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"No, your honor," Mr. Silva says.
I know he doesn't have an order because we discussed it when we were briefing to come to Ohio. Even the judge in New Mexico was leery of putting his name on anything where Adair was concerned, and it speaks of his reach and the fear he has instilled in so many people.
"Judge, please."
I swear I can hear the man swallow as if he knows he's hours away from death.
His hands tremble as he picks up a folder from the table in front of him, and it's easy to see the fear in his posture. I have no doubt he's wishing he bolted like poor Ruby did before the hearing even got started.
"You'll have to be processed out of custody, Mr. Adair," the judge says, ignoring the prosecutor. "Please accept my sincerest apologies for the oversight that has happened here today."
Nathan nods at the man, and I have to wonder if the judge is in his pocket or if he's trying to save his own ass.
"Shouldn't take more than an hour or so," the judge tells him before adjourning court with the smack of his gavel.
When Kincaid, Shadow, and Jinx stand as if they share the same brain, I do as well and follow them from the courtroom.
"I don't think it would've made a difference," Kincaid says once we're on the elevator.
"We don't have much time," Shadow says. "We have to find her."
I stand a little taller to be associated with these men. They don't think the same way the people here in Ohio do. They don't know much about Brielle, but they trust that if I think she was taken rather than going with that man willingly, then it's what they will believe as well. It's not that they have faith in her, but they have faith in me, and right now that's all I need.
"We've set up a command center across town," Deacon says, meeting us in the parking garage.
"What did Wren find?" Kincaid asks.
Deacons shakes his head, making my chest ache. "He hit a brick wall. Some of the cameras along the path are out of order."
"Convenient," Kincaid snaps.
"He is looking through more footage to see if they pick them back up, but as we all know there's a very good chance they'll switch out vehicles. Adair has been getting away with shit for a really long time. He's an expert with this shit."
"How long have the cameras been out?" I snap.
"Don't know," Deacon says. "Wren might look into that later but, he's not going to waste time on it now."
I grind my teeth. I know the man is the best in his field, but I just know that those cameras being down have to do with the hearing today. I have no doubt they were always a part of this plan. It puts my confidence in thinking Brielle wasn't a part of this on shaky ground.
"Let's get to the command station," Kincaid says. "We can work through everything there."
At a minimum, I thought we'd have months. I was working under the assumption that even if shit didn't shake out the way we needed it to here in Ohio, Adair would be shipped back to New Mexico to face the charges there.
I never even considered that he'd be released from custody.
My hands shake all the way to the command center, a small apartment BBS was able to lease on short notice.
The guys are incredibly efficient, having filled the place with seating, a coffee machine, and a huge war table in the middle of what would normally be used as the living room.
"We're going to find her," Kincaid assures me as we step inside. "Did she ever disclose any of the different safe houses that they keep?"
I shake my head, but I bet Nathan would've taken that risk into consideration in planning all of this out. He wouldn't risk the chance of being interrupted while he exacts his punishment on her for her year-long betrayal. I can only hope that her running instead of stepping inside that courtroom today garners her enough of a fucking reprieve from his anger that we have enough time to get to her before he hurts her.
I pull in a ragged breath, wanting to find one of the empty bedrooms and curl into myself in the closet, but doing so won't help the woman I love.
Chapter 32
Brielle
