As I drove, I replayed the video call over and over in my mind, trying not to be distracted of the memory of Kayla tied to that fucking chair and instead think about the clues.

And each time I scrubbed my memory and replayed every second of that call, the conclusion was the same.

The piece of metal I’d spotted in the corner could only have come from one place.

It had been more than a decade since the family had sold the property, so I was surprised my father remembered it.

That surprise was also a warning.

I had allowed myself to get dangerously close to underestimating my father.

And it was Kayla who would pay the consequences of that failure.

Unless I put a stop to it first, which was exactly what I was going to do.

But I didn’t go directly there.

More than anything, I wanted to storm in and save Kayla from whatever my father had in store for her. Everything inside me told me to do just that. But the last bit of logic I was holding on to reminded me I couldn’t do that.

I had to be prepared.

Which meant being patient.

So instead of rushing in, I made my way to one of the family’s secondary safe houses.

Wasn’t a bit surprised when I saw Narek standing in front of it.

It was a tidy, four-unit apartment building that looked completely mundane on the outside. Davit had even had the men put out welcome mats and half dead plants in the windows to give off the appearance of standard, nondescript house apartments.

To my surprise, I smiled at how conspicuous Narek looked standing in front of it.

“You’re standing there like a fucking sitting duck,” I said as I got out of the car, that moment’s humor fading as quickly as it had come.

“No, I’m not,” he said, giving me a grim smile. “I was just timing you.”

“And?” I responded as I keyed in the code on the keypad and entered the safe house.

“You’re ten minutes later than I would have been,” he said.

I cut my eyes at him, stopping in the foyer. It too looked like an average home, right down to the scuffed manufactured wood flooring and the broken umbrella propped next to the door.

“You’re that concerned about Kayla?” I asked, looking Narek in his eye.

“Yeah,” Narek said, and I could tell from his expression he was being honest.

“And why is that?” I asked.

He didn’t answer immediately. Though he kept his expression blank, I knew he was trying to get a read on me.

Weighing which approach to take.

As I expected, he decided on honesty.

“Kayla’s nice. Even after seeing and doing all this shit she had no business being involved in, she’s nice. I don’t want to see her harmed,” he said.