“Bulletproof”—FromAshesToNew
Unable to sleep, I was messing around on my computer. My phone rang, and I snagged it as I swiped the screen in one motion. “Ghost?”
“Make the call,” he said, sounding out of breath. “Hurry.”
“Are you okay?”
“Call!” he said, and the line went dead.
Panic hit me, but I dialed Ryan’s number on the phone Facet had given me.
“Ryan,” I blurted out as soon as he picked up.
“Goddamn it, Laila. What the hell took so long?” he asked without preamble. We had spoken after I talked to my client, and he had contacted me that night to tell me he had shit in order. When I asked him who would be there and if he could guarantee they would be able to raid the island after the guys extracted my client’s sister, he told me he couldn’t divulge that but to rest assured they were going to swarm the island on my okay. They agreed to let us extract Eliska first, which shocked me. It made me wonder what the hell kind of pull Ryan had.
“Not now, Ryan. Listen and prepare to copy,” I said in a rush.
“Speak,” he said, suddenly all business.
I rattled off the confirmed coordinates to the island Ghost had given me. “All clear.”
I heard clicking noises that sounded like he was typing.
“They’re going in. But remember, Laila, we’re going to talk. Soon,” he said, and he ended the call. I tried to call Ghost back, but it went straight to voicemail.
I curled up on the bed and wrapped my arms around his pillow. Pressing my face into the case, I breathed in his scent, trying to calm myself.
Please let him be okay.
The sound of shouting woke me, and I sat up. Initially disoriented, I was surprised I’d actually fallen asleep. Pounding feet followed. Curiosity had me out of bed and shoving my feet in a pair of flip-flops. Were the guys back so soon?
When I peeked out the door, Squirrel was running past barefoot and pulling on a shirt. That had me more confused than ever.
Cautiously, I followed Squirrel. I’d barely turned the corner where I had a view of the common area when three shots fired. Sabre stumbled and fell as his gun clattered on the ground. He was followed by E, who dropped to his knees holding his upper chest.
Heart slamming against my ribs, I froze.
“Put the weapons down, or we’ll mow you all down and not bat an eye,” a cold voice said.
From where I stood, I could see one man with a gun trained on Raptor, Facet, a prospect, and Kicker, but I couldn’t see anyone else. Nor could I see who was talking. Slowly, they placed their weapons on the ground, but I could tell they weren’t happy about it.
A hand covered my mouth, and I screamed into it. Nothing but a muffled squeak came out, but it was enough that the man with a gun heard.
“Shit!” the man behind me cursed as the gunman turned his weapon on us.
A man in khakis and a short-sleeved shirt stepped further into the room to see what the other man was focused on. When he looked at us, I would’ve sworn I was looking straight into the eyes of the devil himself. Nausea churned my guts.
“Well, look who we have here. The prodigal son and my long-lost daughter. Two birds—one stone,” the man said, and my stomach dropped.
That was when I knew I was looking at my biological father—Luis Trujillo.
My spine stiffened.What did he mean by prodigal son?
“Well, come out and join the party!” Luis said with a smile, as if we were truly attending a gala instead of two men bleeding out on the ground as we were held at gunpoint.
Unable to move, I stood fast until Blade stepped up next to me and curled a hand around my arm to lead me forward. “I’ve got you,” he whispered, and I didn’t even see his lips move.
With leaden feet, I moved out into the common area. Blade kept step with me, and true to his word, he never let go. When we stood next to Raptor, we stopped, and I swallowed hard. There were nine men holding automatic rifles on Ghost’s brothers that were remaining.