Mission: Capture His Heart

Chapter 22

Hope was sitting in the back seat of my car with Alice's bracelet and her wireless laptop. Gray and I sat in the front, driving to the crate factory where our moms may be. Gray was reading the napkin Mike handed us before leaving the café.

"What does it say on it?" I asked as my eyes remained on the road.

The only sounds in the car were Hope's fingers on the keyboard of her laptop and Gray's steady breathing. After a moments of silence, he spoke, "It says, The necklace is missing the microchip that contains all the data in order for it to work." He looked at me, "How does Mike know it's missing the microchip?"

I looked over at Gray then back at the road, "Mike's watch has x-ray sensors on it. He's able to see whatever is inside of an object that's locked or is out of his reach."

He muttered something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out. I looked in my rearview mirror at Hope, who was concentrated on her work, "Is the bracelet Alice's?"

Hope nodded, "Yes, it is. She bought it from the Antique store you and I always go too." Hope looked up from her laptop screen, "You remember this, don't you? You would stare at it, wishing you could have it but it was too much for you and you were worried that it would just get ruined because of the work we do."

I moved my eyes away from the rearview mirror and focused on the road, "I remember." I said quietly. That bracelet was the one thing that I would actually be able to wear that would remind me of my mother, she was the one who designed it. Then my father sold it to the antique shop and I couldn't get it back. "That bracelet belongs to me. My mother designed that for me."

Hope sat up straighter in her seat, "She did what?"

"That bracelet in your hands was actually my mother's creation. She made it for me when I was two and I got it on my tenth birthday. My mom was already gone by the time I got it so Mike was the one who gave it to me but he told me all about it. Who made it, the note that came with it, etc. Then, when my father broke into my house a couple years ago, he took the bracelet and sold it to that damn shop." I said as I shifted gears and lanes.

"Oh, I'm sorry Liz." Hope said, "I didn't know how much it means to you."

"It's fine." I gave her a small smile, then pulled onto a back road that led to the factory. I pulled onto the gravel road that leads to the back entrance and parked my car by the dumpster. It was black and it blended in well with the setting sun. Hope started getting out of the car but I stopped her, "We need you to monitor us from here. We will also need you to guide us through the factory."

Hope smiled, "That's what I'm good at. Alright, here are your comms." She handed me and Gray an earpiece, "Also, you'll need to wear these necklaces. They have a camera that is connected to my laptop, okay?"

I nodded, "God, I'm so glad to have you back on the team." Gray shifted beside me, "Gray isn't half bad himself."

"I think you need him as much as you need me," Hope said, Gray nodded in her direction and I let out a small laugh. Hope told us that we would have to pick the lock to get into the back entrance. I looked at Gray, he was staring at the ground, with his hands behind his back. I looked at Hope and she just shrugged.

I walked over to Gray and touched his arm, causing him to jump and if I know Gray, he doesn't jump. Something's wrong. "What's the matter, Gray?"

He moved away from me, "Nothing." He started walking to the door, "Let's go."

I pulled him back, "No. You tell me what's wrong. Right. Now." I said, not letting go of his arm, "Or you can stay in the car and Hope can come with me."

His eyes widened, "You're not leaving me behind on this." I crossed my arms and he sighed, "What if they aren't here? What do we do then?"

"Gray, it'll be okay." I moved closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, "Do you honestly think that we would find them in the very first place we look at?"

He wrapped his arms around me, "I just want to be able to know my mom."

"I know, baby, I know." I looked up at him, "Let's go check it out." I kissed his lips, "Then we can go home, it's getting late."

I grabbed Gray's hand in mine and headed toward the back entrance, I picked the lock and then opened the door. It was pitch black inside and very quiet. It was a little eerie. I kept Gray's hand in mine so he stayed close and wouldn't try to wander off by himself. I saw a dim light on under the door, I faced it so the camera in my necklace would capture it. Hope's voice came through my ear, "Unlocking the door in three, two, one." The door buzzed quietly and then unlocked. I peered over the wall.

"It's empty." I whispered to Gray, "An empty room with a light on? Someone's in there."

I walked into the room, Gray tailed behind me. Suddenly, a man came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my neck. I threw myself backward, causing the man to fall to the ground. I rolled away from him then got up on my feet. I saw a knife and a gun by his side, he groaned and started getting up. By the time he got back on his feet, Gray was behind him and holding the man in the same position he was holding me. The man couldn't breathe and slowly passed out, Gray released him and he fell to the floor with a thud.

We continued walking through the room, which appeared to be a storage room. "Hope, do you have any thermals?" Thermals mean if she reads any people on her screen that detects heat.

"No, the only bodies in that room are you, Gray, and the man who is passed out on the floor." She replied, "In the back of the room, there should be a metal door, there's heat in there. Try and unlock it."

I walked over to the metal door and tried opening it, "It's locked." I said. A few seconds later, the door unlocked and swung wide open. Three men wheeled on Gray and me, "Crap." The first man came towards us, he swung his fist at me, which I ducked then dropped to the floor and swept my leg under his, causing him to fall on the floor.

The other two men didn't do anything, all they did was pull off their gloves and their mask, "What the hell are you two doing here?" Dante asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," I replied. "Where's Emerald and Cassie?" I asked, Zach looked at me like I lost my mind.

Dante spoke again, "What do you mean 'where are they'? Aren't they..." Dante's voice was full of sadness, he loved my mom just as much as Zach did.

"No, Dante, they're alive." Zach said, "The Assassins are hiding them somewhere."

Dante looked at his brother with wide eyes, "What? Are you serious?"

"Hope, send me a holographic image on my bracelet please," I said into my comms, a second later, the picture of my mom and Cassie with their ex-husbands came through.

"What about our mom? Is she alive?" Dante asked, I looked at Gray.

"We don't know." Gray said, "But I can ask Damien to look into it."

"Who's Damien?" Dante asked, looking at all of us.

"Gray's asshole of a brother." Zach said, "Don't you remember him from the fair?"

"He's not an asshole Zach." I said, "He just flirts with everyone."

"Ya, he's definitely an asshole," Gray said, I looked at him, he just shrugged.

"Are they here or not?" I asked, changing the subject.

Zach shook his head, "I wouldn't know, but we have to been to almost every room and no one was here except us and the rest of the group." He looked at Dante then back at me, "Dr. Hart didn't even tell us that they were alive."

"That's because you didn't need to know."