On the surface, Winter seems like a respectable businessman. Adrian did a little digging, and he discovered that Snowfall, Inc. is a sham corporation that manufactures and runs illicit drugs, sells weapons, and is into counterfeiting. Winter is a crook.
He’s also, apparently, a deadman.
His body was found months ago in an abandoned store in the city of Springfield, about three hours away from Harmony Heights in a northeastern direction. Riddled with bullets, it was considered a suicide; seems like, in a town like Springfield where two opposing mafias rule the scene, getting mixed up with them is nothing short of killing yourself whether you pulled the trigger or not. And, yet, there are reports of him still running hisbusiness as of a few days ago that had Adrian and Dallas real curious.
Turns out that James ‘Jimmy’ Winterisdead. His twin, Johnathan ‘Johnny’ Winter, isn’t. He’s taken over the organization, and I guess he decided to add kidnapping to his repertoire because it’s definitely a Snowfall van—and a Snowfall employee known as Cameron Andino—that was caught on a traffic camera with a dazed Haven slouched in the front seat.
The samaritan noted the exit that the van got off at. Adding that to the traffic cam photo Adrian tapped into, he narrowed it down to a single Snowfall property in East Hamilton before sending Dallas to rouse my ass so we could plan a rescue mission.
The cousins pointedly agreed that telling the King what we were up to was useless. He couldn’t stop us—couldn’t stopme—though Dallas scowled and said that he wouldn’t put it past his old man to try. Instead, we rounded up the only fellas in Harmony Heights we could trust to pull this off, and were on the road within the hour.
Dallas drove the Order-owned SUV with Adrian riding shotgun, taking drag after drag off of his cigarette, ashing it out the open window. Sebastien and Desmond were crammed in the back with me, none of us having anything to say. It’s been ages since Des poked his head out of his lawyer office long enough to remember he has bros, but when I needed him, he showed up.
And, fuck, did I needallof them.
There’s a third row in the SUV that is empty save for the first aid kit, blanket, and other supplies that Adrian and Dallas got together for us. Adrian has his Tomcat, Dallas has his Ruger, me and Bas have our knives, with Des carrying a heavy gold-topped walking stick that will bash in a skull with one good swing.
We’re ready to do anything to retrieve Haven. That’s what we’re here for, and the SUV was quiet almost the entire ride.A sense of urgency is another passenger, and the other guys all know better than to say the wrong thing to set me off when I’m already so close to the fucking edge.
Even as we pull onto the gravel road, turning into the parking lot, no one says a damn word. Nobody needs to. The five of us are all thinking the same thing: please let this tip be legitimate.
Please let Haven be here…
She has to be. And, no matter what, I’m going to save her.
The second Dallas stops the car, I’m shoving Des out of the SUV so I can follow after him. I grab my knife from my pocket, squeezing it tightly as I glare at the rundown warehouse. According to the internet, Winter owns it, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in a long, long time. Only the fact that there’s a white van parked in the lot gives me hope—and a reason to jog toward the side exit so that I can see if it’s locked or if we have to force our way in.
The late night air has a bite to it, but I barely notice. Every nerve in my body feels stretched too tight. I’m humming, hurrying forward, wondering where the hell they could’ve hidden Haven in there. It doesn’t matter. I’ll find her. I’ll go through anyone who might be inside those walls to get to her.
Nothing is going to stop me.
On a burst of nervous energy, I race forward, reaching the side exit ahead of the others. A quick turn of the handle and I’m cursing under my breath. It’s locked, and when I try to kick it, I have to admit it’s in better condition than I would’ve thought since it holds.
My boys catch up to me. Adrian nods at Dallas. The King’s enforcer pulls out his Ruger, braces his boots in the gravel, and aims at the lock. One shot, two… Dallas kicks it in, and the door swings open.
It’s just as dark as the outside, and, squinting, I don’t see anyone straight away. It stinks of mildew and something rotten,with a faint yellow light seeping from a room at the far end of the warehouse. Since it’s the only one with any sign of possible life, we start for it, ignoring the closed doors along the hall.
When we reach one that’s open, either Dallas or Adrian clears it. Desmond hangs back while Bas stays at my side, watching my back while I keep my eyes on that yellow light.
I can’t help but be drawn to it, almost as though I sense Haven calling me to her. That doesn’t mean I’m distracted, though. Quite the opposite, actually. I’m strung so tight that, when a man a couple of inches taller than me jumps out from one of the open doors while Adrian and Dallas are occupied, I see him coming at me before Bas can shout a warning.
Bas reaches into his leather jacket for his knife, but I’m never without mine for long. I opened the blade the second Dallas kicked in the door, holding it out in front of me as I ran. The goon attacking me obviously didn’t see it because he jumps forward as I swing, the blade sliding between two ribs as easily as a warm knife through butter.
He stops short, gasping as the shock of the pain hits him. Taking advantage of that, I yank out my knife, kick him in the knee so that it buckles, knocking him to the dirty cement floor, and grab him by his head of dark hair so that I have my bloody knife to his neck before it really even occurs to him that he’s been stabbed—or that I’m in the perfect position to slit his throat.
FIVE
ALIVE
CONNOR
Peering down at my victim, I recognize him from the traffic camera photo. It’s Cameron Andino, the man who was in the same van as Haven.
My heart jumps. Shehasto be here—and this man put her somewhere.
Fisting his hair, I yank. Hard. He gasps, and I tighten my hold on him as Adrian and Dallas reappear in the hall, drawn by the sound of the scuffle. Now it’s five against one, and I really like the odds of us getting this guy to talk.
“Where is she?” I snap. “What have you done with her?”
