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The injured man retreated with a resentful glare. The one ensnared in the headlock ceased his struggles, his breaths ragged and defeated. Tank pushed him away from his body but kept the gun pointed at the trio.
"We heard you've been poking around where you don't belong, Mr. Olson," the obvious leader sneered, the cold metallic edge of his voice sending shivers down Tank's spine. "Senator Collins and Marshand Chemical? That's none of your business. Stay out of our way."
Tank’s jaw clenched at the acknowledgment of a dangerous game being played in the shadows of Washington DC politics. These guys had to be from Citadel. That explained the well-honed fighting skills and the inflated egos. “We’re going to take you down,” Tank snarled.
The man stepped forward, a calculating grin playing on his lips. "You know… It would be a real shame if something happened to that little girl and her pathetic mother. We have ways of making people disappear, you know."
The threat hung in the air like a toxic cloud, and Tank's gaze flickered between the faces of his attackers. The realization hit him like a blow to the chest—they knew about Lia and Kaylie. His protective instincts surged, a fierce determination to shield them from the looming danger.
In the brief pause, the leader's cold gaze locked onto Anthony's, a silent warning that spoke of consequences far beyond the physical struggle. The threat was clear–back off or face the consequences. With a final, disdainful glance, the trio stalked away, leaving Anthony alone in the alley, adrenaline coursing through his veins.
As the echoes of the encounter faded, Anthony's mind raced. The Moreno family was one thing, but tangling with Citadel and the Syndicate brought a different kind of danger. Anthony's steps quickened as he retraced his path back to Black Tower Security, the weight of the threat gnawing at him.
When he arrived, the atmosphere at Black Tower seemed tense. He hurried toward the living quarters to lay eyes on Kaylie. He was desperate to see them, needing to see with his own eyes that Citadel hadn’t gotten to them.
A sinking feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he entered the living room. The familiar faces of Miranda, Jackson, and the others looked up with concern as he scanned the room for Kaylie and Lia.
"Where are they?" he demanded, his voice betraying the urgency that clawed at him.
Miranda, her expression unreadable, said simply, "They're gone."
Tank's heart raced as he absorbed Miranda's words. He ran to the basement lounge, clinging to the fleeting hope that Kaylie and Lia were simply in another part of Black Tower Security. Yet, as he pushed open the door to the lounge, the room greeted him with empty chairs and an eerie silence. A half-built block tower was still scattered across the floor.
Panic clawed at his chest, and he scanned the room, his eyes desperately searching for any sign of where they’d gone. "Kaylie! Lia!" he called out, the names hanging in the air like a desperate plea.
Dread washed over him at the thought of what could have happened. Citadel was ruthless in a way that not even the mob had been. The room blurred before him. His attempt to shield Kaylie and Lia from the Moreno family had unwittingly exposed them to a new, unforeseen danger.
How could Citadel have taken them? The security around Black Tower was unrivaled. And no one had seen anything? It didn’t make any sense. A thread of a thought wriggled in his mind. He still hadn’t figured out how Moreno had found them at his house. Could Black Tower have a leak somehow?
Miranda appeared at the doorway of the lounge, her expression betraying a mix of concern and understanding. "We're checking the security footage, Tank. We'll find them."
He nodded, his mind a whirlwind of guilt and fear. Black Tower, the protective cocoon he’d tried to wrap them in, now felt like a fragile illusion. His job had placed Kaylie and Lia directly in the crosshairs of a new threat.
Minutes later, Joey was hunched over a computer in the security office, her fingers dancing across the keyboard as she accessed the security system. “Got something,” Joey announced, her eyes locked onto the monitor.
Tank approached, his heart pounding in his ears as he watched the footage unfold.
The security cameras revealed Kaylie and Lia leaving the Black Tower premises. Kaylie, her posture determined, held Lia's hand as they headed toward the garage. As the vehicle pulled away from the headquarters, Tank's jaw tightened. The footage only heightened the sense of responsibility that gripped him.
Tank nearly exploded on the security agent watching the scene unfold from the corner of the room. The BTS agent’s only job was to man the gate and keep an eye on the perimeter.
“They drove out,” he repeated slowly, forcing his voice to remain calm. “And no one thought to inform me? Or stop them?” His voice may not have remained quite so calm on that last phrase.
The man was scared but putting on a brave face. “Look, it’s not our job to prevent visitors from leaving.” The shakiness in his words showed his fear. “We assumed she had permission.”
Tank snarled at the man and stormed away from the security room before he took out his anger on the junior agent. The man was right. They weren’t tasked with keeping people in, with the exception of the holding cells they sometimes used before handing someone over to the authorities. Kaylie and Lia hadn’t been prisoners. But they’d been under his protection. And now they were at risk.
"We need to find them," he declared, his voice cutting through the anxious atmosphere.
Miranda nodded, her steely gaze meeting Tank's. "We will, but we need to act strategically. Rushing in without a plan will only put them in more danger."
His instincts urged him to disregard caution, to charge into the unknown and retrieve Kaylie and Lia at any cost. But the seasoned part of him, the survivalist who had navigated the treacherous waters of the Chicago mafia, knew that a reckless approach could prove disastrous.
It didn’t make any sense. Why would Kaylie have left? She’d come to him for help. That was before Moreno attacked his house and Tank had…
A groan escaped from his throat as he realized that he’d been right to worry about her reaction. He’d never regret what he did to protect them at his house. But if it meant Kaylie didn’t want to be near him anymore, what could he do about it?
He’d been a fool to think, even for a moment, that there was a chance that she could overlook the truth about his nature. She’d run away the first chance she had.
