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“So, Rex, you ever use your skills for good?” Kase asks, looking back at him. I bark out a laugh at the absurdity. Rex does nothing out of the kindness of his heart.
“Much to my brother’s dismay, I have.”
I spin my head around in shock. “Fucking when?” I’m intrigued to hear what bullshit comes out of his mouth.
His jaw clicks and his eyes turn hard as he shakes his head. “You know what, never mind. You have this ill-conceived notion that I’m only a fuck-up. But you haven’t so much as said one word to me in five years, so you don’t have a fucking clue what I’ve been doing.”
A horn honks from behind me as I stare dumbfounded at him. Turning around, I inch a whole five feet forward before I whip back around. “Don’t guilt me for not calling you. The phone works both ways, little brother. And obviously my ill-conceived notion isn’t so fucking ill-conceived since you ended up being held prisoner because you were trying to steal something and I had to bail you’re ass out.”
He turns away from my glare, his face beet red, the vein in his neck about to pop. “Fuck you, big brother. I think I was better off being Sofia’s sex slave than being mocked by you.” He throws open the car door, gets out and slams it shut, stalking toward the booth.
“Goddamnit!” I roll the window down. “Get back in the fucking car, Rex.” He flips me off as he keeps walking. “I’m gonna kill him.” The wheel takes the brunt of my frustration as I pound it. I can feel Kase’s eyes on me. “What?” I clip, turning toward him.
“I’ve never seen you this emotional. Do you need to get out of the car and go for a run?” he jokes, referring to the time I made him do it. I glance over the sea of cars, inching forward a little more, pulling in my emotions. I glare at Rex walking in between the cars. “He can’t get across,” Kase says, waving his passport in his hand. “Give him a few moments to himself. He hasn’t had time to process his freedom yet.” Releasing a heavy sigh, I nod. He’s right.
By the time we pull up to border patrol, Rex is sitting in the shade, leaned up against the grey shack. Kase rolls his window down and tells him to get in.
“He with you?” the Border Patrol agent asks, watching him get in the car.
“Yes.” I hand him all of our passports. He holds up mine, comparing my picture to me, then leans in and does the same thing to Kase.
“Mr. Shaw, Mr. Nixon, nice to meet you.” He smiles, handing me back the passports. “Welcome back to America.”
It’s not uncommon for federal officials to recognize me. Although, thanks to that damn article, new friends are popping up everywhere. I glance at his badge. “You too, Agent Rodriquez.” He waves me through and being on American soil puts me in a better mood.
“Call Stone and tell him we’ll be there in two hours.”
Kase picks up his phone and relays the message. “Hmm,” he says.
The way he says it grabs my attention. “What?”
“Stone says she hasn’t left her apartment all day.” I twist my wrist to look at the time on my watch. Four fifteen. I mean, I knew she was tired, but I’m surprised she hasn’t at least left to get groceries. Nothing in her fridge would be good. I pick up my phone and call her. When she doesn’t pick up, concern builds in my stomach. “Did you check her apartment before she got there?” Different scenario’s flash in my mind but the one that stands out, freaks me the fuck out.
Kase puts him on speakerphone. “Hudson cleared the apartment right before we got there. There wasn’t enough time for someone to slip in. Hudson also took the night shift and we’re right outside her door. No one went in, Max.”
“Are her curtains still closed,” Kase asks.
“Yes.”
She’s just taking a day off from the world. Who could blame her? I drum my thumb on the steering wheel, thinking of the best way to approach this. The minuscule possibility that someone is in there with her, they’ll recognize my guys. “Can you see her door from where you’re parked?”
“Yes.”
“So, if she answered, you’d be able to see her face?”
“Definitely.”
“Let me make some calls. Call you back.”
I call a buddy of mine who works for another security team in Los Angeles. We come up with a plan. His technical guy is small compared to the rest of the team, so he won’t look like a threat. He’ll pretend to be a delivery guy. These days random people deliver packages from Amazon all the time, so he won’t look out of the ordinary. We just need her to open her door. We call Stone back with the details. Now, we wait. Except this time, with Sydney, I’m the most impatient fucker there is.
“Who’s Sydney?” Rex asked from the backseat. I want to tell him to shut the hell up. It’s his fault if something happens to her. I would have been there with her, had it not been for him. I pull into the airport, heading for the hanger where we park my plane.
“She’s a girl,” I bark. In the corner of my eye, I see Kase look back and shake his head. That’s his warning that he’s about to die.
As we’re walking up the stairs to board the plane, my phone rings. My heart slams against my ribs in anticipation. “Talk.”
“We have a problem.” I’m halted by the tone in his voice. On the last stair, I grip on to the rail and grit my teeth for control. Kase and Rex stand in the doorway awaiting the news.
