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Direct hit.
He let out a bellow of pain, the gun falling from his grip as he clutched his hand to his side. I didn’t stop and wait around. Cassius and Zayde needed me. Running over to them, I swiped one of Zayde’s knives from the sheath on his belt since mine was now lost somewhere in the courtyard. Fuck. That blade was a gift.
“Faster,” I urged them as they staggered across the grass, while I kept eyes on the courtyard in case we had any more trouble.
“Going as fast as we can,” Cassius grunted, his eyes focused on the van.
We finally reached it, and Lena leapt out of the back, throwing herself at Cassius. He dropped Allan’s feet down to the floor, capturing her in his arms.
“I was so fucking worried!” she was crying as Zayde and I bundled Allan into the van.
I stopped, just staring at Allan, the feeling of betrayal coursing through me as I took in his unconscious form. Weston stared over at him, and I watched the same thoughts I was having play across his face. The betrayal was still fucking strong.
“I’ll take care of him.” Z nodded to the seat opposite Allan, and I collapsed down gratefully as the van started up, swinging around and moving away from the area. Obie threw me a bottle of water once I was seated, before returning his gaze to the screen where he was monitoring the rear camera of the van to check if we were being followed.
Pulling off my balaclava and gloves, I watched as Z carefully bound Allan’s hands and feet, nowhere near as tightly as we’d done Joseph’s, and slipped an identical bag over his head. He threw Allan’s phone to Weston, then came and sat next to me.
I handed him the water. “What happened? What was the hold-up?”
“We couldn’t get Allan away from the others. Had to split up and cause a distraction over the other side.” He glanced over at Cassius, who had his arm around his sister, comforting her. “It was all good. I did what I had to. You got my blade still?”
“Oh, yeah.” I handed him the knife I’d shoved in my bandolier and passed it over. “Blood, huh?”
He grunted, carefully cleaning it.
I dropped the subject, raising my voice. “Everyone alright?” At this point, it didn’t matter if Allan or Joseph woke up and heard me speaking. They’d know I was there, soon enough. What we didn’t want was for them to hear any of the others speak. Other than Z, that is.
They gave me thumbs ups and nods. I heard my girlfriend’s voice in my head, telling me to check on Granville, and I groaned, moving across to the open hatch.
“You alright?”
He jumped, before nodding. “Yeah. I don’t think anyone’s following us. I’m taking the long way, though, just in case.”
“Good.” That was enough conversation with him for one day. Collapsing back on the seat, my thoughts returned to my girl. I trusted Mack, but she had a habit of getting herself into trouble. Fuck. I had no way of communicating with her, either.
“Did you hear from Winter?” I looked over at Lena.
She glanced at the unmoving forms of Allan and Hyde, and nodded. “I heard from them just as they were leaving,” she whispered, her voice sounding odd. Relief filled me at her words, although I still couldn’t fucking relax. Wouldn’t be able to, until I could see her with my own eyes.
“What’s wrong with her voice?” Z muttered from next to me, and I shrugged.
“I’m disguising it,” Lena hissed, glaring at him. He rolled his eyes, not bothering to reply. We all lapsed into silence, lost in our own thoughts.
After about twenty minutes of driving, the van came to a stop. We were dropping Granville and Lena off, and Obie would take us the rest of the way to Mack’s place, a warehouse on an industrial estate. Once we were there, he’d leave us with Allan and Hyde. The fewer involved in the interrogation, the better. Cassius wasn’t even getting involved—the plan was for him to wait with Winter and my brother, listening in from outside the room, where we’d set up all the shit we needed to record them.
Not that things ever went to plan.
After the longest fucking journey ever, we finally pulled up at the warehouse, piling out of the van and leaving Hyde and Allan inside for now. No fucking sign of Mack. Where was he? Where was my girl?
“Cade.” Z put his hand on my arm. I swung my head around to his, following his gaze. A car was turning into the lot, empty other than mine and Cassius’ cars, which we’d parked there earlier. Headlights shone on us, temporarily blinding me. The car came to a stop, and the passenger door was thrown open. Huge eyes, filling with tears, met mine, and she flung herself into my arms.
“Cade.”
TWENTY-FIVE
I clung to Caiden, afraid to let go, wrapping my arms and legs around him. “I was so fucking worried. I had no way of knowing if you were okay,” I cried.
“I’m okay, baby,” he soothed. “Everything’s fine.” I buried my face in his shoulder, regaining my composure, feeling his steady heartbeat under me.
