Page 96 of Fearless

And then there was Hank. On the way home, Sean had mentioned that he now had a dog and had told her how they’d met. She had been looking forward to getting to know him, but the moment their eyes had met, she had felt a connection with Hank like he’d been hers all along. Since then, he had barely left her side. At night, instead of sleeping by the bed, he parked himself just inside the door of the bedroom. No one would get by without his permission.

Even now, Hank had followed her into the interrogation room. Being able to feel his warm body pressed against her legs gave her such comfort.

“Okay,” Jules said. “Let’s start from the beginning.”

With her hand on top of Hank’s head, Serena began. She told of the SUV on the side of the road and the young woman and baby who’d been used to coerce her to cooperate.

“Good heavens,” Jules said. “Kingsley really is diabolically evil.”

That was a whitewash of what Colton Kingsley was, but Serena nodded, not ready to discuss just how twisted the man was.

She explained how she’d been knocked out, and after she’d woken, Kingsley had threatened her family if she didn’t cooperate. When she got to her first encounter with Smith, she stumbled slightly. Jules tilted her head, indicating she’d noticed. Serena was grateful she didn’t ask questions about the young man.

She went on to talk about the other “guests”. Who they were and what she had been told they were working on at the compound.

She went on to describe Kingsley’s rage when he’d learned she had been able to alert OZ about her abduction and had found a way to protect her family.

Jules gave her a brilliant smile. “You and your family are amazing, Serena. To know you all had that in place and that it was executed within just a few hours. Moving a family is one thing, but moving an entire community?” She shook her head. “I cannot imagine the preparation that entailed.”

“That’s my dad. My mom jokes that he emailed my grandmother from the womb and told her the date and time he planned to arrive. He is always, always prepared.”

“Are they headed back to Francine yet?”

“Yes. Even though the threat against them isn’t really over until WREN is destroyed, everyone voted to go home now that I’m safe. They’ll be on alert until the threat is gone.”

“And the spy who took those photos of your family?”

“Also taken care of.”

It had been determined that Troy, her cousin Harper’s newest boyfriend, had been the culprit. Her dad had suspected him but hadn’t wanted to say until he knew for sure. She hadn’t asked why he’d suspected the young man. Not only would the suspect list have been short to begin with, her dad had a sixth sense about people.

Troy had been offered ten thousand dollars for a few photos of her family, along with shots of Serena’s bedroom and closet at her parents’ house. He’d also put a microscopic transmitter in the wheelhouse of Serena’s car. That was how they’d found her. She was just grateful that they hadn’t been able to find OZ headquarters. Even though there was a two-mile shield surrounding OZ that jammed most radars and sensors, new technology was created every day that could make yesterday’s technology obsolete. She was thankful that Kingsley’s tracker had apparently been blocked.

After Benton, Harper’s dad, and three of Serena’s brothers confronted Troy, he had profusely apologized. He hadn’t been able to give many details since everything had been arranged online, but they hadn’t needed details. They knew who had instigated everything.

“So let’s get back to Kingsley and his compound.”

Nodding, she described how Kingsley had punished Dr. Jenson Mosley for signaling to her by having his mother killed. Even speaking about it almost two months later caused nausea to swirl in her gut. She had known Kingsley was a sociopath. Why hadn’t she anticipated his actions? Why hadn’t she planned and prepared? Why hadn’t⁠—

Apparently seeing something in her expression, Jules said, “You need to stop for a moment?”

“No…no. I’m fine.” She cleared her throat and detailed her daily routine. OZ already knew all the assignments Kingsley had given her since she’d been able to backdoor them as she performed them. It was the routine outside those assignments Jules wanted to learn.

As Serena listed a litany of those activities, she realized they might sound mundane or even enjoyable to an outsider. She had worked out, gone swimming, and even visited the spa a handful of times. But not for one second of those moments had she not been thinking about her mission and the dozens of others who were being held captive. That dark threat had always hung over her head, no matter what she was doing.

“You haven’t mentioned Smith again.”

She caught her breath, startled at the question. Which was ridiculous. This was a debrief. Smith had provided a ton of intel that needed to be shared with her team.

“Serena?” Jules said gently. “Are you okay?”

“Yes…yes, of course. Smith…” She cleared her throat. “Kingsley left for a week-long meeting.” She explained that Smith had been able to shut down the camera in the foyer and how everyone had gathered there and had been, for a few hours, able to communicate like normal people.

“What a wonderful thing for him to do,” Jules said.

“Yes.” Realizing that her throat was dry, she took a sip of the water she’d brought with her. She could talk about him. She had to.

“Smith met with me and gave me names, locations. A ton of intel. If you’ll get me a laptop, I’ll write down everything I learned from him.”