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“If you think we’re going to walk into Gibson’s and go straight to the room where they’re holding my brother, you’ve got another thing coming.” Kneeling beside the guy on the ground, I search his pockets.
“But why him?”
Finding what I’m looking for, I hold up a set of silver keys. “We’ll wait until everyone leaves, then we’ll let ourselves in.”
“I’m not authorized to—”
“I know, Jack. You’ve got to color inside the lines, but I don’t. I need you to take this guy downtown and detain him. Say you found him passed out in the alley, public intoxication, whatever it takes to hold him until tomorrow.”
He hesitates a minute. “Louie said you guys have your own methods.”
“I’m getting my brother out of this hell hole before it goes up in flames. I could use the backup, but even more, I don’t need him waking up and causing problems.”
“Understood.”
“Now help me get him out of here.”
Jack and I carry the big guy to the street, where he calls for a patrol car to take him to the station. “Put him in a cell ’til he sobers up,” Jack tells the guy in the car, passing over his gun. “I recovered this from his pocket.”
One obstacle down, I camp out in the alley to wait until everything’s quiet and hope for the best. Hurry up and wait is the mantra of this business. I thought I’d gotten out of it, but here I am, on pins and needles, pacing a dirty alley, counting down the minutes.
When it’s finally after 3:00 a.m., I signal Jack, who leaves his post on the street to follow me down a short flight of stairs to the back entrance. It takes a few minutes to find the right key, but at last it turns, and the door loosens.
I reach behind me to retrieve my 9mm, and Jack’s eyes widen. I hold my hand up to signal silence, and I wait at the cracked door, listening. The bar’s been closed long enough for the staff to be gone, but I’m on alert for Natasha and any of her goons. Rainey’s warning is in my head—she hired help, and there’s no telling what she has planned.
She told Scar she was cleaning out the office before she torched the place, and the pressure is on me to get us all out of here before that happens.
After several minutes of silence, I slip into the anteroom at the back door, Jack close behind me. The main area is dark except for track lighting around the walls and bar. Thick velvet curtains surround smaller sections in the room. They’ll absorb any sound we make, but they also provide a hiding place for anyone.
Straining my eyes, I check the direction of the office, but no other lights are on. Is it possible they’ve already deserted the place? And if they have, does that mean the fuse has already been lit? My chest seizes at the thought. A gas leak would be the easiest way to do it.
“Let’s move!” I hiss, dashing across the empty bar, going straight to the back room where Scar hid the small camera years ago.
Feeling all over the dark wall, there’s no latch, only a deadbolt.Fuck. Hoping against hope, I take out the set of keys again, trying each one with shaking hands until…
“Yes!” I yell, turning the bolt and ripping the door open.
“Duck!” Jack grabs me by the shoulder, ripping me down to the floor seconds before Scar’s fist slams into the wood.
“Fuck!” he yells, shaking his hand. “Dirk? Dammit, I almost knocked your head off.”
“Punch first, questions later?” I chuckle, pulling him into a bro-hug. “Hutch?”
“Hey, little brother.” He’s hanging back, sitting on the edge of the booth, and my stomach pitches. My oversized brother struggling to stand is something I’ve never seen.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” he shakes his dark head. “They must’ve given me a fucking horse tranquilizer.”
“You’re big enough to warrant it.” I grab his arm. “We don’t have time to waste. If they’re planning to torch this place, it could go up any second.”
The four of us head into the dark bar, ready to race out the side door when Scar pulls up short. “Wait. I have to check—”
“There’s no time! This whole place could blow at any second.”
He’s already gone, and I groan. “Help him out.” I pass Hutch to Jack and race after Scar, who’s in the small office.
He’s leaning over an open, empty safe behind the desk. “Fuck. She did it. It’s all gone. All the papers, all the records, our phones…”
