Roped In (Armed & Dangerous, #2)(56)

Nick glanced down at it. “Why does he keep calling from her phone?”

“Because he knows I’ll answer it.” I accepted the call and growled low into the phone. “What?”

“I see you’re still alive. I knew you would be.”

“Can’t say the same for you. What do you want?”

“We’re on the same side, Mr. Evans. And right now, Hadley needs our help. I need you here, tonight. We don’t have much time.”

I scoffed. “Don’t worry, I already know where you are. I don’t need your help.” I hung up, not waiting for a reply. I didn’t trust him, not when he was one of the reasons Hadley was gone.

Nick stared at me. “What?” I snapped.

“It sounds like he’s really trying to help.”

“Doesn’t matter. I can’t trust anyone but myself. I learned that the hard way.”

“I know what you mean.”

For the next couple of hours, I showed Nick how to hold his pistol and how to load it. One of Mason’s guys had given us extra ammo, since I only had enough for myself. Nick needed to be prepared. The guy might be a pain in my ass, but I could see it in his eyes, he wasn’t afraid. It was what I needed.

The sky began to turn dark, and it was time to move. Once everything was packed up, we moved closer to the house so I could set up. Nick pointed to the house. “How are we going to get in?”

I opened my laptop and typed away. “I’m going to override the security system. For just a few brief minutes, we’ll be able to climb the fence undetected. As soon as we get in, I want to find Hadley and then get you two out of there.”

“What about you?” he stormed, jerking his head toward me.

“I’m not leaving until they pay for what they did.”

“Hadley’s not going to like that.”

I knew she wouldn’t, but she had no choice. “She’ll just have to understand.”

A twig snapped behind us a couple hundred feet back. I tensed and so did Nick. “What was that?” he whispered.

“Someone’s here.” I pointed to one of the large trees beside us. “Crouch low in front of that tree. We don’t want to shoot out here.”

“Don’t shoot, got it.” He crawled over to the tree and crouched low.

It was so dark, I could barely see him, but I had a night sensor on my pistol that helped. Another twig snapped and when I pointed my gun in the general direction, I found what I was looking for. It was Connor. As quietly as I could, I stood and took small, calculated steps through the brush. Without him knowing, I circled around and came up behind him.

“I told you I didn’t need you,” I warned.

He lifted his hands and held them out. “I told Hadley you would come.”

“Where is she?”

“Either in her room or Tristan’s. I saw them taking her away, kicking and screaming. She obviously found out something while I was gone. The next thing I knew, they were coming to my house to put a bullet in my head.”

“And why would they do that?”

He sighed. “Because Tristan and I don’t see eye to eye. When I found out what he was up to, I challenged him on it. And if there’s one thing you don’t do, it’s cross him.”

“Why did you then?”

His shoulders stiffened. “You’re not the only one he took something from.”

“You expect me to believe this?”

“No, but it’s all you got. He’s planning to take her to Ireland tomorrow and as soon as she’s with our people, getting her out will be nearly impossible.”

“What does her father have to do with this? Did he order the hit on me?”

He shook his head. “No, he’s clueless. That was all Tristan. George doesn’t even know he was the one involved here. Every message was passed through me. The man was desperate after the last threat, so he asked me to fake her death. Obviously, he doesn’t know the consequences of dealing with my kind.”

Nick left his spot by the tree and stormed over. “Why does Tristan want to take Hadley?”

If Connor was surprised at his presence, he didn’t show it. “Because he’s obsessed with her; has been for years. Can I drop my arms now?”

Lowering my gun, I stepped around him and he dropped his arms. “Are you trying to say he’s been here this whole time just for her?”

“As f*cked up as it sounds, that’s exactly what I’m saying. He orchestrated this whole thing, studying her and her friends.” He turned to Nick. “Including you. He hated you with Hadley. Thinks you tried to take her away from him.”

Nick tensed. “What a f*cking bastard. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was the one who broke into Hadley’s that night and killed Scott.”

“And shot you,” I added.

Connor glanced back and forth at us. “I’ve thought about that. He denied it when I asked him. He claims he was with a girl that night. If I went snooping, he’d know.” He shrugged and pointed at the house. “But now we have a bigger problem. Tristan’s plan was to take Hadley away before her father got back. I don’t know what the f*ck he’s doing here early. Tristan isn’t going to like that. My guess is, they’ll kill him to keep him out of the way. Tristan gets off on getting rid of obstacles.”