Page 87 of Her Captivated Hero

“I will.”

* * *

“There.”Hunter pointed to a parking spot in a secluded corner that butted up to the children’s playground.

Gray and Hunter exited the Mercedes sedan at a leisurely pace, not wanting call any attention to themselves. Most of the Abu Dhabi military and emergency personnel were at the hotel. According to Wyatt they had cordoned off the entire building where the gala had been held. Aiden and Dalton had somehow made it up to the suite. Gray would find out how they had managed that Houdini trick later, in the meantime he and Hunter needed to get information from the Saudi who had escaped.

“We see the cricket pitch,” Hunter whispered into the phone. “Where are you?”

Hunter listened to Griff, then pointed to a copse of trees that were fifty meters east of the cricket field. “I see it,” he said into the phone, then he put it away.

Gray was surprised to see so many people out at night. The city was very cosmopolitan. There were even a few people picnicking.

“How in the hell did Griff manage to have a chase scene in this park?” Gray asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Hunter said. “Do you notice it’s mostly couples and families?”

“Kind of late for families to be out.”

Gray was getting sick of all the small talk as they made their way slowly across the field. But inconspicuous was the watch word.

They heard sirens, and as people turned to look, Gray took off at a jog, and Hunter followed.

Fuck taking it slow.

As soon as they made it past the tree line, they stopped and listened. Gray didn’t hear anything. Looking down, the tracks were obvious. Gray took point. Another twenty meters, and they found Griff kneeling above a man who was slumped in front of him, glassy eyed, blood dripping down his face, and what looked like a sock stuffed in his mouth.

“Glad you could join the party,” Griff said hoarsely. “Allow me to introduce you to Abdur Hamidi.” Griff pulled at the man’s hair. “Say hello, Abdur,” Griff said in Arabic.

The man made a high-pitched muffled squeal, tears and blood dripping down his face. “Oh yeah, something seems to be stopping him from being all social.” Gray looked closer and saw that underneath the man’s strands of hair, part of his scalp had been cut up and away from his head.

Holy fuck.

“Griff, you seem a little angry,” Gray kept his voice even.

“Not angry, tired. Just tired. I waited for the two of you to make sure I didn’t miss anything. We’ve got a big one on our hands.”

How come he wasn’t surprised?

“Our friend here explained to me that his brother is a scientist, who came up with a poison that was supposed to take out specific families. He did this for his King. You know the old guy, rules Saudi Arabia?” Griff gave a half smile.

“Shit,” Hunter said. “It goes all the way to the top.”

“Yep. So the King decided to try out his new toy to make sure it was in working order, before the big show, which was tonight’s grand finale. Apparently, he wants to take over a neighboring country. Simple enough, right?” Griff shook his head in disgust.

“Let me guess,” Gray broke in. “The King’s power hungry son had a different idea.”

“Hunter, give this man a cigar. I like our boss, he’s smart. He should date a genius.”

Hunter gave a short laugh, and Gray scowled at him.

“So, that’s what I heard on the roof? This asshole was going to send down a toxin that was going to kill everyone?” Hunter asked.

“Yep.”

“We need to find his brother,” Gray said.

“That was my take,” Griff agreed. “He’s given me a location. It’s here in the city, but I don’t trust him. What’s more, it’s not like I can drag his ass out through the flower children in the park. They freaked out as we ran through. I think they thought we were playing some sort of game the first time. Him all bloody isn’t going to cut it now. Pun intended.”