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As we navigated through the dense forest, the underbrush crunched beneath our boots and the wind howled through the skeletal trees. The moon hung low in the sky, casting long shadows that danced in our peripheral vision. I could feel my heart rate picking up as we edged closer to the house, the adrenaline pumping through my veins making me hyper-aware of every detail around us.
“Ready?” I asked Kieran in a voice barely above a whisper, my hand on my gun. He nodded solemnly, his fierce gaze locked on the rundown structure before us. I moved to the side to avoid being seen from inside as we prepared to breach.
“Should we wait for them?”
“No,” I said. Dad had spoken to us recently, and we were still waiting. I knew we needed backup, so I had waited hours. I hated it. But it was the dead of night, and I knew it was in Nick’s best interest to keep Adriana alive, so I was okay with waiting until now. My patience had worn thin, and backup would be arriving soon enough.
I had to go in there and claim her back. Now. “We’ve waited long enough.”
With a single nod, Kieran and I approached the dilapidated house, moving silently in the still night. As we neared the entrance, I noticed something odd; a faint light was escaping from beneath the front door. Nick or his men were definitely inside.
We crept closer, keeping to the shadows as we approached the entrance. I pressed my back against the rotting wood of the wall, my breath hitching as I tried to make out any sounds from within. All was eerily quiet, except for our own pounding hearts and ragged breaths.
“Ready?” I whispered to Kieran again, this time more as a comfort for myself than for him. He only responded with another decisive nod.
Taking a deep breath to quell my racing heart, I signaled to him that it was time. With precise timing, we kicked the front door open simultaneously and burst into the room, guns drawn and ready.
“Hands up!” I barked, scanning the room.
But the room was empty. A small lamp on a rickety table cast long, eerie shadows in the corners of the room. I noticed the door leading to what I assumed was a bathroom was slightly ajar.
“Clear,” I called out in a low voice once we had checked every corner. Kieran nodded, lowering his weapon fractionally as he took in our surroundings. “Adriana?”
That was when I first heard a noise. A faint rustling from above, barely discernible but enough. It was coming from upstairs. My eyes flew to the stairwell across the room, my heart thrumming wildly against my ribs.
Then the door next to me opened. Nick and Gio had their guns leveled at us, and the reality of our situation set in like lead. I thought I’d had the drop on them but, instead, I found myself locked in their crosshairs.
Nick was grinning like a predator who had just cornered his game, while Gio was all business—his gun aimed squarely at my chest, his gaze ice-cold and unyielding.
“Callahan,” Nick sneered with an arrogance that made me want to punch him. His cocksure attitude didn’t match the situation he was in—we were still in his house, after all. But it seemed he thought having us in his sights gave him the upper hand. “You took a bit longer than I thought you would.”
“I have a habit of disappointing people,” I shot back, hoping my voice didn’t betray the pounding fear in my chest.
“Don’t worry. I made sure your woman was satisfied while you weren’t here.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you and I’m going to make it hurt,” I said.
“Big words for a man with a gun pointed at him.”
“They’re not just words, Rossi.” My hand was steady on my gun, my gaze never leaving Nick’s calculating eyes.
Before any of us could make a move, there was the sudden sound of more vehicles approaching. The rest of the convoy had arrived. Both Nick and Gio seemed to falter for a moment, their gazes darting toward the window.
My mind raced as I calculated our chances of escape. The distraction offered by the arrival of the convoy was just what we needed. But first, we had to find Adriana.
I gestured subtly at Kieran, inclining my head towards the stairs. His eyes flickered in understanding. As the cacophony of car engines grew louder outside, and Nick and Gio’s attention wavered, we saw our chance.
In a fluid motion that only years of the kind of lives we led could afford, we acted. He darted behind the threadbare couch in the room. I followed suit, just as a hail of bullets from outside peppered the house. The deafening sound of gunfire echoed in my ears as we stayed low, waiting for our moment.
Through a small gap, I watched as Nick and Gio exchanged bewildered glances before Gio shook his head and made his way to the door. Nick remained behind, his eye glinting with something akin to amusement as he leveled his gun at us.
Gio’s gun went off, the bullet ricocheting off the wall. Kieran swore under his breath next to me, holding his shoulder. “You okay?”
He nodded. “I’m fine, just grazed me,” he muttered as he pressed his palm against the wound. The gunfire outside grew louder and I knew we had to move fast.
Using my eyes, I signaled Kieran to stay put as I slowly climbed to my feet. A bullet whizzed past me, embedding itself into the wall behind me. Nick let out a vile chuckle as he reloaded his gun.
“Getting rusty, Callahan?” he called out, his voice laced with sadistic glee. But I didn’t have time for his games. My sole focus was the stairs leading upstairs, where I hoped Adriana was.
