No Place to Run (KGI #2)(62)

“You may not realize it yet, but you’re part of this family,” Donovan all but snarled. “We’ll find a way to take down that bastard and rescue our mother, but it won’t be because we handed you over like a bunch of f**king pansies.”

Sophie’s eyes widened and tears shimmered there, turning the blue to liquid. Sam wasn’t ready to rescue her yet. She needed to hear this, needed to understand what he himself hadn’t been able to say yet. Maybe he hadn’t realized it himself.

Steele stepped forward, and soon the remaining members of KGI formed a circle around her. She was trapped. Nowhere to run. No place she could deny her value.

“KGI doesn’t hide behind a woman. Even one as courageous as yourself,” Steele said in his quiet, stern voice.

Rio glanced at Steele in amusement before adding his own statement to the mix.

“And I rarely agree with anything Steele has to say, but in this I do. You may have never had anyone you could count on in the past, but you do now. And we’re not going to let you do something foolish like walk into a certain death.”

All the color leeched out of Sophie’s cheeks. She looked stunned. She glanced frantically from face to face and then finally came back to Sam. She looked at him, her eyes pleading. For what? Confirmation? Understanding?

His heart turned over in his chest. Did she really not think she had any value except as a bargaining tool? His breath caught and held. Of course, she wouldn’t. He hadn’t given her any reason to believe differently. Things had gone so crazily fast in the days since he’d pulled her from the lake that he hadn’t really given her presence in his life any thought beyond the immediacy of the here and now. He didn’t even know if she wanted a place in his life. He hadn’t offered her one. Hadn’t made her believe in her value.

“Sophie, what did Tomas say?” Sam asked gently. “What else did he say? About the exchange. Where are we supposed to make it?”

Some of the light left her eyes, but damn it, he couldn’t tell her everything he wanted to tell her in front of all his men, and their first priority had to be the information.

Her voice was scratchy, and she wiped at her cheek with the back of her sleeve as she spoke.

“He’s here. In the U.S.”

“Where?” Garrett bit out.

“My father owned a large estate in West Texas. It’s isolated and I’m sure the local law enforcement is on his payroll. He moved into places and took over. That’s how he operated. Tomas took your mother there. He wants to make the exchange. We have forty-eight hours.”

She looked up at Sam. “He wants you and me to go alone.”

“Fuck that,” Donovan muttered.

Sam turned to Donovan. “Do we have intel on a holding in Texas?”

“There were two to my knowledge,” Donovan said.

Sam glanced back at Sophie. “Where, Sophie? Where are we going?”

“Rock Springs. Not far from Del Rio and the border.”

Sam faced his men. “Okay, I want all the intel we can gather on this place. Sat imagery, the local climate, topo maps, the works. I want to know who takes a piss and when, and I want it yesterday. The clock is ticking. Garrett, you and Donovan need to get with Sean and see what kind of local cooperation we can have to keep this hospital locked down and provide protection for Rusty and Dad.”

He sighed as the weight of their mission settled over his shoulders. The mother of his child—and his child—for the life of his mother? It didn’t even bear thinking about. If he had anything to do with it, it would never come to that.

“Garrett,” he said as his brother started to leave with the others.

Garrett stopped and glanced back at Sam.

“Get on the horn with Resnick.”

Sophie stiffened and turned away.

“Yeah, and?” Garrett said.

“Tell him to stay the f**k out of our way.”

CHAPTER 25

SOPHIE was shaking so bad she was going to fall if she didn’t sit down. Her senses were shattered, and she needed to get away from the overwhelming presence of so many people. There was no friendly welcome from Rusty, who sat isolated in the corner of the room, and Sam would never let her get a foot outside the door without him.

She’d never been more scared or more overwhelmed in her life.

Sam pressed in and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and skittered sideways, the light touch hard on her already frayed nerves.

“Sophie,” he said softly. “I’m going to take you down the hall so a doctor can examine you.”

Her baby. Yes, she wanted to make sure everything was okay with her baby.

Numbly she allowed Sam to lead her from the room. He kept her tight to his side, and they only traveled three doors down to what looked to be a private doctor’s lounge.

It was empty when they went inside, and he directed her to sit on one of the leather couches that lined the wall. Then he sat beside her and took her hands in his.

She stared down, watching as his fingers grazed lightly, soothingly over her palms.

“The doctor will be here in a moment. I wanted a chance to talk with you privately.”

She raised her head in alarm.

He held her gaze, and she was surprised by the tenderness in his eyes. No anger. No judgment.

Never before had she felt quite so overwhelmed. The events of the last few minutes had somehow unhinged her. She felt so desperately adrift, and she was more afraid now than she’d been when she’d run so many months ago, and kept running.