“Boss, this isn’t good,” Maxim, another one of my men, yells out. “There are several gunmen shooting up the place. They took out security and ambushed their way in.”
My thoughts go to Dani, and with my gun in hand, I rush out of the locker room and into the chaos that has ensued. People are screaming and running every which way. Gunshots are being fired. It’s a fucking bloodbath.
“We need to get you out of here,” Scotty shouts over the pandemonium.
“I need tofind Dani.”
“Ian will handle her. You’ll never find her in this mess. The police are already on their way. They must’ve been tipped off.”
“I can’t fucking leave her,” I yell back, my body trembling with fear.
“You’ll never make it out alive,” Lucian argues.
“He’s right,” Scotty agrees. “There’s an entire team of men working to take down the shooters. Let’s go out back. We’ll get you safely to the car, and then we can get in touch with Ian and your family.”
Fuck!
My family is here. Dominick, Peyton, Bri, and Lorenzo are all here to watch the fight … along with Dani. They could be anywhere, any of them hurt and needing medical attention. But Scotty is right. I’ll never be able to find them out there, and the chances of me surviving are slim.
We take the back exit and manage to make it to Scotty’s SUV without issue, the five of us piling in. The place is a fucking war zone. People are making a run for it, and cars are hightailing it out of there. Blue and red lights appear, and Scotty takes off before they can stop us.
Before I can call Ian, my phone rings with a call from him.
“Where are you?” I bark out.
“I lost her,” he hisses, his breathing heavy. “Shit went sideways so fucking quick. One minute, she was going into the bathroom, and then—fuck!—she was gone. I traced her phone, and I think someone has her.”
“How the fuck do you know that?” I ask, feeling like I’m living in a goddamn nightmare.
“She’s heading southeast. There’s no way she would’ve left on her own. And in what vehicle?”
“Maxim, get ahold of my brother.”
“Already did,” he says. “They’re all safe and on their way home.”
I sigh in relief, but it’s short-lived when he adds, “But Dani isn’t with them.”
“Fuck!” I punch the air. “I’m pulling up her location now.”
I send it to Bosco, another one of my men, who’s sitting in the front seat, and he puts it on the screen so Scotty knows where to go.
“I think it’s taking her to the port,” Scotty notes.
I watch the dot for a few seconds and then tell Ian I’ll call him right back. If her phone is moving, maybe it’s all a misunderstanding, and she has her phone on her and is okay.
It rings once, twice, and then the call connects.
“Dani,” I breathe. “Where are you? I?—”
“Sorry,” a weird, robotic-sounding voice comes over the line—a voice distorter. “Dani can’t come to the phone right now. She’s a little … tied up at the moment.”
“If you fucking?—”
“What?” the voice says with a maniacal laugh. “Touch her? What are you going to do? Did you do anything when I set your warehouse on fire last year? How about when I ransacked all the businesses in South Harbor Point that were under your protection? Or when I had you arrested for money laundering?”
Another laugh, and a chill races down my spine.
“What did you do when I had your little gym shut down? Not a damn thing. And I’m only getting started. I tried to do this the easy way. I gave you plenty of warnings, but you didn’t listen. You and your family think you’re invincible, but you’re not, and now, I’m done playing games.” A cackle comes through the line. “Or maybe I’ve only just begun.”
