AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"I'm tapped into all the Coast Guard's communication, Andrew's, and his father's, too. If I find anything, I'll let you know," he assures me.
"You'll find something," I reply, the desperation clear in my voice. And then it hits me like a ton of bricks. This means Andrew just killed his fiancée and her family.
"Why would he do it?" I ask.
"That's what you'll let me find out," my uncle replies, his voice firm and determined. "I just thought you should know because this will be all over the news, and Poppy is going to see it."
"Shit!" I curse as I grasp my jaw. I know Poppy, and she isn't going to take this well.
"Andrew knows the cameras have been found," I state. We turned off all communication with them. He must be going insane. "We were waiting for him to react to that, Uncle Dan. This is his reaction."
"What are you thinking?” He asks.
What am I thinking? Well, I'm thinking like a monster. It's the only way to catch one. Andrew is obsessed with Poppy; that much is clear.
I begin to pace the empty hallway. It's lined with frames of the weapons Sterling Defense has designed. The hot Dallas sunshine streams in from the window at the end of the hallway, bathing the room in a warm golden glow. It hits the frames just right, illuminating the weapons.
Weapons. Men love them; we have an arsenal of them tucked away to use when needed. Finally, Andrew is using some of his.
Guess what, Prick? My weapons are better. I'll win this war and get the girl.
"We cut off Andrew's obsession; he can't see Poppy. He can't have her because his father arranged this social wedding of a lifetime. So he did something reckless. He got rid of Kimberly because he wants Poppy back. If he can't watch Poppy from afar, then he's going to try to get her again," I voice.
Uncle Dan’s pause tells me he thinks my idea could be right. "I've got a team watching her," he replies as if that will assure me.
"I should take her and get the hell out of here," I mutter to myself, frustration boiling under my skin. Andrew's off the rails, taking down a plane like it's all just a game to him. A guy with no limits is a guy who doesn't see the cliff until he's halfway down it. But that recklessness is exactly what's going to trip him up. He's bound to screw up big, leave us something we can use to pin him down for good. It's a waiting game now, a game of patience and precision.
"That could only make Poppy more scared. Let Andrew come. We will be here. Nothing is going to happen to Poppy.” Uncle Dan stresses.“Julian, we need to catch him red-handed if we want to do this the right way."
"What if we want to do it another way?" I reply as I rest my hand against the frame of one of our top-selling weapons.
His exhale is loud. "Andrew is all over the news. He can't just disappear suddenly. We need to be smart about this."
"I'm not going to wait forever." I hiss.
"Neither is Andrew." Uncle Dan's reply is sharp. "Let him be the one to fuck up, not you, Julian." Then the line goes dead.
I brace my hands against the window, feeling the warmth of the sun seep through the glass into my palms. The tranquility of the moment contrasts sharply with the storm brewing inside me.
"What. The. Fuck. Is. Going. On?" Theo hisses from behind me, his voice slicing through the silence like a knife.
Startled, I whirl around to find him leaning against the conference room door I had stormed out of moments earlier. The door he followed me through and then quietly shut, while I was too consumed by a maelstrom of shock and fury to notice. My guard was down, a rare occurrence, and now I'm cornered, forced to answer for it.
Chapter 16
Theo
I've made a lot of fucked-up decisions in my life. I felt like I lost my family after my mom died, so when I was in college, I made a new one. Granted, my blood doesn't agree with my new brothers. At least Uncle Dan doesn’t.
That’s because he’s scared.
Sure, Uncle Dan heads the CIA, but in the dark corners of the world, there are groups of people who don’t have to follow the rules or laws of governments. Uncle Dan knows this. He's not one of those men; he's trapped following the rules.
I’m a part of something Uncle Dan can’t save me from. That’s why he's disappointed, but he’s also smart. He knows I’m protected. Safe.
My brother isn’t.
Julian's fucking putting his toes into waters filled with sharks, and since this involves Poppy, that means I have no choice but to intervene and tell my new brothers. I just need to do it carefully. I didn’t mean to betray Julian. I was looking out and paying back a debt for a friend, a new brother. That debt involved watching Poppy. My friend’s worry that Poppy needed to be watched is now completely justified.
