He slipped out into the hallway and I scrambled off the bed. If that man thought he was leaving me behind when I knew they’d need proof inside and out of everything that was about to happen, he was sorely mistaken. I heard him striding down the hallway, walking with purpose while I scrambled to get everything I needed.
And after I checked to make sure my own cell phone was charged enough, I pulled up my camera.
Before toggling it to “video.”
“Now, where do you think you’re going?”
Lexi’s voice sounded the second I stepped out into the hallway. I looked over at her and begged her with my eyes, but she simply folded her arms across her chest. She moved to stand in between me and the hallway that stretched all the way to the front door, and I knew I’d have to be honest with her.
“Lexi, don’t,” I said.
She tilted her head off to the side. “Frost figured you might try to go with them.”
“They need video proof. Someone has to be with them.”
“Then, go tell them that and let someone else take the video. You aren’t alone anymore. You’ve got a family now. You don’t have to do everything yourself.”
Her words struck deep, but they also didn’t matter. “If you don’t move, I’ll move you myself. Now, please, I love you, but get the hell out of my way.”
She took a step toward me. “Do you know what’s going to happen to me if I lose you? What’s going to happen to Natty if you die? Do you really want to risk that for a fucking video that someone else could take?”
“I love you, Lexi.”
Her face fell. “What?”
I swallowed hard. “I love West. I’m in love with West. And I’m not letting him do this alone. I have to go, okay? I’m sorry.”
I shoved past her, practically knocking her off her feet. Bikes struck up as an engine turned over, and I knew I had to be quick about things. I sprinted toward the living room that housed the one window that looked out toward the front of the property, and as the guys eased away from the warehouse, I saw it.
I saw that black car hidden in the shade of the trees.
“Bingo,” I whispered.
I sprinted for the car and tried to remember what I had seen West do in order to get the engine to start. It took me much longer than I would have enjoyed getting that damned engine to turn over. But once it finally roared to life, I threw it in reverse and tried to catch up with them. The engine was loud. Louder than I wanted it to be. But with the ground they had already gained on me—plus the fact that some of them were on bikes—covered the sound of the revving engine.
I stayed at least six car lengths behind them, trying to conceal myself as much as possible.
And when we finally got to the abandoned warehouse, I drove by it so that I didn’t look too conspicuous.
“Now, to get myself hidden,” I murmured.
Four blocks up the highway there was a left-hand turn that I took. I had to do some fancy maneuvering to get the car parked in between enough trees so that it was concealed from all angles. Then, I searched through the damned thing. I had been in such a rush that I hadn’t stopped and thought about grabbing myself a weapon. But this was the luxury car of a fucking drug dealer. He had something in this damned thing somewhere.
And once I popped the trunk, a smile crossed my face.
“Bingo,” I murmured.
There were shotguns and semi-automatics. Pistols, and hand grenades. I shoved a couple of grenades into my pockets before sliding the pistol behind my back. I tucked it into my jeans and filled my back pockets with ammunition for it. Then, I grabbed the pump shotgun and checked to make sure it had a couple of rounds in it.
Before I grabbed a handful of them and started through the woods.
“Well, well, well,” Carlos’ voice said in the distance, “nice to see you all. West, good to see you again.”
I silenced myself as much as possible and ducked behind a tree trunk. I set the shotgun down and pulled out my phone, zooming in as much as I could before I pressed record. I picked up the shotgun and crept a bit closer so that the audio didn’t sound so fucking far away.
And with every second that passed by with me undetected, the smile on my face grew.
That’s it, keep talking yourself into a fucking hole, asswipe.
