A wisp of smoke catches my attention, and my heart rate kicks up a notch. I check my thermal imaging camera for the third time, confirming again that these containers are empty.
“Fire in the hole,” Caleb whispers darkly.
“There he is,” Killian growls. Adrian messed with the wrong woman when he had Emily taken, and he’s about to get a third eye. I check my mag and chamber a round, ready to take down the remaining Black Ash scum once their leader drops.
Shouts and chaos erupt even before I hear the muted crack of Killian’s rifle going off. Something spooked them.
“Fuck! He moved. I only clipped him. They scattered.”
Well, shit. And now the warehouse is filling with smoke, lowering visibility. Our plan backfired.
I move fast, silent, cutting through the smoke like a ghost. Two of Zhao’s men run into me, and I drop one with a shot to the throat, then roll behind a crate as bullets chew the air.
“Two down,” Killian says. “Watch your right, Kane!”
I pivot, firing three rounds. The second guard goes down with a grunt. Smoke stings my eyes, but I see movement—Zhao, slick suit and styled hair, darting toward the dock.
“Zhao’s moving,” I warn even as I start to follow.
“On him,” Caleb chimes in.
Zhao sprints toward a waiting speedboat, the kind that can vanish into open water before you blink.
Fuck. I push myself harder, sprinting faster. Damien tackles one of Zhao’s men, Caleb sprays his wake with a hail of bullets, and for a moment, I think we’ve got him.
Then the night detonates. The shockwave throws me forward, and I hit the ground hard, ears ringing. The warehouse behind us goes up in flames, evenly, like charges were placed in strategic spots.
“Killian!” I shout as icy dread suffuses my body despite the heat emanating from the flames.
“I’m out,” my friend reassures us, restarting my heart.
When I blink the stars out of my eyes and turn back to the docks, Zhao’s gone.
I slam a fist into the ground. “Fuck! He was fucking ready!”
“Either he was paranoid or someone fed him intel,” Caleb says from next to me, reaching out a hand to help me up.
I watch the trail of a boat disappearing into the distance. Barbara’s face flashes in my head again, her soft voice, her laugh.
How many women has Zhao taken like he took Emily? Sold like cattle? Hurt? Killed?
I taste blood where I bit my tongue.
“Next time, we end it,” I promise Killian, but also Barbara. “Zhao’s a dead man walking.
9
BARBARA
Ican’t believe Emily’s getting married today. We’re drinking champagne in her bridal suite, helping her get ready, laughing at Morgan’s friend, Basia’s jokes. We’ve quickly become a quartet, despite the two girls only being in Emily's and my lives for a couple of months.
“I still can’t believe your name is practically Barbara, too,” I tell the only other blonde in our group.
Basia chuckles, her eyes sparkling despite having a dangerous stalker who keeps sending her threats… and other unsavory things. “Yeah. My mom wanted to honor her Polish roots.”
“A bit like that actress from Law & Order: SVU!” Emily says enthusiastically. She’s a big procedural shows fan.
I stick my tongue at her. “I prefer S.W.A.T.”
