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“Yeah, man?” Gutter Mouth’s lazy drawl had him gripping the wheel even tighter still.
“Have you seen Sloane?”
“No. Wait, I thought she was with you.”
“She did a skip while I was working out.”
“I texted her a few times, but she never replied. I thought maybe she was brushing me off. I couldn’t sleep last night, so I did a little digging into the name you gave me. According to the description she gave and the name she heard, I think I found one of our guys. Milo Booker is a mid-level thug that works for the Petrov family.”
“Fuck. Russian Mob. This just keeps getting better and better.”
The Petrov family was notorious for every type of felony under the sun. From jury tampering, to drug and human trafficking, to good old-fashioned murder. Wonderful, just fucking wonderful. Max punched his steering wheel. He didn’t know where he was going. Now he was driving around town in circles.
“If my sources are correct, the other guy may be Viktor Runikov. Petrov’s number two.”
“Any more shitty news for me?” Max barked through the phone.
“Her boss was into some shady shit with these guys, Max. You know as well as I do, it doesn’t take much for them to see you as a liability and exterminate you.”
Max sighed. “I know.”
“Sorry, dude.”
“This is a complete clusterfuck. I didn’t think I’d have to actually babysit her so she wouldn’t run off. She has no idea what she’s up against.”
“Sloane can always stay here if she’s too much of a hassle for you.” The barely contained excitement in Kasper’s voice pissed him off even more.
“She’s fine right where she is. Can you trace her phone?”
“I’m not a tech guru like Mother, but I can run a simple trace.”
“Good. I can’t believe she isn’t answering. Why the fuck isn’t she answering her goddamn phone?”
“Um…We might not need the trace. Where you at, dude?”
“Circling town. Why?”
“If you’re near the mall, they just reported shots fired on the police scanner. Something tells me that might be our girl.”
Max hung up without saying goodbye. “Our girl,” his ass. He busted an illegal U-turn going as fast as he dared to get to the mall. He parked in the first open spot, not caring that it was marked as handicapped. Running toward the cop cars and ambulances, Max spied a gurney being wheeled out. Sloane. Pushing his way through the crowd, he slipped past the beat cop keeping the looky loos back.
Her eyes were closed. He didn’t think it was possible, but her skin was even paler than usual. The paramedics kept up their hurried pace to the ambulance, lifting the gurney quickly. Max tried to climb in after them.
“Sorry sir, only family allowed in the ambulance. You can meet us at Mercy General.”
No way was Max letting her out of his sight again. Not when the Petrov family had their sights onher. “I’m her fiancé. Please.”
“Okay then, but stay out of our way.” The man glared.
The vehicle started moving. The paramedic checked the monitors, repeatedly taking notes.
“How bad is it? Is she going to be okay?”
“She’ll be fine. The bullet grazed her upper arm pretty good. Basically ripped a chunk out of her arm. It’ll hurt for a while, but the scar left will be the only real damage. She was in shock first and then hysterics so we felt it best to sedate her.”
Max breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” He couldn’t take something happening to her.
***
