Page 84 of Holding On

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Wells

Daphne called me. She couldn’t reach me first so she spoke to Tinsley, which is fine, but I just wanted to make sure she was ok because she didn’t answer my call.

Before I can text Wells back, my girl calls me. Fighting the smile that her name inherently causes, I look around the conference room, not sure why we even had this meeting. This was supposed to be the rescheduled finance meeting from last week, but somehow, communication lines got crossed and our Senior Vice President of Finance Natasha Markova drove out to the Forrest Falls location thinking our meeting was there while I drove here into Nashville. If I had known we could have done this all remotely, I would’ve stayed in Forrest Falls and just called in. I hate wasted time, and this meeting is a giant time suck. I nod at Jett as I stand up and walk out to take the call. They can figure out the rest of the meeting without me.

“Hey, Red, what’s going on?” I answer, but instead of hearing my girl, I hear muffled voices. I pull the phone back and make sure I read the caller ID correctly and then try to make out what’s being said. I tell Jett to have Ethan get the car ready and start walking to the elevator. Since Tinsley has been staying with me, when I have to come into Nashville for meetings but plan on going back to Forrest Falls, I have Ethan drive me so I can work during the commute. We have a helicopter too, but I prefer to drive. I press the down button and wait for the elevator.

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But those plans go out the window the moment I hear my girl scream bloody murder. I pivot as I mute my end of the call and run full speed back to Jett. “Get the pilot to the helipad, now.” And I start running up the stairs to the rooftop with Jett on my heels. We have a fleet of pilots on standby for various aircrafts, and usually the helicopter pilots fly Wells around the most, and when Wells is abroad, they just hang out in their office on call, but the pilots keep everything ready to go at the drop of a hat. The pilot on shift today dropped Wells off in Forrest Falls earlier this week and has just been waiting to be needed since then.

“Where to, Mr. Callahan?” the pilot asks, flipping switches and bringing the bird to life as I put the headset on. Ethan and Jett both climb in with me, not sure what’s going on but knowing something is very fucking wrong.

“Forrest Falls, but do not land at my building. Take me to my father’s, please.” My father’s backyard is acres of open field, so there’s plenty of space to land, something I’ve had to do occasionally when running late for a family event or dinner. Instead of the hour-drive commute, the helicopter gets us there in about half the time. I connect my cell to my headset, and I can hear Tinsley struggling and crying out in the apartment.

I’ll kill them.

I will fucking kill them.

I don’t know who it is, but if they hurt her, I will end them—and I have a very educated guess who the hell is involved, if not the asshole inflicting the pain right now.

I ask Jett for his cell and use it to text Liam, Wells, Walker, and Thor. Thankfully, he has all their numbers saved from communicating with them on my behalf in the past, so I don’t have to waste time looking them up.

It’s Jack on Jett’s phone. Emergency. Not a drill.

Liam

What’s going on?

Tinsley called me but she’s under some sort of attack at the penthouse. She somehow made the call but doesn’t have the phone on her. I can hear at least two other offenders. Liam, can you connect Thor and whoever the hell else needs access to the cameras in my penthouse? I’m en route by helicopter to Dad’s. I’m not landing on the building, don’t want them to know I’m coming.

When our sister Savannah was kidnapped last year and their home security systems had been hacked, Liam’s contact and tech guru Sophia did an overhaul to all of our security systems to ensure that scenario never happened again—which makes it pretty fucking clear that someone is in on this bullshit. The high-tech system is a closed-loop feed, and very, very few people have access to it, but when we need to access it, Liam is able to get into any of our feeds. I don’t know—nor do I frankly care about the logistics—I just want the security features that I thought were like Fort fucking Knox and the safest place for my girl.

But I hadn’t expected a traitor in my midst. Whoever they are, I will find them, and I will come for them. Most people would call the local authorities first, but most people don’t have a brother like Liam Fucking Callahan.

Liam