Three men carefully descended, the silence jarring. I followed only to find my guys staring at a locked steel door.
“Can’t get in,” Mozz said. “Keypad, no card.”
I turned to Toni. “Check the dead, see if there are keycards on them.”
“On it.”
In the corner there was a camera, and a red light blinked as the lens pointed directly at me. Lorcan was behind that steel, and I knew in my heart that Penn was too. It was weird, the pull I felt in my chest.
“You gonna let me in, Little Anders? I’ve taken out all your men, and you’ve got nowhere to go.” Taking in the camera, I could tell based on the model that it transferred sound, so I knew he could hear me. “You better hope not a hair on Penn’s head has been damaged. He better be flawless or I promise you’ll feel such immense pain, you’ll beg to die…and youwilldie, Lorcan.”
I glanced over my shoulder for Toni, but he hadn’t returned yet. “You’re smarter than your brother—I’ll give you that, but neither of you is smarter than me. I’ll admit you had me on the line a few times…impressive, but this was how it was alwaysgoing to end. You dead, me victorious, and the Anders name forgotten.”
A sound behind me proved to be Toni. “Got it. We also found some staff and a couple of women hanging around. Gabe and a few others have rounded them all up.”
“Perfect.” I plucked the card from his hand and waggled it at the camera. “I’m coming in, Lorcan. Make your peace with whatever God you pray to, because you’re not leaving this boat alive.”
I slipped the card into the slot. Danny and Alex had guns raised in case we were attacked, which was highly likely.
The light turned green, and the sound of a lock disengaging brought a smile to my face. “On my mark.”
I pulled the card out, stuck it into my pocket, and readied my pistol. “When I say open, Toni, do it fast.”
He gripped the handle, I looked at him, took a breath, and nodded. The door opened, and I was ready to bring Penn home and Lorcan to hell.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Pennsylvania
Lorcan’s peopleweren’t very creative. I thought when I’d seen the table of gadgets, they would attempt to use those. But nope, for the last fifteen, maybe twenty minutes, it’d been all face punches, a few to the gut. Not much else could be done while sitting down. I was sure their knuckles had to be hurting. I was fine. It was getting harder to see due to swelling, but all in all I was just hoping Gideon would show up and end my boredom.
“Fucking hell,” one of the guys said as he shook out his hand.
“Getting tired?” I tried to smile, but my face wasn’t letting me…Must be swollen, too.
“You’re a tough one, aren’t you?” Lorcan approached, gripped my chin, and yanked my head back. “You’ll scream eventually.” He motioned behind himself. “I’m recording all this. It’ll be gift wrapped to your body when Gideon finds you.”
“At least you can be sure no one will duplicate your present, right?”
He glared. “Let’s get you on the hook, shall we?”
“Sounds fun.”
He released my face, and I was untied and hoisted up. My arms were raised above my head and after a series of clinks and clanks, I was hanging, my toes brushing against the floor.
“You can take a punch, I’ll give you that. But what if I slice you up? Cut off pieces of you and maybe I put you in a bunch of boxes? Gideon will be unwrapping for days.”
“How…giving of you.” It was hard to breathe in this position, and my nose was beginning to clog.
“Maybe it’s some sorta kink, Boss,” one of Lorcan’s men, a big burly guy, said.
“Hmm.” Lorcan picked up a scalpel. “Is that it, Penn? You’re actually enjoying this?” With a flick of his wrist, he sliced across my chest. Blood seeped through slowly, then flowed. “Not even a flinch…interesting.”
“Maybe bones?” A thin man picked up a hammer. “Could be surface stuff. But bones, he’s sure to scream.”
The time I’d broken my arm, I wouldn’t have known unless Tenny had told me I had, so I knew this was going to disappoint them greatly.
Lorcan took the hammer and passed it to the burly man. “Burke here has a mean swing; I’ll have him do it. What do you think?”
