Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 748(@200wpm)___ 599(@250wpm)___ 499(@300wpm)
It had been twenty minutes. She hadn’t even realized anything was wrong until she got that video.
Kala stormed in. “They’re gone, and apparently that fucking café is a syndicate front. Not one friendly to Dusan and our cousins. I didn’t go in. It’s a trap. I did manage to pull their CCTV footage, and the fucker carries Lou out himself and winks at the camera.”
“And Ben?”
“I didn’t see him. I’m sorry.” Kala’s jaw was tight, her eyes filled with unshed tears. “I’m sure they have him, too, but he wanted me to see Lou. Kenz…”
“It’s the girls.” Her stomach was in knots, but she couldn’t fall apart now. “At least one of them, probably all three of them. I checked our inner CCTVs and saw Gabby walking in and out of the dungeon at all the right times. I’ve put us in lockdown in case they decide to try to slip away. The question now is does she know we know.”
Kenzie had quietly put the whole place in lockdown. The Garden’s security was excellent. Only a few people in the world knew how to get around it. She’d watched Gabby and Claire on the CCTVs. They’d been in the hallway, and now they were in their room. Sosa hadn’t been seen this morning.
Naturally, they’d pulled it all on a day when there was no one in The Garden. They’d planned it carefully and taken extreme advantage of her mom. This had been a calculated plan to use Charlotte Taggart’s past against them all. Even though they’d been on guard, Huisman had proven he was a serious game player.
“One of them will know what’s happening.” Kala sniffed, banishing her tears. She would be terrified for Lou, but she knew it wasn’t the time to panic either. “I’ve put in a call to Mom. They’re on their way. Do we think Tim is in on this?”
She didn’t think so, but she couldn’t discount it. “As far as I can tell, he’s still downstairs, but I haven’t studied the security cams. I checked to make sure the girls were in their room, but I can’t do the same with Tim. Are we the last ones left in the building?”
“Tash and Dare went to breakfast. Vivi and Sophy are out for the morning on a restock run for the breakroom. Ariel and Robert are at a school thing. I texted Tash to stay away for a few hours while we deal with them,” Kala said with quiet determination.
“He needs her.” She had to give her sister all the hope she could. She had no idea what Kala would do if Lou was killed. The guilt would eat her alive. She had convinced Lou to leave her cushy university job to come with them.
Kala nodded tightly. “She can’t help recreate the bombs if he hurts her too badly.” Her hand went to her chest as though she could feel the damage that fucker had done to her. “Although he can cause pain that doesn’t kill.”
She stood up and wrapped her arms around her twin. “We’ll get her back. I promise.”
Kenzie meant it. Fully and wholeheartedly. She would get Lou back. And she would leave her sister out of it. It was Ben who got Lou caught. He hadn’t listened to reason or logic. He’d done what he always did. When Huisman called, he’d answered.
“We will,” Kala said with a sniffle and steadying breath. “All right, Mom and Dad and the Knights are on their way back. They’ve already informed MI6 what happened. I take it her tracker is off-line? Did he figure it out?”
Lou’s big brain had invented a new system for tracking, but they’d always known Huisman would find a way around it.
She’d already tried pulling Lou’s tracker. She didn’t have access to Ben’s, but his organization used older ones. She knew she would find nothing when it came to him. “Her signal dropped off at the café sixteen minutes ago. I’m sure Huisman knew Lou had outsmarted him after Virginia. We knew he would counter it before too long.” The man had half the tech world in his pocket through the Disrupt organization. “From what I can tell the signal dropped off when he put her in the car.”
“So he’s using the car as a fucking Faraday cage?” Kala asked.
It was a scenario they’d discussed. If Huisman couldn’t figure out how to find and disrupt the trackers Lou had invented, he could go old school, though it would be difficult. A Faraday cage was a structure—large or small—that stopped electromagnetic radiation, including light waves, microwaves, ultraviolet rays, certain sound waves including AM/FM radio, and blocked all Internet. It would be hard, but if the vehicle was large enough, they could have one to transport Lou in. Maybe even the trunk. She was sure if he’d planned it this carefully, he would have a way to get her into another cage without the signal going out.