“He won’t wait,” Koby clips, feigning annoyance.
“No, I won’t,” I admit. “We don’t have time to lose.”
I doubt I’d wait even if Rhett’s men weren’t catching us up.
I need Hailey back right fucking now. It’s been over a week. Every ticking second is one more she has to endure, trapped in this hellhole, surrounded by scum who willingly sell girls like her into sex slavery.
Chills slither down my spine, my heart rhythm speeding up. I don’t want to think about how scared she must be or what she’s been through.
I can’t think about it. Not now. Not when my head needs to be in the game if we’re going to leave that house alive.
Reading the determination in my eyes, Broadway sighs, then attaches his silencer. “Looks like we’re going in,” he tells the guys, and nudges me to screw my silencer on. “The longer we don’t draw attention to ourselves, the higher the chance we’ll get out before Noretto’s goons from the auction show up.”
“Fuck!” Koby slams his hand against the wheel, making the Range Rover beep, a loud blast that vibrates my earpiece. “At least stay on the line. Ryder will guide you through the place, so you don’t get spotted.”
“They’ll get spotted long before they get near the door,” Ryder muses. “Blaze has this placed wired through and through. Every inch is under surveillance. Motion detectors, panic buttons, cameras scanning both outside and inside.”
“Find Hailey,” I order, tugging the straps of my bulletproof vest, making sure it sits where it should as I look over my shoulder. “Let’s get this done.”
Apollo juts his chin at the two men with him. I didn’t bother asking their names. If things go according to plan, their obituaries will be all that’s left of them.
I take us around the back of the sprawling mansion, over the tall, chain-link fence, then through the shadows until we have no choice but to step into the lights illuminating the pool area.
Broadway stalks the unsuspecting guard, a predator on the hunt. His muscles tighten as he lunges forward, making quick work of snapping the guard’s neck in one swift move.
I tackle another. Pressing the barrel of my gun under his chin, I pull the trigger. He lets out a whine, but that sound, coupled with the bullet tearing through his brain, is much quieter than the thud of his body hitting the tiles by the pool’s edge.
Blood seeps from both entry and exit wounds, dripping into the calm water. The lights illuminate the expanding red tendrils, turning the pool into a canvas of carnage.
It’s beautiful.
In a twisted, deranged way, it’s fucking breathtaking.
Rhett’s trio stalks after us, guns raised, eyes scanning the windows. Neither one notices the third guard until a bullet whizzes by my head. Either they didn’t notice, or theychosenot to... I have a feeling Rhett wants me out of the picture by the end of the night.
Another body thuds behind me. Broadway glares from across the pool, his gun drawn.
“Focus!” he mouths.
I glance over my shoulder at the gaping hole between the man’s eyes.
“That was close,” Ryder comments. “Pull your shit together, Boss. I’ve got eyes on your girl, she’s in one piece.”
An ecstasy of relief rattles through me, sharpening my instincts like a picture regaining focus. It’s so fucking potent my knees threaten to fold.
“Where is she?” I ask, every instinct screaming to break off the tight leash, fuck caution, andrunto her.
“Upstairs. You’ve triggered the motion detectors, so fun’s heading your way. Two incoming on your twelve o’clock.”
A curt nod is my only acknowledgment. Apollo and I retreat into the shadows as two guards step out of the building, guns drawn, eyes searching the backyard. Before either spot us behind the huge pillars supporting the balcony, they’re down, a bullet each.
“Ten more inside,” Ryder says over the distinct, rapid click of keyboard keys. “Fifteen total...” he adds in a dubious tone. “Not the security I’d expect Blaze to install for Hailey.”
Him and me both.
“The rest are probably on their way,” Apollo chimes in, plastering himself by the window.
As if to confirm it, a shrilling alarm cuts the tense silence like a scalpel, setting my nerves on edge.
