Page 48 of Ruin

I wouldn’t do Saraya any good if I was dead.

I parked the bike in an alley, put down the kickstand, and peeked around the corner, heart hammering away behind my ribs as I tried to focus on the scene on the street. There was the bank, with several cars parked in front. No sign of anything out there. No bodies on the sidewalk, no blood splashed across the walls.

At least not that I could see.

I kept my helmet and bandana on and started walking in that direction, eyes roving every which way to try to see what was coming for me before it started coming. The only thing that stood out so far was the large, very expensive sedan parked on the street in front of the bank. Pricey car for this neighborhood, I thought.

Too pricey.

Devil must be taking himself very seriously these days, if he was driving in something like that. Or being driven, I amended, taking in how far back the driver’s seat of the car was. Devil wasn’t tall enough to need the seat that far back.

He had one of his bodyguards with him.

Terrific.

The passenger door of the car was open, and that made me wonder. I was positive Devil would have been in that seat. Why had he gotten out of the car and left the door open? Where was he now? What about his guard?

And where the fuck was Saraya?

My steps sped up, my heart rate increasing at the thought that they might already have her, and ten steps later I saw what I’d been terrified I’d see. Shell casings on the ground. Four of them, and I recognized the size. Those had come from a handgun.

And right next to them, a smear of blood on the ground. Nothing big. I wouldn’t even have noticed it if I wasn’t looking at the casings. But it was definitely blood, and it was most certainly fresh.

Next to that, a bracelet that I recognized as Saraya’s.

Shit.

My eyes shot up to the bank, and then to the left and right as I looked frantically for any other sign of her. Any sign that would tell me where she was or whether she was alive. Was she the one bleeding? What had happened? Was she okay?

Was she even still here?

I crouched and slid toward the wall on my left, intent on finding something like cover. No wonder this street was empty. There’d been a shooting and then most likely a kidnapping. But their car was still here, and that meant they had to be here. Right?

A sudden presence behind me had me panicking, thinking I’d been caught, but when I looked over my shoulder, it was Brock, his face intent and his skin pale and clammy.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Blood on the sidewalk. Shell casings. Saraya’s bracelet. I’m guessing she was here when Devil got here and tried to shoot him. I’m also guessing she failed, and that they have her.”

“Shit,” he whispered. “Where are they?”

“No clue. Maybe inside the bank.”

It was the only real answer, and I hoped I was right about that. If they were in the bank, it meant I had a chance to save her. If they weren’t in the bank, and they were gone...

I pulled my mind away from the thought before it could reach its natural conclusion and thought instead about what I was going to do. If they were in the bank, it meant we might be able to get in there and surprise them. Take her back. Get out of there alive.

“What are our chances of getting her out of there?” Brock asked.

Evidently our minds were moving along the same pathways.

“No idea. But I’m willing to risk it. I’m not going to give her up.”

“Right.” He stood from where he’d been crouched down and darted back toward his bike, returning a moment later with an AK strapped across his chest. When I looked from the gun up to him, one eyebrow raised, he just shrugged. “I have it for target practice. Figured it might come in handy if we were going to end up facing Devil and one of his goons.”

When I’d told them to grab their weapons, I hadn’t thought we’d be bringing along a whole arsenal. But I had to admit that I wasn’t opposed to him having such a large gun on him. The truth was, I would have brought one too, if I’d had it.

Whatever it took to take Devil out and get Saraya back to safety.