“Tonight’s prize: survival.”
My pulse thundered.
“Who’d like to purchase everyone’s freedom here?” Rhett asked, his voice low and steady. Not villain-like. Just cold and dead.
“The price? Step one: All you have to do is let that woman walk out with the ring on that man’s finger without following her,” Rhett continued as the spotlight burned above us. “You do that, and remain in the ballroom until you have my go-ahead to leave, and the charges beneath the room won’t detonate and bring this whole hotel down.”
“And—and what’s step two?” a shaky male voice called out.
Two more lights flickered overhead, now spotlighting Ryder and Hollis, too. “You stop these three people from following that woman out. And then after ... you kill them.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Alejandro
“If anyone walks out of here without my permission, a sniper will cut you down.” Rhett’s voice was a low hiss rattling over the speakers. Eerily calm, like a man who’d sold his soul long before he faked his death. “Would anyone like to test me?”
No one moved. Not even the woman at the podium. Or the couple hosting this fake charity event.
These weren’t average civilians. Criminals, yeah, but unarmed, like us. All of us motivated by different stakes. Rhett was banking on fear to turn them into human weapons.
“Didn’t think so. Now, you have thirty seconds to leave with the ring, Audrey. If you want to give your brother and friends a fighting chance, you’ll do as instructed.”
I saw the flicker of fear in her eyes despite having known this moment would come. I squeezed both her hands, probably more terrified than she was that she’d be leaving without me.
“Exit out the balcony doors,” Rhett continued. “A helo will be hovering. One of my men is waiting for you.” He clearly wasn’t the one piloting the bird. No rotor wash bleeding through the speaker.
“Once she’s outside, the next timer begins. You’ll have three minutes to kill them.” The command was meant for the guests.
A timer blinked to life on the ballroom’s far wall. Red digits. Thirty seconds on the clock.
“They’re highly trained,” Rhett warned. “Most of you in there aren’t used to getting your hands dirty yourselves. Well, here’s your chance.”
A beat of silence before Reed transmitted, “This is Delta Three. Two tangos are guarding the service stairwell leading to the basement. That’s our target location.”
We’d planned for this. Knew Rhett would trigger something loud and fast. But this kind of psychological warfare? He’d taken it to a new level. Fortunately, we’d prepared, and sent Reed from the room before Rhett had hijacked the auction.
I looked at Audrey again, who was still holding steady even if I wasn’t.
My grip on her tightened. We’d chosen to ignore this part of the evening back in our hotel suite, pretending as though it would never happen.
Now here it was.
About to become stained in blood.
And her walking out that door without me wouldn’t be an illusion.
When the lights came back on, Rhett announced, “First thirty seconds starts ...now.”
The wall timer started its descent.
I pulled Mitch’s ring from my finger and pressed it into her palm.
She stared at me, fearless despite the tremble in her frame as she kicked off her heels. “Tell me what you said in Spanish upstairs. Before I go, please,” she whispered.
“After.” I needed to believe an after would exist for us both before I could tell her. Until that time came, all I could do was beg, “Go,” even though that very idea felt like the walls were closing in on me.
Her lips parted. Words on her tongue she’d have to wait to tell me after, too. Then she hiked up her skirt and sprinted barefoot toward the balcony.
