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“Are you okay?” he murmured. But of course he knew the younger man wasn’t. From the moment Zander had collapsed upon coming out of the tunnel, Scotty had been struggling.
Scotty made a muffled sound. “Where are we going?"
“I don’t know,” Vince admitted. “But we have to stay with them to make sure Zander is okay. Once he’s awake, we’ll take it from there.”
Scotty nodded shakily.
Behind them, Trem waited until they climbed into the SUV, then poured what looked like gasoline onto the Charger, dousing it completely. Then he lit a match and tossed it.
Scotty gripped Vince’s forearm with a gasp as the vehicle caught fire.
Vince understood the act. They couldn’t leave any evidence behind. He couldn’t think about what any of it meant with him being the law and the others around him being criminals. Things were different, the rules were different, and he didn’t know how he would proceed when it was all said and done.
Once he was satisfied with his work, the car quickly becoming fully engulfed in flames, Trem got into the driver’s seat of the SUV. The doctor was in the back with Zander and Derri rode shotgun.
Vince glanced behind him to see they’d laid Zander out in the SUV’s third row. He was so pale. So vulnerable.
Vince hated it.
“Let’s go,” Derri ordered, and Trem sped off with a squeal of tires.
Was Derri the one in charge? “Where is DuBois?” Vince asked into the vehicle’s silent interior. “What happened between him and Zander?” Other than Zander almost dying.
Nobody answered.
They could be taking Vince, Scotty, and Zander to DuBois. Why hadn’t Vince thought of that? He’d offered himself and Scotty up so fucking easily. “Are you taking us to DuBois?” he demanded. “Zander protected me from him and now you’re gonna hand me over, is that it?”
Scotty clutched him, burying his face in Vince’s neck, body shaking. It was too late. Whatever was waiting for him on the other side, he had to protect Scotty. Had to protect Zander. How would he do that?
Goddamn it, what had he done?
“Let Scotty go and I’ll come with you.”
“Vince, no!” Scotty held him tighter.
“Fucking fed. You believe this guy?” Derri shook his head from the front with a snort. “DuBois is dead, so you can table the false bravado.” He glanced over his shoulder at Vince. “You wanted to come with us, so you’re coming with us.” He winked. “Buckle up.”
17
The house remained as heavily defended as Vince imagined Fort Knox would be.
They’d spent almost a whole week locked in a house under heavy guard, watched day and night by men armed with assault rifles, their disgust at Vince and Scotty’s presence as much a part of their uniform as the black tactical gear they wore.
Not for the hundredth time, Vince questioned if he’d made the right decision, insisting on going wherever Derri took Zander.
Zander, who still wasn’t conscious.
Or, if he were, Vince didn’t know. Because Derri had forced Vince and Scotty into a bedroom that was outfitted with an en suite bathroom, a TV with no cable, and zero windows and locked them in. Derri had also made it so that nobody spoke to Vince and Scotty. They were fed, their meals brought in twice a day by muscle-bound men whose attitudes told Vince clearly that they’d rather put a bullet through his skull than food in his belly.
They didn’t answer any questions Vince tossed at them. And when he’d tried to leave the room the other day, one of them had clubbed him in the temple with the butt of his gun. He’d woken up with a splitting headache and Scotty’s tears dripping onto his cheek.
All the men around them knew Vince was law enforcement and that he’d been working on taking them—and their boss—down. They hated Vince for that. He could live with it, was used to it, but Scotty wasn’t. And there was nothing Vince could do to help Scotty. No matter how he begged Derri to let them out, Derri didn’t budge. He’d allowed his doctor to tend to Vince’s wound, at least, but not for one second did Vince think Derri did that out of the kindness of his heart.
It’d been so long since he’d seen Zander, pale and unconscious. No one would tell him how Zander was doing.
If he was even still alive.
God.
