward, his expression going dark as he focuses on the image I have displayed.
The grainy image shows Luke Bradley leading Lila off the compound.
She isn’t struggling. She isn’t fighting. Her posture is tense, her fingers clenched tight at her sides, except for one hand, which clutches a folded piece of paper. There’s no fear on her face, just... resignation? Uncertainty? Her gaze is fixed somewhere beyond the camera's view.
It looks like she’s going willingly. But what the hell is in her hand?
Willingly?The thought hits me—cold, impossible.No. It can't be.Blood hammers in my ears.
Bastian’s voice is dangerously low. "When did this happen?"
