JACE-1(Lane Brothers, Book 3)(38)

“Jared isn’t quite right in the head at the moment thanks to the Paulette situation, so just breathe and try not to take it personally if he gets mean. I’ll be there with you the whole time. Remember, I have a plan, and no matter what you learn tonight, Trace, know that I always have your back and you don’t have to do a damn thing you don’t want to. Okay?”

She nods her head and leans up to peck my lips.

“I trust you.”

***

“Stop.”

We’ve been at this for an hour and I’m just about ready to deck my own brother when Tracy shoots to her feet and plants her hands on the desk, leaning over to loom over my much bigger, meaner brother.

“You’re being an ass, Jared Lane, and I’ll thank you to stop taking your mood out on me. I have told you a million times that I don’t know more, so either move the fuck on or shut up already.”

Damn that was sexy.

Wyatt starts laughing when Jared rears back, eyes narrowed and makes as if to zip his lips when my fire-breathing dragon gives him one last glare before plopping back down beside me.

“Trace—”

“Shut up, Jared. I am sick of you growling at me, and from the way your brother’s been grinding his teeth, I’m either going to be one brother short in a minute or I’ll be marrying a toothless man, so just shut the hell up right now,” she yells. “Now. Like I said, I don’t know anything else. I already feel terrible enough about my own stupidity as it is. I don’t need you to point it all out to me, okay? I do not know where, why, or how Paulie got involved in this, and before you start barking again, I don’t think she’s in on anything. She’s more likely than not in the same boat I was in till a few hours ago. We need to find her, Jared.”

I watch him struggle to regain control of his emotions for a few minutes as Trace leans back and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Jace is right. This thing, whatever it really is, is not a new thing. It’s been going on for a while. It has to have been for it to be this organized and well concealed so…we need to talk to your aunt Lynn. Can I just say how messed up it is that you all have stuck one of your crazy relatives in one of the American Horror Story asylums?”

If that’s the rosy picture my baby wants to believe in, then I won’t tell her that Lynn wishes Sister Jude was her jailer. I really like that irony right there, because if Ma knew about this, Lynn would wish she were dead right now.

“She won’t tell us a thing,” Jared growls, pulling at his hair as exhaustion lines his face.

“She won’t need to, asshole. I’m a profiler, remember? All you have to do is ask her the right questions and I’ll know her story before you can blink,” Trace says confidently, smiling so wide I see her back molars. “I know how to put the screw on in an interrogation and I sure as hell know how to read people. If Lynn knows anything, I’ll get it out of her.”

“She’s been locked up for over a year.”

“Good. That means she’ll be cocky and defiant, the best mix for the Mayfield cocktail I’m about to give her. Come on, Jared, what do we have to lose here? We have nothing as it is, so questioning Lynn won’t lose us a damn thing.”

I feel almost giddy when Miah finally weighs in and gives us the go-ahead.

“I’ll call Case and let him know you’re coming. Wyatt, get the jet ready and tell the pilot to be on standby. Jace, you and Trace go get some answers from the bitch and we’ll keep everything together on this end. Jared, if you don’t stop foaming at the mouth I swear to God I will tranquilize your ass and wake you when this is all over.”

And just like that we have a plan and something solid to go on for once. Why I didn’t consider Lynn from the get-go is anyone’s guess, but now that I have her in my sights I won’t leave till I have at least a starting point to find Roman and maybe do something about this mess so I can live my life in peace for a change.

Trace and I rise and both go to give Jared a hug before leaving to go pack a few things. I don’t know exactly where Miah and Roman stashed Lynn, and the truth is I don’t care as long as the jet gets us there fast.

“You okay?” I ask once we’re in our rooms and Trace heads straight for the closet, flinging my overnight bag at me as she exits with her own and an armful of clothes.

“Yes. No. I don’t know. This is all just so freaking unreal, you know? A few hours ago my main concern was how to tell the Bureau that I quit and they could kiss my ass if they didn’t like it. Now my best friend is missing, your brother looks about as sane as a serial killer, and I’m about to meet the woman who tried to kill your sister. This is all too much and yet, I’ve never felt this great,” she admits, shoving her bag closed with a huff.