AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If there was something going on in Lauren’s life, then I could only assume Jennifer would know. Honestly, I’d even take the heartbreak of being suddenly ghosted if Jennifer just told me it was Lauren’s choice and she was safe.
I wove my way onto the street, tapping my fingers nervously against the steering wheel as the ringer sounded through the Bluetooth of my car.
Every jaunty ring set my teeth on edge. Pick up, pick up, pick up?—
“Hello?” a low-register woman’s voice asked. I knew I’d been waiting for it, but it still jumped half out of my skin.
“Jennifer Ho?” I said quickly. “Richard Marino. Have you heard from Lauren today?”
There was a split second of silence. My heart pounded.
“No,” Jennifer said coldly, “and you’re going to tell me why you’re asking.”
I opened my mouth and started talking.
For all that Lauren had described her best friend as a nerdy goofball, Jennifer Ho was not fucking around when push came to shove.
Within eight minutes, I'd told her the relevant information; the mole in our organization paid off by the Irish Mob, and that now they might be after Lauren for sabotaging their plan, given her the day's communication timeline,and endured the expected tongue lashing that followed for waiting too long to take action all the while Jennifer was locating Lauren's phone via the built-in GPS.
The phone was at Lauren’s home, but unfortunately, that didn’t guarantee that Lauren was there too.
The remainder of the drive was spent with Jennifer grilling me about every little detail I had on the Irish Mob.
She said that if they were a threat to her friend, then she wasn’t going to stop until she got rid of them. I didn’t know if she could, but the way she said it told me she was certain she could—and if she couldn’t, she’d make it happen anyway.
I had to make a snap decision on her trustworthiness, but with limited options and Lauren’s life on the line, I took the risk and told her everything I could fit into the short car ride.
My tires screeched as I braked hard outside Lauren’s complex, throwing the car into park in the middle of the road and barking out a short, “I’m here!” for Jennifer before sprinting to the door. I didn’t bother to close my driver’s side door, let alone turn my car off.
All I could think about was Lauren.
I took the stairs two at a time, pushing my muscles as hard as I could. My build was meant for speed, and I was using every bit I had just then. I careened out of the stairwell on the third floor and barreled down the hallway, uncaring of anything between me and that door. If anyone came out of their apartments and saw me bulldozing through, I didn’t give a damn.
I barely stopped at Lauren’s apartment, gripping the door frame to keep myself from speeding past it and not caring how badly it jarred my shoulder.
I couldn’t stop my momentum and I slammed bodily into Lauren’s door, the impact rattling my ribcage and pushing the air out of my lungs, but I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t stop.
I knew too much about the Irish Mob, about their methods and uncaring violence, to risk leaving Lauren with them for a single second. I grabbed the door knob and slammed into the door again, this time intentionally, and it busted open for me.
It was dark. Too dark. I turned the lights on and, fuck, Lauren.
My heart fucking stopped.
She was lying there on the floor, utterly still with her limbs akimbo, her briefcase open by her side. She was clearly unconscious, and it was only a lifetime of training that kept me from running straight for her. My eyes darted over the room in a broad sweep, far too fast to catch much but enough that I knew no one was openly lurking in any corners for me to let my guard down, and that was all the caution I could take.
The floor was hard when my knees hit it, my body immediately hunching over Lauren’s unconscious form as I cataloged every inch of her.
There was blood on her forehead, enough to make a small pool, but no other visible injury. That didn’t make me feel better.
My fingers were almost numb as I grabbed her wrist, dislodging the note she was holding as I checked for a pulse. Her skin was only a little cool, not the icy chill of someone long dead, but it took hours for a body to lose all its heat and?—
She was breathing. I saw a few strands of hair flutter in front of her mouth just before I felt her heartbeat under my fingers. I sobbed. Thank God.
My emotions were running high and the mixture of relief and fear and ongoing danger stung at my eyes, but I was well versed in staying focused.
Lauren’s pulse and breathing were both steady, there was a nasty lump on the back of her head but no apparent neck damage, so I quickly and carefully turned her onto her back. I kept her head as steady as I could, just in case.
