I flank and move through the crowd. They each have one of her arms. I move behind, using my size to knock a guy out of formation. I get an arm around her waist and stop. The formation grinds to a halt.
She looks over her shoulder and shakes her head at me.
I bend my head forward.
“No,” I say to her.
“Let go,” she hisses.
I feel a gun pressed to my side. Then another.
My grip tightens, drawing her body back against mine. Trick and C are there instantly. The circle is widening.
“Let go, Berto. Let me speak to Sasha.”
He lets go. Frank doesn’t.
“Dad,” she says, trying to shake off his hand, but he holds fast.
It’s another standoff.
This time, her eyes are cool when she turns her head toward me. “I don’t need your help. You got what you wanted. Now let me go.”
“Rachel,” C says. “Come back to the house. You can talk to anyone you want from there.”
Her light brown eyes shift. “Make him let me go, C. Right now.” Her tone says more than her words.
After a couple of breaths, I drop my arm. My mind hasn’t caught up, but I take things in. Leone’s smug smile. Frank’s scowl. And the fact that she doesn’t look back.
I complete the walk to the parking lot. I catalogue the cars. Rachel gets in Frank’s armored town car with him and Leone. The reinforcements decamp.
Zoe is shaking her head and crying when she gets into Rover 1. I hear her blaming herself. I’d like to blame her too, but I know it’s not her fault.
When Trick and I are in the second Rover with him driving, I stare out the windshield.
“He said something to her. Something that made her decide to leave with him.”
“I didn’t catch it,” Trick says noncommittally.
“I did,” I say emphatically.
“All right. So what do you want to do, ‘Vil?”
“I can’t make a move yet.”
“Yeah, take some time.”
My gaze slides to him and glares. “He’s got some kind of leverage. When I know what he has, I’ll decide what to do.”
“Yeah, good,” he says lightly, still skeptical.
“Fuck off,” I growl, turning my eyes back to the road.
