Students pass me with bags and books. I check the time, they’re heading to their first class of the day.
Once in the car park, I see the car he usually drives is gone.
I swear under my breath and climb into one of my own vehicles, the engine roaring to life as I pull out and follow the dot on my phone.
The route pulls me away from anything familiar, deeper into forested roads.
This isn’t one of our usual places.
I consider it for a moment, then push the unease aside. If this is one of Markev’s sites, how would I recognise it anyway?
I park near an abandoned structure, a massive, decaying building hidden by trees.
My eyes narrow. How do I not know about this place?
The dot on my phone places him inside.
I step out of the car and scan the area. The unease returns.
There are no other vehicles. Just birdsong, loud in the silence.
Adriano’s phone is inside, but his car isn’t here. Neither are our men.
And Markev’s vehicle is nowhere to be seen.
Maybe they really are apart.
Tyres screech behind me. I turn just as a car barrels straight at me.
A gunshot cracks through the air.
I dive, but not fast enough.
The car hits me full force. The impact sends me flying. The world explodes. I’m thrown clear for a split second before I smash into the ground and start rolling, over and over, pain detonating everywhere.
My wrist snaps with a sickening crack, my head slams into something hard, my vision turns white as my ribs scream and my skin burns.
I can’t stop rolling.
Noise erupts behind me, shouts and movement, but it’s distant. My vision blurs as darkness pulls me under.
Pain.
So much of it.
I want it to stop.
The last thing I think of, stupidly… inevitably, is him.
Those icy blue eyes.
And then everything goes black.
Chapter 60
Milo
Something is wrong.
