Last I spoke with Alexei, he was about to zero in on Viggo.
But Admir is the one I’m worried about. He’ll come prepared. Christ, I can feel time’s running out. Gut instinct tells me they’re close.
I’m on high alert, my eyes keep darting around, waiting for them to attack.
We stop outside the bar, and absentmindedly, I give Hailey a kiss.
My muscles tense, and I glance around us again. Reaching for the chain around my neck, I take it off and place it around Hailey’s neck. I tuck the tag under her shirt.
“You love this chain,” she says, a happy smile on her face.
“I want you to wear it.” I press another kiss to her mouth then nudge her toward the entrance. I follow her inside and make sure it’s safe before I say, “I’ll see you after work.”
Stepping outside again, I walk to the side and, taking out my phone, I dial Alexei’s number.
“Da,” he barks.
“They’re close.”
“I’ve just finished Viggo. It will take me an hour and a half to get to you.”
At least there’s one cousin less to worry about.
“Hailey’s wearing the tracker. Activate it. I’ll call you every thirty minutes. If you don’t hear from me, get to her.”
“Carson,” Alexei growls. “Take your fucking girl and get to the safe house.”
I walk back into the bar. “We’re leaving. Just activate the fucking tracker.”
This is the moment I’ve been dreading. I can’t put it off any longer. Hailey has to know so I can protect her better.
“Done. I have eyes on you,” Alexei says after he activated the device Hailey’s wearing.
“Thirty minutes,” I remind him.
“Got it. Be careful.”
We end the call, and I walk to the counter, telling Lars, “Get Hailey for me.”
“Hailey,” he calls into the storage room. “Carson’s looking for you.”
She comes out carrying a crate of glasses. “Forget something?”
Shaking my head, I walk to her, and I take the crate from her hands. I set it down on the counter. “We need to go.”
“Where? I’m working.”
I drag her out of the bar and tighten my hold on her hand.
“Carson, I have work to do.”
Fuck.
“Just trust me. I’ll tell you what’s going on as soon as we’re safe.”
Confusion laces her words as she asks, “Safe? What are you talking about?”
She pulls against my hold at the same time a man I haven’t seen before comes out of a side street to our left.
“Move behind me,” I say as I slow my pace a little.
“What? Why?” she asks, not noticing we’re in shit.
Another man comes from our right.
“Behind me, Hailey.” I yank her so she’ll move, and then I let go of her hand. Still holding the phone in my hand, I press dial on Alexei’s number.
The moment I lift the device to my ear, they come at us. I drop the phone, knowing Alexei will still be able to hear what happens.
More men start to crawl out of the fucking shadows.
“Carson,” Hailey whimpers.
“Stay behind me.”
When the first guy is within reaching distance, I move forward. I thwart the swing he takes at me and grab hold of his arm. Slamming down on his elbow, I break his arm, and then I lunge at the next guy.
Instinct takes over, and I just keep moving from man to man.
A palm to the nose, shoving the bone back into the brain.
A kick to the chest while I turn to elbow another in the throat.
Wrapping my arm around a neck and snapping it like a twig.
The dance of death.
This is who I am. My feet find a rhythm, my hands the deadly weapons they were always meant to be.
“Carson!” Hailey screams, fear staining her always bubbly voice.
My eyes snap to her, and I come to a sudden stop.
“Admir,” I call out, so Alexei will hear if he’s still on the line. “The fucker has a gun to Hailey’s head.”
“The fucking phone,” Admir shouts, and one of the men crushes the device under the heel of his boot.
I know what’s coming, and I can’t do shit because they will not hesitate to shoot Hailey. I have to let them take me. I have to play their game to give Alexei time to get to us.
All that matters is keeping Hailey alive for as long as I can.
Christ, they’re going to hurt her.
Hurry, Alexei.
She lets out a terrifying cry, and then there’s a blow to the back of my head.
HAILEY
I can’t process anything. Shock pricks at my skin like thorns, and it makes time warp.
One second, Carson’s dragging me out of the bar, and the next, we’re attacked by a group of men, and he turns into some badass ninja.
The barrel of the gun digs into my temple, and as a man comes up behind Carson, I let out a cry, unable to form any words to warn him.
The man slams a gun against Carson’s head, and he drops to his knees before slumping to the ground.
God. Oh, God.
What’s going on? Who are these men? Why are they attacking us?
My mind speeds up until my thoughts turn into a messy blur.
Headlights from a car fall over us, and fear sinks cold and desperate into my bones.
“Move,” the man Carson called Admir orders, and he shoves me hard.
My feet stumble toward Carson, but then I’m yanked away from his unconscious body and shoved toward the car.
No.
I swing around, but before I can try to punch Admir, he trains the gun right between my eyes. He nods his head toward Carson. “I will fucking kill him. Right now. You, I can still use.”
Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.
Panic makes my breaths race over my lips, and my arms shoot up in a surrendering motion. “Sorry. I’m sorry.”
“Get in the car,” he orders.
Instinct tells me to run. To just run as fast and far as I can.
My heart makes my feet move toward the car because I won’t risk Carson’s life.
“Hailey,” Lars calls from the bar’s entrance. I glance over my shoulder, and then a gunshot goes off. The sound is softer than I expected. Lars staggers back into the bar before he falls.
I hear myself scream, my hands flying to my mouth. Shock mutes everything. My fear thickens until it’s darker than the night.
When an arm comes around me, I struggle against the hold. I’m lifted off my feet, and I kick out, my hands slapping and scratching at the arm around me. It’s useless, though, because I’m not strong enough.
My mouth dries up with terror. My muscles tense painfully.
I’m dragged to the car and forced into the back seat. When I turn to try and get out, there’s a hard blow to the side of my head. The pain is sharp, making my brain rattle, and then everything goes dark.
Coming to, there’s an ache pounding against my temple.
Opening my eyes, the first thing I see is a grimy floor, then someone slaps my cheek a couple of times. “Wake up.”
Turning my head away from the hand, I struggle to comprehend what’s happening. When I try to move my hands, I realize they’re tied behind my back. It makes the last of the grogginess lift, and then panic and fear shudders through me.
Shit.
My eyes dart around me, and they stop on Carson, where he’s sitting across from me on the other side of the room.
Where my legs are free, his are restrained to a chair with zip ties around his ankles. His hands are also tied behind his back, but instead of panicking, he looks calm… relaxed. He just stares off as if he’s caught in a daydream.
“C-Carson?”
He doesn’t look at me or say anything. He just keeps staring at nothing with an impassive expression on his face.
I can’t… I don’t understand.
“Tell Admir the girl is awake,” the man next to me says to another who’s standing by the door. It’s only then I notice all the men. I count nine.
They all look like trouble, the kind I’ve only seen in movies.
Shit. Shit. Shit. This is bad.
I have a million questions, but I don’t dare open my mouth.
Keep quiet. Don’t draw attention to yourself.
Then the memories start to come. Carson fighting, I’ve never seen anything like it. The gun. Lars.
Lars. Poor Lars.
My breathing begins to speed up, and my heart rate increases.
My eyes dart to Carson again, and finding no warmth, no assurance… nothing on his face to tell me we’re going to be okay makes a sob build in my chest.
“Carson, what’s happening?” I ask him.
He doesn’t answer me. No one does.
“Can anyone tell me what’s going on,” I say, my voice stronger this time, my rising panic the driving force.
The man closest to me swings around and backhands me across the face. “Shut up.”
I pinch my eyes shut, and sit frozen for a moment, trying to process the blow.
Everything was normal… and then it wasn’t.
It’s like I’ve been dropped into a weird nightmare where nothing makes sense.
Maybe it’s just a bad dream?
Maybe…
Admir comes into the room, and he chuckles cruelly. He glances at me before turning his attention to Carson. “Carson fucking Koslov. We meet again.”
Carson doesn’t say anything. Instead, he keeps staring at the floor.
“Who’s behind the contract?” Admir asks.
Contract? What contract?
There no reaction from Carson. He hardly blinks.
My eyes keep darting between Admir and Carson, hoping to learn why we’re here.
“Tell me, and I’ll make it quick,” Admir says.
Make what quick?
When Carson remains frozen in silence, Admir turns to me. He makes a gesture with his hand, and then two men come at me.
Petrified my lips part, but I can’t think of a single word. I try to yank at the bonds biting into my wrists, and when I dart up from the chair, the one guy grabs hold of my neck.
I make a slight squeaking sound as I’m shoved back, and my legs are swept from under me. I hit the floor hard, pain vibrating through me, my hands digging into my lower back. The chair is kicked to the side, the plastic making a scraping sound.
Dreadful emotions crash into my chest. My mind goes blank in absolute terror, and then a cloth is shoved over my face. Tepid water fills every hole and drowns the air from my lungs.
I struggle against the hold on me. I choke and cough, the water suffocating me. When I begin to gag, my lungs burning for oxygen, they let go of me. My body convulses as my throat and lungs work to get the water out.
It feels like unbearable minutes pass before I’m able to drag in a painful breath.
I’m hauled up on unsteady legs, and then the little air I’ve managed to get in explodes from me as a fist slams into my stomach.
I drop to my knees before tumbling over, making awful noises as I gag from the throbbing in my lower half. I drag in an agonizing breath, but it’s like my body has forgotten how to function because I choke on the air.
Alarmed by the lack of oxygen, my heart thunders. It sounds like I’m being strangled when I try to take a breath.
Calm down.
You need to breathe.
Don’t hyperventilate.
A sob bursts over my lips as the reality of my grim situation sinks in.
They’re going to torture me. All because of some contract… and Carson.
Breathe.
