A pause as Lear complies. “Nothing. Everybody is gone. What’s up?”
“I don’t know,” Uncle Harry says. “I just had a thought—what if he never left the warehouse? That’s the simplest explanation.”
Lear hums thoughtfully. “You aren’t wrong. Let me…” the thermal imaging screen jumps, zooming outward to take in a larger section of the area. “Bingo. There must be a connection between the warehouses, an underground supply tunnel or something. Because look—three bodies here, in this warehouse across the street.”
He trains a satellite on the warehouse, just as three bodies exit the building—each dressed identically in jeans and a black top, black hat. Indistinguishable. Three identical white sedans wait in a line, one individual getting into a car each.
They pull away, and scatter in three different directions.
“Shit.” Harris turns away. “One of those was him.”
“I can’t follow all three. Plus the Range Rover, plus the three in the van. Could have been any of them.” Lear tugs his headset off. “This was a slick operation, boss. Lots of moving parts, well planned, well executed. They knew our basic capabilities and took them into account.”
Harris finally looks at me. “We’ll find him, honey. I promise.”
“How?” I ask, my voice breaking. “And what will happen to him in the meantime?”
He shakes his head. “Rasmussen is our best bet. Lear—you still have the Range Rover?”
“Negative. We were tracking the van, not the Rover.”
“I find it hard to believe Spaulding or whoever is behind this is planning to carry out the rest of the operation here in the US,” Harris responds. “Watch all flights out of the US from the East Coast to Europe, public and private.”
I make a decision—the man I love is out there. I have to do something—anything. “Uncle Harry?”
He eyes me, but I can tell he’s thinking and only somewhat focused on me. “I’m going with Anselm.”
This shakes him from his thoughts. “You’re what?”
“I’m going with Anselm and Duke to Europe.”
“No, you aren’t.” He pulls out his phone, preparing to call my father, I would assume.
I lift my chin. “I’m an adult, Harris. Neither you nor my father can stop me. I’m going. We don’t know where Apollo is, now. We can’t track him, and we don’t know for sure where they’re taking him, or what they even want—although I have to assume it’s not anything pleasant. Which means our only hope is to get ahead of them and figure out where they could be going. And you said the last lead anyone had on Rasmussen was Spain. Therefore, I am going to Spain. And I will do whatever I have to do to find Apollo.”
My uncle eyes me steadily, thoughtfully. “I don’t like it. Your father will like it even less. It’s not smart, honey. You need to let us do what we do best.”
“You want me to just sit around and do nothing?”
“Not nothing. Wait for us to do our jobs: get Apollo back, and get Yelena back. We can and we will, I promise.”
“Fine.” I hook my purse over my shoulder and stomp angrily, determinedly for the exit, heels clicking noisily.
Harris’s hand latches onto my arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I yank my arm out of his grip. “I’ll go on my own, then. Start asking questions, see if I can find this Rasmussen guy on my own.”
“You’ll be dead within an hour of asking your first question, Corinna. Men like Rasmussen and Spaulding don’t like people asking questions about them. Especially not rich American girls.”
“And that will be on you. I can go on my own, or I can go with Anselm and Duke.” I meet his gaze, not flinching or backing down, despite the cold anger in his green eyes. “And I’m not just some rich American girl, Harris—I’m Corinna fucking Roth, and thatmeanssomething. Iwillfind my man, and I won’t stop at anything until I do.”
Harris pivots away from me, scraping a hand over his scalp. “God fucking dammit, Rin.”
“If it was you missing, what do you think Auntie Lay-Lay would do? You think she’d just sit around on her ass?”
Harris laughs, bitterly, reluctantly. “Hell no.”
“She’d tear Europe apart with her bare hands until she found you.” I poke his chest. “And if it was Dad missing, what would Mom do? Oh, wait, we actually know the answer to that one—she went in guns blazing and literally started killing people until she found him and got him back. What did she do when I was missing? Hmm?” I tap my chest. “That’sthe family I come from, Uncle Harris. And if you think I’m going to do any fucking less than what they would do, you don’t know me very well.”
