Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
I grinned up at Cooper. “I’m pretty sure my sister Quinn isn’t giving him back.”
Cooper let out a sharp laugh. “She’s a smart woman. It was good to see Hawk so happy. For that, I can live with losing him to the wilds of North Carolina.”
Alice looked up at her husband. “You have a call in five minutes.”
“I know,” he said, “but I didn’t want to miss meeting Sterling and Forrest. I’ll walk them back to Lucas’s department.”
Alice nodded, then looked to me. “We have one of the safe house apartments free if you need to stay overnight.” I drew in a breath, ready to say we could get a hotel, and Alice shook her head. “Hawk specifically ordered me to tell you that if you’re staying in town overnight, you’re staying here. He also added that if you have an issue with that, I should direct you to call him.”
I let out a huff of breath. I definitely had an overdose of big brothers in my life. On the other hand, being offered a Sinclair Security safe house was a pretty good deal.
“Thank you,” I said. “We’ll take it.”
“We don’t really know what our plans are,” Forrest added. “But we’ll let you know.”
Alice’s eyes popped from my face to Forrest’s, and she gave me a sunny grin. “You look like Griffen,” she said. “It’s in the eyes. Not the color, but the way you look at me reminds me of your brother.”
I held that close to my heart, beating back all my insecurities as we followed Cooper down one long, gray-carpeted hallway and then another. My brother had belonged here. Maybe I could, too. Or somewhere like it. We came around a corner into a sea of small offices and open desks, computers everywhere. I saw people with headsets, multiple screens around them, laptops open here and there, wires, circuit boards, soldering guns. Excitement fizzed through my veins. I didn’t know what most of this stuff was for, but I wanted to. I wanted to know everything about what they were doing.
A thousand questions tumbled in my brain. Every single one evaporated as a man stepped into view—a man or a mountain? He had to be six and a half feet tall, and wide, his biceps stretching the sleeves of his olive-green T-shirt. Shaggy dark hair over sharp cheekbones almost hidden by a black beard. Surprisingly bright apple green eyes framed by thick lashes that reminded me of Forrest’s—long and dark and thick. Lashes to die for. Why did men always get the best lashes? He was handsome in a terrifying way.
Marshaling all my courage, I stuck out a hand. “Sterling Sawyer,” I said.
“Lucas Jackson,” he answered, giving me a firm shake and confirming his identity.
I’d seen Lucas from a distance when he’d come to Heartstone, but that was nothing like seeing him up close. He turned to Forrest and held out a hand.
Forrest took it and shook firmly. “Forrest Powell. Good to meet you.”
“Yeah, you too. I’m curious about this cipher you’ve got.”
Cooper squeezed my shoulder. “I have a meeting. It was great to meet you both.” To Lucas, he said, “Let me know if there’s anything I need to know.”
“Got it, boss,” Lucas said.
Another man joined the group, and I backed up a step in surprise. “The last time I saw you,” I said to the newcomer, “you had blue eyes, kind of like Cooper’s, and your name was Jay. And then you kidnapped my sister.”
“Emmett Blake.” The man I’d known as Jay held out his hand. He had the grace to look a little sheepish, an expression that didn’t sit comfortably on his serious face. Emmett Blake’s real eyes were a warm brown, his dark hair brutally short. He was tall, as tall as Forrest, though not as tall as Lucas, and lean.
I remembered his wiry build, the feeling of barely contained energy. I wasn’t exactly clear on why Emmett Blake wasn’t in prison for kidnapping. In fact, he’d bypassed all authority in Sawyers Bend, and Hawk had ushered him straight here to Sinclair Security. Where, from what I could see, he’d fit right in.
I’d asked Quinn what had happened to him a few days after the kidnapping. She’d been oddly tight-lipped about her mysterious kidnapper, only saying that not everything was what it seemed, and things worked out the way they were supposed to. Bullshit answers. When my sister didn’t want to talk, she was a vault. And if she was fine, I was fine, so I hadn’t pressed.
“I’m sorry for all of that,” Emmett said. “I had some things to work out.” He looked to Forrest, studying him for a long moment before his eyes drifted back to me. “Hawk filled me in on what you two have been up to. I shared it with Lucas. I think we might be able to help you.” His eyes flicked back to Forrest. “In a few different ways. Tell me about the ciphers.”