“No, it can’t,” Maddox said hoarsely. “It’s about Hayley.”
Silas froze. Oh God. Don’t let them have already gotten to her. He stared at Maddox with his heart in his throat.
“Make it quick,” he said savagely. “She’s been missing for fuckingdaysand I only just figured out where she is because Ghost found a file on her open on Vanucci’s desk. They’re already planning their next hit.Her!”
“Jesus,” Maddox whispered. “I’ll tell you on the way. Let’s go. Justice, you’re with us.”
“You packing?” Silas asked grimly.
Maddox sent him a baleful look. “Hell yeah!”
Thirty seconds later, they jumped in Silas’s car and Silas tore out of the parking lot as Maddox input the address into the GPS unit.
“What about Hayley?” Silas demanded.
“Fuck,” Maddox said, closing his eyes. “Zander called me from the hospital pissed as hell because before he could only remember bits and pieces of the shooting. It happened so fast. But he remembered it all in exacting detail a few hours ago. We assumed that we were the targets of the shooting, and it appeared that way because Hayley got hit when she tried to run up to Zander and push him out of the way. But Zander says that’s not what happened.”
“What did, then?” Silas shouted. “Spill it already. We don’t have all goddamn day!”
“Zander said that Hayley saw the guys pull up. We didn’t. But he saw her face and when he turned around he also saw the guys and they didn’t immediately shoot. Theyhesitated. It wasn’t until Hayley gave them a clear shot by moving frombehindZander and running to push him out of the way that they opened fire. Zander was able to get infront of her, mostly, and took most of the damage except for the ricochet that hit Hayley.Shewas the target, not us, which means they tagged her a long time ago and had been waiting for an opportunity.”
Silas felt the blood leave his face, and he started sweating from head to toe. He’d been so fucking arrogant from the very start. So certain he could keep Hayley off the radar and that no one would know he was involved with her. When all along those sons of bitches had known. He was extremely fortunate that Hayley hadn’t already been killed, and if he didn’t get to her in time, that was exactly what was going to happen to her.
“Rein it in, brother,” Justice said quietly. “You have to keep a cool head or you’re no good to her. We go in and do this the right way and no one gets killed. You with me?”
Silas gave a clipped nod, but his pulse was thundering so loudly in his ears that he had no clue what Justice had said.
“Hartley’s with Evangeline, and Drake will meet us there. Jax is on his way as well. Let’s go get your girl, Silas. And this time, try to keep her, okay?” Maddox said in a tight voice.
35
Hayley forced herself out of bed after yet another sleepless night and sat with her legs over the edge, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist. She lifted her head and grimly surveyed the interior of the shabby apartment she’d rented. She couldn’t remain here another night. She’d chosen it because she could pay by the week and in the daylight it hadn’t looked too bad. But it was in a crime-infested slum that was overrun with gangbangers and drug dealers.
Just last night, she’d sat huddled in her apartment in the corner after hearing shots beneath her window and when she’d finally looked out, she’s witnessed in startling clarity a drug deal going down.
After that she’d taken the Colt her father had given her before she left for the city, the same gun he’d spent many a day teaching her to shoot from the time she was a little girl, and she’d placed it, loaded, underneath her pillow, within easy reaching distance. He was determined his baby girl would always know how to defend herself, but until now she hadn’t felt she needed it.
She let out a harsh-sounding laugh. Hadn’t needed it? It damn sure would have come in handy the night she’d been mugged and especially the night of the recital and Zander’s shooting. If she’d had it then shecould have given those bastards a dose of their own medicine and they would have never seen it coming.
Never again would she be without it at all times. She’d kept it, yes, but she’d always kept it safely stored. Now, however, she didn’t leave her apartment without it in her purse and she didn’t move an inch inside her apartment without the reassuring metal pressed to her palm.
She pushed herself out of bed, knowing it was extremely late, but it had been past dawn before things had settled enough for her to drift into an uneasy sleep. She dreaded even leaving the relative security of her apartment, but she refused to become a prisoner here. She was packing her stuff today and leaving. She didn’t know her final destination. Yet. But by the time she got everything ready, she’d at least have an idea.
Easing the gun from beneath her pillow, she secured it in her purse and then, so eager to get out of there and put the whole ordeal behind her, she didn’t even bother taking a shower. She hurriedly packed her meager belongings and then splashed cold water on her face, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
She carefully pulled back the dingy curtains to peek out her window, sighing sadly as she saw the faint outline of the city in the distance. Despite the grief and despair so heavy in her heart, she would miss the city with all the flash and flurry that had swallowed her up whole from the very first day she’d stepped into it.
To a small-town country girl like her, Manhattan had seemed so full of glitz and glamour, so sophisticated when she was anything but. She’d made the adjustment in no time at all thanks to the kindness of the elderly patrons of the school who’d asked her to apartment-sit for them while they toured Europe. It had been her first real taste of independence, and she’d flourished and even enjoyed her new life.
Now it was time to pick up the pieces and move on and become the independent, self-sufficient woman her father had raised her to be. Shejust wished she knew where to begin or how to get over the one man she knew she’d never stop loving.
Finished with her packing and fully dressed and ready to face her future, a future without the man who’d given her such hope, she secured her purse over her shoulder and went to the door, placing her ear to the aged wood. When she heard a faint scuffle and the routine shouting her neighbors indulged in on a daily basis, she stepped back and decided to wait a few minutes before she headed out the door. The last thing she wanted was to walk right into the middle of a domestic dispute.
After what seemed an interminable wait, the yelling settled into complete silence. She stood a few more moments, making sure they’d gone back into their apartment, and then went to crack her door to have a look before she dragged her heavy bag down the stairs and walked to the nearest subway station. Even taxis didn’t dare come into this neighborhood. She had yet to see a single one in the days since she’d moved in here.
She had her hand on the handle when the door suddenly exploded inward, knocking her back several feet, where she landed painfully on the floor. She let out a scream as a huge man loomed over her, and as soon as she opened her mouth to scream again he lashed out and backhanded her so hard she fell over, hitting the floor with the other side of her ringing head.
Two men came rushing in and grabbed her as she yelled hoarsely, refusing to give in to their demands for her silence. The next moments came in a confusing blur as everything she’d been taught as a little girl by her overprotective single father came rushing back. Things she had been too shocked and frightened to use the night she was rescued by Silas.
