“Do you think he wanted to be caught?” Crow’s question lingers in my mind. Perhaps he did. But there will never be a way to know for sure. He’s nothing more than a liar, so even if we were to ask, it wouldn’t be answered with the truth.
“If he did, why now? He’s paid with his daughter’s life for freedom. It doesn’t make sense he would surrender so easily.”
Suddenly, an explosion rumbles from the back of the house. I realize why the ease of how we captured Mahoney wasn’t sitting well with me. They haven’t given up. This is an onslaught. The front door is hammered in, the wood splintering, and shots ring in the air.
Crow and I fall to the ground, crawling toward the safety of the office and when we shut ourselves in, he makes a beeline for the safe which has weapons we can use to fight back. Windows shatter in the distance, and all I find myself praying for is Falcon and Lucille are safe.
I don’t care about myself. I’ve witnessed enough horrors to last me a lifetime, so if for any reason I don’t make it out alive, as long as they’re okay.
“Get the fuck out of your head,” Crow hisses when he nears me. He hands me a Glock, and I cock it before nodding, attempting to focus on the here and now. We have to fight back. I pull open the door and we slide against the wall, making our way back out to where there are men in black suits holding machine guns camped close to the exit. Crow takes the lead with the silencer and aims at the closest of the soldiers. He goes down instantly, and we continue our onslaught.
“They’re going to take Mahoney,” I whisper, and Crow cocks his head toward the basement.
“Go.” I don’t need to be told twice. I make my way down the stairs, taking them slow and steady. I don’t know if they’ve reached the downstairs, but if they have, I need to be careful. My chest tightens as my heart thuds against my ribs.
It’s silent.
That’s never a good thing.
I wonder how they breached the house without the alarms tripping. When I finally get to the bunker, I find Mahoney still chained up. It’s a low ceiling, which doesn’t stretch his limbs as much as the warehouse would have, but it works.
“Who have you contacted?” I bite out before butting him in the mouth with the gun. Blood seeps from his lips, and when he grins at me, the crimson darkens his teeth, making him look sinister. The same smile he gave me that night.
“Your sister was so good,” he tells me in a low grunt. “So fucking tight,” he continues, and rage explodes in my vision. All I see is red. I hit him. Dropping the gun to the ground, I use my fists. My knuckles biting into his flesh as I make sure every hit is painful and raw. The violence coursing through my blood is addictive. It’s why I fight. I wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze.
“If you kill me, you’ll never see her again,” he tells me, causing me to halt all movement.
“What?”
He chuckles at my question. The shock on my face must be obvious as he pins me with a glare. “She is still alive. Working hard like she was born to.”
“You’re lying.” I don’t believe a fucking word he’s saying. Even if I did, I can’t allow him to fuck with my head. I’ll find her myself. If she truly is alive somewhere in this world, I have connections who will be able to track her down. I was convinced she was dead. Perhaps it would have been better if she was because I can’t imagine her living through the horrors girls who are sold face.
Not now, not ever.
“You can believe what you want,” Mahoney tells me. “But the Cartel have links in every fucking country, and it doesn’t matter what you do, there will always be a way for them to hide her. But I know where she is. Her exact location.”
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll gut you like a fish and leave your entrails for the wild animals to eat.” I grab a screwdriver from my table of toys I use on the men we bring down here and trail it along his face. “Now tell me, who is coming into our home, trying to kill us, and where the fuck is my sister?”
“Well, it will be me you’re looking for,” a deep baritone sounds behind me. Beside the man who looks like he should be in a boardroom not a damn basement is Lucille.
“What’s going on?” I flick my gaze between them, taking in her guilty expression while noting Falcon and Crow behind them.