AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m still here,” I remind them.
“Unfortunately,” they answer in unison.
“So obviously, we’re going to get Olivia. Holly gave you the address?” Dante asks.
I swallow down the tide of emotion surging up in my throat. “Yeah,” I rasp. “Forked it over after I made it worth her while to not fuck with me.”
He frowns. “But if she’s keeping Olivia and was willing to tell you where she was?—”
“—she’s definitely got people waiting for you,” concludes Marcus.
“Yeah. I’m counting on it.” It was another reason I wasn’t about to have police involved. If there’s a firefight to be had, I want this between me and mine, not strangers.
We’ll get the job done right.
“Well, didn’t think I’d be busting out the big boys anytime soon, but here we are.” Marcus disappears and then reappears moments later. He’s got three cases in his arms. “Ain’t had to pull these out in a while, but they’re cleaned and well-maintained.”
I wouldn’t say any of us are gun nuts, but living in Texas, you’re liable to run into someone who can carry. All three of us can—and Marcus is our weapons guru. It’s been a while since any of us have been to the range, but skills come back when necessary.
I’d say a kidnapped future fiancé creates a necessary situation.
Marcus divvies out a gun and a holster to each of us. I don’t want things to get sticky, but if they do, I know that I’m ready and willing to do what I need to do to get Olivia and our baby out of there.
We pile into my car. There is complete, tense silence all the way to the address that Holly gave me. The whole time, my hands squeeze the hell out of the steering wheel, trying to keep myself together. I can’t blow my fuse before there’s anything to use the flames on, but goddamn is it tempting to dip into old habits and rage out.
Keep it cool.
Keep it cool—right up to the point you don’t have to anymore, knucklehead.
Then you can go fucking berserk on everyone who took your family from you.
* * *
When we pull up to the place, it’s in bumfuck nowhere. A few houses, spaced out by sprawling fields, but not a whole lot between. Weeds. Dirt. Crumbling, empty strip malls and a rusting factory with the lights permanently extinguished.
It surprises the hell out of me that a woman like Holly would have a place here.
We park just down the drive. There’s a massive, black SUV stationed on the side of the house. No one is outside. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing—it could mean any number of people on the inside, watching, waiting to get the jump on us if we barge in stupidly.
“What do you want to do, Reese?” Marcus asks me. “We go in or we can wait. But they’re not gonna wait twiddling their thumbs forever if we just sit here.”
I eye the place. It’s not that big. I take in a deep breath and close my eyes.
I got my girl into this. Now, it’s my job to get her out.
“We go in now.”
60
OLIVIA
Tomorrow comes.
Emily doesn’t.
As the minutes tick on into hours, a sinking, gut twisting sensation plagues my stomach. What if she decided that it wasn’t worth it to help me? Worse—what if Holly got wind of what she was planning to do and stopped her before she could even start?
The panic that wells up is hard to push down. So is the thirst that comes far too quickly after I finish the last of my water. I can’t stay here much longer. If it were just me, I know I could last. But it’s not just me. It’s me and this baby and there’s only so much my body can do when it’s getting no food and no rest.
