Page 130 of Drowning in Darkness

“Thirty,” Fox interjects.

Stephanie searches my face before giving me a soul-searing kiss that has me growling into her mouth and pushing her against a wall.

“Save that for later,” Honor grumbles.

I pull away when Camryn appears in the open doorway and tilts her head. Honor clasps Stephanie’s hand and starts to pull her away. I entwine my fingers in her free hand and smile at her. “I’ll be watching.”

“I know. You owe me a date with three types of ice cream and a romcom marathon.”

I fight a grin. “I agreed to no such thing.”

“Don’t worry. I promise you’ll enjoy my version of it.”

Her hand falls out of mine, and she disappears down the hallway with Honor. Fox stalks behind them, watchful, attentive, and dangerous. I know a capable man when I see one.

“In here,” Camryn commands, gesturing for me to go back into the room with her. I follow after, my skin tight and itchy.

Once inside, Camryn closes the door and locks it before going over to the small table and taking a seat in the armchair beside it. She has a laptop set up and a slew of tech necessary for the job. I sit in the opposite chair, waiting for her to begin.

“Alright.” Camryn pulls up an app on her computer, and I watch the three little dots that move within a blueprint layout of the building. “Stephanie has three trackers to plant on Christopher. You can see them right here. It’s live, of course, so we’ll be able to see them wherever they go.”

I bob my head, but my jaw is still tight. I don’t relax into the chair at all either, my eyes narrowed on the screen.

“Hey, you were the one who suggested this.” Camryn raises her brows at me, putting her elbows on her knees.

“I know. But I can still be upset that we couldn’t think of anything better.”

“Fair enough.” The detective’s eyes go distant for a moment, and when they snap back to me, all I see is fury. “But I’ve learned that he’s got three other girls, James, not just one. I’ve got to hand it to Stephanie—she wants to protect them, and hell, I do too.”

“Three?” I cock a brow, leaning forward to mirror her posture. “How’d you discover that?”

Camryn tenses and shakes her head. “Don’t ask. All you need to know is that the information is good.”

I don’t push it. I’m not about to make a stink over something small like that right now. There’s too much going on, and I just want to take the bastard down. Christopher is a smug prick, and if this can finally take him off the map, I’ll be thrilled.

“Fine. Any word on the leak?”

Camryn sighs, leaning back in her chair. “Yeah, we’ve made some progress, and I think I’ve landed an AD who isn’t a greedy son of a bitch. We’ll run everything through him now.”

“Name?”

“Alex Prince. But at this rate, you can never be too careful, so why don’t you do what you do and get every bit of information you can on the guy.”

“Done,” I reply, committing the name to memory. “I’ll check him out.”

“Good.” Camryn turns back to the screen, pointing at the dots that have reached the main floor. “I gave Stephanie three trackers in the hopes that she can put them in different places on his person. If he takes off his jacket before he goes to where he’s keeping the girls, we’ll need another tracker somewhere else. I briefed Stephanie on the best places to put them and reminded her not to be too obvious. The last thing we need is Christopher figuring us out, but we have men in the room in case that happens.”

All I can think of now is something going wrong. I can picture Christopher snatching Stephanie and dragging her out some unknown back door, taking her to some horrible hole in the wall to be his personal plaything. My stomach roils, and I squeeze my hands into fits.

“We’ll do everything we can to keep her safe, James.”

I flick my eyes up to Camryn, who has clearly picked up on my mood. “We better.”

“Here.” Camryn takes an earpiece from the table and hands it to me. “Stephanie, Fox, and I all have receivers as well, so you can listen to what’s going on.”

I slip it in pace, taking a modicum of comfort in being able to hear Stephanie’s clear voice in the crowded ballroom. At least now I won’t lose my mind.

Camryn stands, and I follow her to the door, which she pulls open as soon as I’m beside her. “And because I’m not a moron, I know you need to be out there and can do it without being seen. Go protect our girl.”