My stomach is in knots. “When did she leave?”
“I don't know…maybe four hours ago. It's like she couldn't wait. She promised to call when she got there and never did.”
My throat tightens and my heart wants to break out of my chest. “I'll call her and—”
“Her phone is off.” Her voice shakes with worry.
Swallowing hard, my hand tightens on the phone. “Don't worry, I'll find her.”
“How?” she asks.
“I have my ways.” I hang up the phone and check the tracker app. What the hell?
My mom's car is parked in front of my dad's old warehouse. The phone is suddenly too heavy in my hand and my chest feels on the verge of exploding.
If I go, I might be walking into a trap. It doesn't matter. If I don't go, they'll kill her. Throwing on my jacket, I head for the car, in too much of a hurry to even check if it's been tampered with. It's stupid and lazy but all I can think about is getting to my mom.
Why would they bother taking her if they’d messed with my car? If I'm right about who's behind this all, they’d want me to go where she is, and I’d have to be alive first. She's nothing more than bait. So many of their men died and plans got destroyed thanks to me. Not to mention everything I had stolen from them. I wasn't going to stop either. I will keep taking until everything they have is mine, including their lives.
Scrolling through my contacts, I call Gunner and he answers on the second ring.
“Que paso?”
“They have my mom. The fuckers, they—”
“Easy. Calmate. First, take a few breaths and then tell me everything you know.”
I inhale and exhale slowly before opening my mouth to speak again. “She was supposed to stay away but came back anyway looking for me.”
“Why would she do that?”
I pinch between my brow. “Someone must have contacted her and told her something to make her leave.”
“Quién?”
Shifting my jaw, I start the car. “Do you think I'd be calling if I knew? The tracker says her car is at my dad’s old warehouse. I think they want—”
“I know exactly what they want, and you will stay where you are. Let me handle it.”
I sigh, pressing my fingers into the steering wheel. “She's all I have in this world. If I lose her—”
“Let's not think about that. Especially when there is no proof anything has happened to her yet. Send me the address and I'll check it out. Get out of the car and go back to the hotel room.”
“Yeah.” My hand goes stiff on my keys. “Okay.”
Shuffling comes from the other end. “I'll message or call as soon as I know something. Stay put until I do. confía en mí.”
“Yeah, yeah alright.”
“We’re supposed to stick to the plan, remember? No matter what. You made me promise to make sure you did.”
“I know,” I say between clenched teeth. “Now go before I change my mind.”
The line goes quiet and the screen is blank when I move it away from my ear. With shaky hands I turn off the car, grab my gun from the middle compartment, and rush through the front double doors of the hotel. The lobby is empty with not a single person in sight. It's way too quiet and eerie. On high alert from a bad gut feeling, I rest my hand on my gun.
The elevator doors open and the light flickers in the hallway as I walk toward my room. Standing in front of the door, I listen for any noise coming from the other side. Something isn't right and I can feel it in my bones.
Lifting my gun, I use the room card to unlock the door and push it open slowly. A shuffling noise comes from the window and I press my back to the bathroom door, peeking over the wall.