AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The sound of a helicopter approaching has my pulse jumping with anticipation.
“So, what’s it going to be?” Timothy presses the gun harder to Harper’s head, and my legs shake with a need to end this. The man doesn’t look the least bit fazed by ending my daughter’s life, proving that he never cared about her. So why the hell go to all this effort?
I suck in a sharp breath as his finger hovers over the trigger. A black shadow passes over the window, and Timothy turns, and in that moment, the window shatters, a rope drops into the room, and the dark shadow pounces onto Timothy, tugging his head back. Shock mars his features, the gun wobbles in his hand,and I freeze, then it falls to floor, and my gaze snaps up to see the shadow slicing Timothy’s throat.
Blood spills onto the floor as Timothy’s wide eyes fall closed on a stuttered gasp.
Owen springs forward. “You weren’t meant to fucking kill him!”
Timothy’s lifeless body falls to the floor with a heavy thud, and I rush toward Harper. I scoop her into my arms, and my whole body shudders with relief as I press kisses to her hair, rocking her gently in my arms.
“You said don’t maim him.” The shadow whips off his balaclava and gives me a wink.
“Don’t maim him means don’t kill him,” Owen snaps while bending down and retrieving Timothy’s phone from his inside jacket pocket.
The sound of the helicopter becomes distant, as if retreating, and the pounding in my head becomes lighter with the steady beat of Harper’s heart. I cling to her tighter for comfort. “You’re safe now, Harps. I’m here. Daddy is here,” I whisper into her soft hair.
“You need to be more specific with your demands. How the fuck do you orchestrate a rescue mission without being specific?” Finn continues to argue his now meaningless point with Owen, who is tapping away on his phone.
“Oscar, tell Bren to abort mission.”
Finn stills at Owen’s words.
When Owen turns to face Finn, I see the anguish on his face. “I think it’s an ambush.”
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
BREN
There’s a deep gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach I can’t seem to shake, and I fucking hate it. It rarely occurs, but each time it has, it’s been followed by something significant. I shake my head, trying to shrug it off. The sooner I sort this mess out, the quicker I can get back to my life. My family.
Thalia has no idea she has a sister, same as Sky, and I intend to keep it this way. No way in hell am allowing their fucked-up lives into ours. We have enough to deal with. If there wasn’t a kid involved, I’d have shown them the door, but I’m a father and not completely heartless like my bastard of a da.
As I drive toward the old office complex, I can’t help but wonder why the fuck Mrs. Lancaster would be there. The place has been shut down and abandoned for months now. Maybe she’s hiding something.
My cell rings, and I press the answer button on my steering wheel. “Bren?” The urgency behind Oscar’s tone is practically unheard of, causing my blood to turn to ice. My brother isusually so in control I doubt his face even alters when he’s coming.
“Yeah,” I grunt.
“Bren!” Oscar yells, and it’s unlike him to show any emotion that isn’t carefully orchestrated. “You need to turn the fuck around. I’ve reason to believe it’s an ambush.”
I scoff at him; I’d like to see them fucking try.
“We have intel from the FBI. It’s a human trafficking ring, Bren. The Carrera family is involved and had a chopper waiting at the house. It’s on its way to the office block,” he rushes out.
My body stills, and fear tightens my chest. Sky was part of a human trafficking ring. My girl was put in a fucking crate to be sold off to some rich, twisted fuck before she was intercepted at my warehouse. The Carreras are a fucked-up Mafia family off the West Coast, and every once in a while, they try and dip their toes onto our turf, then we’re forced to remind them to fuck off back to their seedy hell.
I lick my lips as worry and guilt eat at me viciously. They’re savages, and I let the poor girl get taken, and now she will be handed over to some sick fucks. “You think they have Thalia there?” I ask, knowing the answer before he even says it.
“I do.” Oscar sighs, as if reading my mind. Let’s face it, he more than likely can, the man is a genius.
I sit up straighter, pushing my foot onto the accelerator.
“Tell me everything I need to know,” I demand.
Oscar seethes down the line, and I imagine my brother unraveling, counting in his head to try and regain the control slipping through his fingers. He clears his throat, and I listen intently.
