After considering the option for a fraction of a second, I bolt. I haul ass across the platform toward the staircase and descend the steps as quickly and carefully as I can without using my arms for balance.
Once on the ground, I manage to slink through the shadows and get the hell out of Dodge. As quietly as possible, I head back toward the street?—
Oh god.
A boulder forms in my stomach.
The big man who slapped me lies on the ground, one leg bent at an unnatural angle. Several paces to his left, the one with the man-bun slumps against a barrel.
Both are dead, blood pooling beneath them.
Swallowing a scream, I race away from the construction site and into the heart of Koreatown.
A series of small, sketchy, almost derelict businesses with Hangul crammed on the signs litters my side of the street. Metal gates block nearly every entrance.
No cars pass by on the empty road. No one walks the sidewalks. No Good Samaritans in sight to ask for help.
And even if I could, I wouldn’t involve the police. Mafia and cops don’t mix.
Shit.
My shoulders sag. I need to cut my bindings, but…
I have no clue where to go other than far, far away from here.
Panic spurs my limbs forward. Soaked in sweat and with my chest aching from all the exertion, I run wildly, determined to escape.
I will not end up like Angelica.
And I won’t let her death be for nothing.
Tears blur my vision as I race down one street and then another. I take a hard right around a corner, my legs pumping, and smack straight into someone for the second time today.
I stumble back, nearly falling on my ass.
“I’m so sorry, I… Could you help me? I was just attacked, and…”
My voice trails off when I recognize this pedestrian’s fatigues, and horror grips my chest.
I’ve sought help from one of the mercenaries.
Muttering in what seems like Russian, the man withdraws his gun and aims right between my eyes.
Chapter 6
Brody
I sprint through back alleys, trying to keep out of the sun as I escape the construction site.
This is such a shit show. That operation went sideways fast, with both Marko and Jed now dead and the girl on the loose.
What else can go wrong?
Who were those mercenaries? Do they work for Finn? How could Finn possibly already know that I kidnapped his half-sister? I’ve only had her for two damn hours.
He’s on the other side of the country, for Pete’s sake.
Was Trinity speaking the truth when she told me I’d regret abducting her? Did I fall into some kind of elaborate trap?
