“It’s time to move,” Jay announces, stopping in front of me and tipping up my chin. “I don’t want any funny business from you. Laken knows her place after a few weeks with us, but you’ll quickly learn what happens to whores who don’t follow the rules.”
I glare at him but tip my chin slightly in acknowledgment. I’m not willing to bow to him, but I’m not going to purposely provoke him either. I have enough survival instinct to know that would be a terrible idea.
He seems satisfied with my response, so he moves behind me, untying my wrists from the chair and resecuring them in front of me. I tuck my arms close, my heart thundering each time his fingers slip closer to the weapon I have smuggled down my pants.
Once again, he checks the restraints more than once before moving on to Laken.
Her body trembles, and I can’t tell if it’s from fear, the cold, or a mixture of both. Where I’m wearing one of Colten’s T-shirts and sweatpants, she’s wearing a sweater and yoga pants, so I doubt she’s any warmer than I am right now.
Grant steps into the open space, a gun drawn as he moves toward the doors.
I glance over my shoulder when both their attention is elsewhere, searching for an alternative door, but there isn’t one. At least not within the main warehouse space.
There has to be an emergency exit somewhere, but if we make a run for it, one wrong turn and we’re done for.
I need to be sure of my path if I’m going to make a break for it.
When I turn back, Laken is staring at me with renewed resolve, like a switch has been flicked somewhere in her mind.
I take a step closer to her at the same time she does to me, before we both pause and wait for them to notice. When they don’t, we repeat the same series of movements until we’re close enough to touch.
You know how to shoot?I mouth.
She nods quickly. She knows as well as I do that we have one shot at this, and if we fail, we’re done.
There’s no room for error.
No room for mistakes.
I press my eyes closed, breathing through the panic that weaves through every muscle.
I’ve been training my whole life to be able to save myself, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Whatwe’regoing to do.
Grant and Jay have their backs to us, speaking in whispered shouts I should probably be paying more attention to, but all I can focus on right now is getting Laken the gun.
Laken and I lock eyes again, offering one another the strength we need to pull this off before I bend to the side and move my arms out of the way.
She dips her bound hands into the side of my sweatpants and pulls the gun free.
You’ve got this,I say silently, and she gives me a shaky nod.
Laken lifts the gun, flicks the safety, and aims at the back of Jay’s head, her hands shaking slightly as she locks in on her target.
But before she can get the shot off, a loud bang accompanied by a bright flash of light fills the warehouse, and all hell breaks loose.
FIFTY-FIVE
COLTEN
“Everyone has their assignments?” I ask the group of men spread in front of me, a mixture of De Luca and Sinclair soldiers ready to go into a situation we have very little information on.
The warehouse he’s holding Lexi in is a new build, new enough that the city hasn’t filed the digital versions of the plans yet.
Or they’ve been deleted.
I wouldn’t rule out either option.
