Page 125 of Freeing Lark

Bradley finally looked at Wren. For the first time, she saw something beneath his polished exterior. Fear. Real fear. And not just for himself. For Wren. Clearly, Calloway had been using her sister as some sort of motivator for Bradley.

And somehow, that made everything worse.

Calloway turned toward the other two men. “Leave us.”

The man from the island hesitated. “Sir?”

“You heard me.” He nodded and disappeared through the door.

The garage fell quiet. Calloway walked toward them. Lark fought the urge to shrink backward. He stopped directly in front of her. “You’ve been remarkably difficult to contain, Lark.”

She met his gaze. “I’ve caused worse problems.” All those mishaps she’d had where she blamed Murphy’s Law came to mind. But this side of it was seriously fucked.

His mouth curved. “I imagine you have.” He crouched again until they were at eye level. “You’ve uncovered things you were never supposed to see.”

Lark’s heart hammered. “What’s your point?”

His expression didn’t change. But Bradley’s did. Just slightly. Enough that Lark noticed.

Calloway noticed her noticing. “You really are observant.” Lark said nothing. Calloway stood. “Which is precisely why we have a problem.” He looked toward Bradley. “And problems, unfortunately, have to be solved.”

Wren began crying again. Lark forced herself to breathe. She had to stay calm. Had to think. Had to survive.

Because somewhere outside this garage, Cormac was looking for her. And she had to believe he would find her. She just couldn’t let these men know how much she believed it.

CHAPTER 40

Hoot had never hated standing still more in his life. He paced the length of the loading area, every muscle wound tight enough to snap. His shoulder ached beneath his suit jacket, but he barely noticed. Lark was out there somewhere, and he was stuck waiting for information.

Spark wisely kept several feet between them. He’d tried once to tell Hoot to breathe. Hoot had stared at him until Spark apparently decided he valued his life.

Now the medic stood against the wall, arms folded, watching him wear a path into the concrete. “You know,” Spark said carefully, “if you keep pacing like that, you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”

“Good.”

Spark sighed. “Want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Excellent. We’re making progress.” Hoot stopped and glared at him. Spark shrugged. “Just trying to offer emotional support.”

“You’re terrible at it.”

“I’m a medic. We’re trained to stop bleeding, not feelings.”

Despite everything, the corner of Hoot’s mouth twitched. Then his comm crackled. “Guys?” Haley’s voice came through.

“What?”

There was something in her voice. Urgency. “I had it wrong.”

Hoot’s stomach dropped. “What do you mean?”

“The SUV was a decoy.”

The two men went still. “What?”

“I tracked the vehicle. It left the property, but there was nobody inside.”