Demand (Careless Whispers #2)(76)

Another few minutes pass and a man comes out to talk to us. He insists Giada needs to sit through a class, which is doubtless of Kayden’s or Adriel’s making.

“I’m going to shoot while you learn,” I say, ignoring her grumbles and making my way to another room, and it’s not long before I have goggles, hearing protection, ammo, and my own booth.

I unload a round, and the fact that my memories of my father teaching me to shoot feel more like everyday thoughts than flashbacks feels huge. I’m just reloading when I get a tingling sensation on my neck. Cutting a discreet sideways look, I catch the reflection of a man in one of the glass panels separating me from another booth, and he is familiar. He steps in my direction and I turn and aim my weapon at Mr. Tall, Dark, and Deadly himself.

“Wow, sweetheart,” he says, holding up his hands. “If I was hitting on you, this would be a major turnoff.”

“But you aren’t hitting on me. We both know that.”

“No,” he agrees, removing his shades so I can see his eyes. “I prefer redheads, but don’t tell my wife.”

My blood runs cold. “Who are you?”

“Your friend Sara hired me to find you.”

“Sara hired you?”

“Yes. And you weren’t easy to find. We can call her.”

“No. Sara can’t be involved in this. She needs to stay away.”

“I know. I told her husband—”

“She’s not married.”

“She is now, to a very powerful, famous man who spent boatloads of cash to find you. And for the record, it gutted her not to have you at her wedding.”

“Damn it, Blake,” a female voice says. “This is not a friendly approach.”

“That would be my wife, Kara,” Blake says. “You’d never know I’m the bossy one.” He calls out, “I was friendly. She’s trigger-happy.”

“If she were trigger-happy, you’d have a bullet in you already.”

At the sound of Kayden’s voice, Blake curses. “Holy f*ck. This is not going as planned.”

Kayden steps to my side. “Was the plan that I not be here?”

A pretty brunette steps to Blake’s side. “Yes, it was. Because frankly, we wanted to know that she’s safe.”

“Can we put the gun down?” Blake asks.

“Put it down,” Kayden tells me. “I have the entire staff here on payroll.”

“Of course he does,” Blake grumbles, eyeing me. “You’re still holding the f*cking gun, and you seem to follow orders about as well as my wife.”

I keep the gun aimed at him. “How do I know Sara sent you?”

“Let’s call her,” he suggests again. “She won’t know where you are. She just needs to hear your voice.”

Kayden’s hand comes down on my back. “Ella, sweetheart. If she did hire him, he can fill in the blanks you want filled in. And you can give Sara her peace of mind.”

“You believe him?” I ask.

“I believe I do,” he says, reaching out and taking my gun while telling Blake, “There’s a room upstairs where we can talk.”

“That works for me,” Blake says. “Not my wife.” He eyes Kara. “Wait outside and if I don’t come out alive in an hour, I guess start the funeral arrangements.” He grabs her and kisses her.

“Don’t say things like that. They aren’t funny.”

“Yes, wife.” He turns back to us. “I’m ready.”

Kayden talks to the man at the door who’s now watching us, then to Blake. “He’ll take you there. I need to talk to Ella for a moment alone.”

“Understood.” He starts to walk away.

“Blake,” Kayden says, halting him. “If you are who you say you are, you have my protection, and so does your wife. But if you’re not—”

“Protection it is,” he says, turning away.

Kayden turns me and removes the goggles I didn’t even know I still had on. “You okay?”

“I have these weird, crazy emotions going on that I can’t even lock down.”

“That’s understandable. I can talk to him alone.”

“No. I want to do this.”

“Well, then,” he says, placing Annie in my purse and zipping it up, “let’s go see what he can tell us.”

Five minutes later, Kayden and I are sitting at a round table with Blake in a small room.

“First,” Blake says, “who I am. My brothers and I run Walker Security. I’m former ATF, my older brother Royce is former FBI, and Luke is a former Navy SEAL. We not only have our own team, we also worked with a group of local investigators to get here today.”

“How did you find her?” Kayden asks.

“I’m a damn good hacker. She was on the grid and she disappeared. When she disappeared, I knew we had trouble. When I couldn’t find her despite my skill, I knew we had big trouble.”

“So I ask again,” Kayden says, “how did you find her?”

He keys his iPad to life and flips a photo around to show us. “That’s Ella crossing the Italian border. That was our first big break. I then hired a group called The Jackals, who gave me a lead that brought me here.”