“Shall we?”
A shot of worry ran through my gut. But this man didn’t seem like he’d take “no” for an answer.
“All right,” I said. “Lead the way.”
“There we are, then,” he said. “Come along.”
The man gestured to the street once again, and we were off. The road was long and narrow, more like an alleyway than anything else. And it seemed secluded—not a single pedestrian to be seen. The tall buildings blocked the sunlight, and it was almost like evening in that narrow pass.
“This is weird,” said Willa, looking around as we walked.
“Just a little detour, darling,” said Lenny. “We’ll be on the other side in just a moment.”
Then, almost at the exact moment we reached the halfway point of the street, a car pulled up at the far end. It was a large, white van—the side totally blank and windowless.
This isn’t right.
“Who’s that?” asked Willa.
“Some friends of mine,” said Lenny. “Just want to say ‘hi.’”
“Willa, come on,” I said, taking her hand. “We’re going back to the street.”
But before I could move an inch, Lenny’s hand shot out, his fingers wrapping around my upper arm to the point of pain.
“I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, love. You’re going to come with me, and that’s all there is to it.”
“April!” shouted Willa.
Up ahead, the side panel to the van opened and two huge, beefy men stepped out. They were dressed in jeans and T-shirts, both with the same hard features and shaved head as Lenny. They rushed toward the three of us.
We were being kidnapped.
Before I could react, the men were on us, one helping Lenny keep me in place, the other scooping up Willa, a scream exploding from her mouth.
However, we didn’t even get a few feet.
“Hands off them—right now!”
The five of us stopped, all turning toward the other end of the alley where the voice came from. There was a figure there, one that was familiar.
It was Jason.
He approached us with powerful strides, a burning expression in his eyes, his mouth in a flat line. His hands were clenched into fists.
“Well,” said Lenny. “If it isn’t the man hi—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish. The moment Jason was close enough, he raised his right fist and cut it through the air in a hard arc. It connected with Lenny’s jaw, his eyes going wide in shock as the blow hit with enough impact to send him stumbling backward and into the ground in a heap.
He was out cold.
The other men shot surprised glances at one another before letting go of me and Willa. I didn’t waste a second taking her hand.
“Come on, Will!”
I hurried her away from Jason and the men, putting my hand over her eyes as we took cover behind a dumpster at the far end of the alley.
“April!”