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Holding my gaze directly, he shook his head. “I had no clue, brother. My instincts have been flaring up for days, but I hadn’t been able to figure out why. Not till just now when Scout told me what’s going down. I’ve got the location, and Mac’s got a cage out front ready to go. I’ve got your back, brother.”
I nodded at him, glad to have him at my six. “I don’t want Mac on this.”
Eagle took the bag from my hand and shook his head again. “Don’t be a fucking idiot. You’re hurt over the shit he and the others pulled. I get that. But don’t go making this mess worse by cutting him out now. You know he’ll do anything to keep you and your family safe. Let’s go take care of business, then you can beat the shit outta him or something, okay?”
I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck as we headed toward the front door.
“Whatever. You and I will get this done.”
I didn’t have time to waste on trying to work out what I was going to do about anything other than rescuing Flick and Lolly. The mission would come first. Just like always.
* * *
FLICK
Oh, someone was gonna pay dearly for this shit.
No one got the jump on me and got away with it. Especially if it put my daughter at risk. I had no clue how long I’d been out, but when my brain came back online, it was to the realization that I wasn’t alone. Tensing my muscles, I got ready to open my eyes and fight my way out of wherever the hell I was, so I could go find my daughter.
“Shh, stay quiet. He thinks you’re still out cold. I gave you an injection to counteract the sedative he gave you. You’ll be a bit groggy for another minute or two, then you should be good as gold. I need to go find where he’s stashed your daughter, but I’ll be back soon.”
My eyes refused to open, but I could make out from the quiet voice that whoever was here with me was female and Australian. Her accent was so similar to Taz’s I was sure she wasn’t English or New Zealander, but Australian. Was this woman with the AFP? My eyes finally obeyed my command to open but before I could see more than a flash of her braid of pale, naturally red hair, the woman was gone, and I was alone.
Whispering to myself, “Okay, then,” I looked around the room. I was clearly in an abandoned house. The lumpy mattress beneath me was on an old metal bed frame, high enough I could easily slip off to stand on the rough timber floor. There was a single window that no longer had any curtains or glass that revealed an endless vista of Texas scrubland, proving we weren’t in town but somewhere out in the countryside. Focusing back inside, I caught sight of the remains of a full-length oval mirror on a stand in the corner. The shards of the broken glass littering the floor gave me an idea. If I could find one with a point and small enough to grip in my hand, it might just work as a weapon.
I hadn’t gotten a look at the man who’d grabbed me, but with how he’d wrapped his distinctly masculine arm around my front to hold me as he injected me, I guessed he was around my height. I figured it was safe to assume it had been Gordon, but honestly, it didn’t really matter. Regardless of who had taken us, I needed to neutralize the bastard and make sure my daughter was okay before getting us both the hell out of Dodge.
Loud footsteps coming closer had me snatching up a shard of the mirror and returning to the mattress. Feigning unconsciousness would hopefully give me an element of surprise I could use to overpower him. From the photos Keys had found of Gordon, I knew if this was him, he was roughly my height, but built more solidly than me and would easily outweigh me. He was also in his fifties, so I hoped he was less agile than me. I was fairly certain I was the better trained out of the two of us. Still, getting out of here wasn’t going to be easy.
“Well, at least the boy has good taste.”
I barely heard the muttered words as he came closer. Like the woman, he spoke with an Australian accent. Further evidence this was most likely Gordon, the man who’d destroyed Taz’s world once already and was apparently going to have a go at doing it a second time. Without my sight, I had no clue what he’d do until I felt him wrap his hand in the front of my shirt. When he tugged, clearly wanting to rip the material, I moved into his grip, bringing up the mirror shard as I did. I opened my eyes to see I’d misjudged my aim and instead of getting his throat, I’d swiped it across his cheek.
“Bloody hell! Fucking crazy sheila…”
Now that I could see him, I was sure it was Gordon. He matched the photos I’d seen of Taz’s stepdad. With one hand cupped to the slice I’d given him, he swung his other fist at my face. I knocked his arm aside and rolled away. Since he stood up against the side of the mattress, blocking my ability to get off, I shifted to get my feet under me on the bed. Even with my head still a little fuzzy from the drugs, I managed to rise up into a fighter’s stance.
“Can see why my boy took a liking to you. Gotta love one that’ll fight back.”
Fury had my vision going red for a moment as I curled my lip while I lifted my fists in front of me, ready to attack. “Taz has never been your boy.”
He shook his head and lowered his hand from his face, ignoring the blood that still trickled from the wound. “Taz? Such a stupid fucking nickname. Donny was a good Italian name. He could’ve gone a long way in the organization with a solid name like that.” He let out a scoff. “Instead, he joined a fucking motorcycle club and took on the name of a cartoon character.”
He threw another punch but anticipated my blocking it and grabbed my wrist when I did, tugging me off balance so I fell forward into him. We both went crashing to the ground, with me on top. Stupid idiot had no idea how to fight. I could guess since he was so big and had a scary family, he’d never actually had to attempt hand to hand with anyone who had some skill.
While he was still stunned from crashing into the floor, I landed a one-two punch combination to either side of his jaw before I rolled off and up onto my feet again. My head was completely clear now and as I moved, I swept up another shard of the mirror. He stayed down for a few moments before, with a groan, he pulled himself up to his feet.
“You really are a crazy bitch, aren’t you? I’m gonna have fun taming you.”
I raised a brow. “You’re welcome to try. But I doubt it’s gonna end well for you.”
He attempted to say something else, but a sweet voice coming from the doorway stopped him in his tracks.
“Hey, Dad. Long time, no see.”
With a gasp, he jerked around until his focus was solely on the newcomer. Without dropping my guard, I shifted my gaze and the blood drained from my face when I saw the woman was holding Lolly. The fact my little girl looked unharmed was of little comfort. The tears tracking down her cheeks broke my heart. She clung to the woman, but her baby blues were locked on me, silently begging me to fix her world. Was this stranger working with Gordon or against him?
His voice was rough, barely more than a whisper, “It can’t be…”
