Taken With Trouble (CAUGHT IN CHAOS #2)

30. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Serena

“Wait.” Caleb leans back on the sofa, shaking his head. He’s squeezing one of Terry’s throw pillows like he wants to strangle it. “Start over. I must have misheard you.”

I grimace. “You didn’t. Liam stuck me in a coffin.”

“I’ll kill him.” His nostrils flare, and Terry walks into the room and tugs the pillow out of his arms. Caleb blinks, still upset and confused. He’s been like this since he got here an hour ago.

“Believe me, I’ve tried to kill him. But he’s like a cat with nine lives.” It’s clear I can’t tell him I’ve also kissed Liam. Caleb would lose his mind.

Caleb drops his face into his hands, rubbing his temples. “Okay, so his grandfather is being held hostage. But it’s not the Winthrops because they didn’t even place the bounty on Liam.” He pops his head up. “It was all a trap to get you to hand over the box.”

My fingers shake around my coffee mug. Sebastian will know by now that the evidence isn’t in the box. Which means he will come back with a vengeance. It might already be too late for Henry.

“Who set the trap at the gala? The same man who has Liam’s grandfather? ”

That’s my theory. Which would also be my fault. I didn’t know who to turn to when things went south with Sebastian. I trusted only two people: Liam’s grandfather, and my friend at work. They are the only people who know where the evidence is ?hidden.

“Sebastian Sanchez,” I whisper.

Caleb must hear something in my voice causing him to pause and look at me curiously.

“And who is Sebastian Sanchez to you ?”

I grimace. “My ex.”

He curses and shoves his hand through his hair before getting up to pace the floor. He’s got his phone out, typing rapidly on it. “He’s wanted by Interpol. And he’s twelve years older than you.”

I flinch, and he gives me a condescending look before turning back to the phone screen. “And you got mad at me for dating Amelia.”

“I stand by that. She’s too smiley and happy all the time. It’s unnatural and irritating.”

Caleb shakes his head, muttering something as he combs through whatever files he pulled up on his phone. “Cruz, do you know what kind of man Sebastian is? He’s a drug runner connected to one of the largest smuggling rings in the U.K.” Caleb practically shouts.

“I found that out the hard way.”

He stops pacing to look at me. Really look at me. His eyes are like the Spanish Inquisition and I’m about to be conquered. “There was talk he killed some men, but nothing ever came of it. There was no evidence…” His eyes narrow, and I shift in my seat. “Or was there?”

I gulp. I feel like I’m melting under his stare.

He squeezes his eyes closed before opening them again. “There was evidence… You knew about it. You’re in hiding.”

I nod.

“Is your name even Serena?”

I grimace again. “It is now. It was Seraphina Costa. ”

He presses his palm to his forehead, still processing. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

I give him a look. “Because I didn’t change my name for fun, Caleb. I changed everything: my face, my lips, my hair. I bulked up to be an entirely different woman Sebastian and his men wouldn’t recognize.”

He shakes his head again. “And ran to the U.S.?”

“Yes. I worked for a time and got my new identity. After I changed my face and everything else, I entered the academy.”

“How did the FBI not catch your name change?”

“They did,” I say. “I was put on probation until I proved myself. They agreed to keep my old identity confidential.”

“You didn’t tell them about Sebastian?”

“All they know is that I was adopted and wanted to change my name.” I chew on my bottom lip, still struggling with the lies I covered up years ago. I worried I didn’t have enough evidence to bring against Sebastian, and decided to look into things on my own, and build up the proof. My partner at the time saw what I was doing and warned me not to get involved. But he saw how obsessed I was and agreed to help. He was searching for one of Sebastian’s U.S. hideouts for me when he was shot.

I got him killed.

So, I ran again. I asked for a transfer and hid in Arizona.

“And this is the first time Sebastian has caused a problem?” Caleb asks, pulling from me from my past guilts. “How did he find you? Recognize you?”

“I’m not exactly sure. I can only assume Liam’s grandfather gave me up. He was like a grandfather to me as well.”

“His grandfather was… You knew Liam before…” Caleb shakes his head and gives me a look all parents give their children when they’re in trouble. “We’re going to have to have a discussion on lying to our partners.”

I cock my head to the side. “Sure, do you want to start? What have you been hiding from me?”

He pointedly looks at his phone. I’ll get to the bottom of that later.

Caleb drops his head back with a sigh. “This is bad. ”

“You think I don’t know?” My voice breaks, and tears threaten to spill.

Caleb leans across the coffee table, holding my gaze intently. “But we’re going to fix it.”

“I don’t know if it can be fixed.”

“We’re going to try our best. I’ll call Ford.”

My heartbeat kicks up a notch. “Wait!” I say, just as Caleb hits the call button. “Don’t tell him who I really am, please.”

Caleb gives me a nod that says he understands my fears, but he’ll insist I tell Ford sooner or later. “Chief,” Caleb says into the phone. “I found Agent Cruz.”

Special Agent Ford says something, and the next thing I know Caleb is aiming a camera at my face. Ford’s kind and handsome face fills the other screen, and his eyes immediately skim over me as if checking for injuries.

“Agent Cruz.” Ford sighs like a weight has been lifted off his chest. “Are you okay?”

I glance down at the men’s clothes I’m currently sporting and rub the rope burns on my wrists. “I’m okay.”

His eyes linger on me intently. “I’ll grab Hadley, and we’ll be on our way. I want to know everything when I land.”

“Yes, sir.”

Ford tells Caleb the location of a local safe house and then the call ends. I feel simultaneously relieved and on edge.

I did the right thing. I’m sure of it.

Will Liam think so?

I take a deep breath. He left to deal with things on his own terms. This is how I operate. One way or another, we’ll get his grandfather back.