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I straightened up, throwing my knife to the ground. Then I yanked at the torn sleeve of his hoodie, applying pressure to the cut to stop the bleeding.
“What’s going on?” Winter asked carefully, unable to conceal the surprise in her voice.
“His dad isn’t a nice person,” I muttered, unable and unwilling to say any more. It wasn’t my secret to tell.
Caiden exhaled sharply, choosing to ignore my actions, which I appreciated. “Tell us what you know.”
Fucking finally, Joseph gave us a piece of useful information. “She’s been working with my father for a long time. They’ve been plotting to take over Alstone Holdings. I’ve never been privy to the ins and outs, but I know that there’s the deal going down tomorrow with the De Witts, and she was going to make a move after that.” Glaring at us, he added, “I probably would have found out more if you hadn’t interrupted the meeting tonight and fucking kidnapped me.”
It was the least he deserved. I exchanged glances with Cade, both of us on the same page, as Winter questioned him. “What move was she going to make?”
“I honestly don’t know. My father keeps all his cards close to his chest.”
“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Caiden bit out, near the end of his tether.
He shook his head. “Nothing, except those guys at the meeting tonight? I know she’s paying them a lot of money, and I know they don’t like her very much. I picked up that much from the short time I was there.”
Caiden’s arm tightened around Winter, both of them glaring at Hyde. I watched as Caiden took a deep, calming breath. “Why were you at the meeting, anyway?”
“I don’t know exactly, but my father wants to bring me into the business. Not that I’d have anything to do with it if I had any choice in the matter. I’m sure you can appreciate being groomed for the family business, being the son of the almighty Arlo Cavendish.”
“Fuck you.” Caiden lifted Winter off his lap, climbing to his feet. When he glanced at me, I was ready, anticipating his next question. “Tape?”
I handed him the roll, and he wasted no time in ripping off a strip and slapping it over Joseph’s mouth. We carried him, chair and all, to the side of the room, where we seated him facing the corner.
* * *
Caiden and Winter took the lead in questioning Arlo’s butler, Allan. As much as I fucking loathed him for working with Christine and the Strelichevos, I couldn’t help feeling a small measure of sympathy for him. Not much, because he was working against us, after all, but the old bastard had obviously been manipulated and blinded by his family loyalty.
It all went to shit part way through the interrogation. Christine called to say she had Jessa De Witt hostage, and she wanted to trade her for Allan. If we didn’t comply, Jessa’s life would be forfeited. Jessa was a girl we’d grown up with, one of the elite, but she had a bit of a vendetta against Winter, and I had zero fucking time for that bitchy rich-girl shit. Even so, the only fuckers that deserved to die tonight were Christine, the Strelichevos, and anyone working with them against Alstone Holdings. Yeah, that included Roland Hyde, and maybe even Joseph, but I wouldn’t play a part in the deaths of those two. Not when I hadn’t been able to save Tim.
Caiden ended the call. His eyes were so fucking wide, and there was an expression I’d never seen on his face before. It was uneasy, almost afraid. “I’ll take Allan and Hyde. We’ve only got my car and the SUV here, so we’ll split up, and when we get near to the docks, we’ll pull over and I’ll go in with them. I don’t want any of you in danger.” He was fucking joking if he thought that any of us would stay away. As his gaze went from me to Winter and then back again, his mouth twisted as realisation dawned. “Z, can you get hold of Mack on the way? We don’t have any time to lose.”
“On it.” I was already tugging my phone from my pocket as Caiden turned back to Winter.
“Baby, can you get hold of Granville? See if we can get him to go to AMC if we can’t get hold of Dad.” He continued giving orders until West looked up from the computer.
“Everything’s sent.”
Caiden nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”
THREE
The rain was pouring. Lightning flashed, and thunder rumbled, but I was thankful for the storm. It meant visibility was decreased, which we could use to our advantage.
Caiden was already gone by the time we reached Winter. Even in the darkness and the pouring rain, I could see her stricken look, tears running down her face. Cassius pulled Winter into his arms as Weston and I came to stand by her side. The rain eased off a little in the minute we took to catch our breaths, but I couldn’t allow us to wait too long. In the absence of Caiden, I was in charge.
“Let’s go. We go in, avoid being seen, get Cade and Jessa out of there. Mack’s on his way, but we don’t have time to wait for him. Everyone ready?”
They slipped into formation behind me, and as we moved closer, I scanned every inch of our surroundings, calculating our best options. The entrance barrier was wide open, and I could see three cars making a U shape. Cade had driven Cassius’ SUV inside, with Allan and Joseph in the back, and had stopped in front of them. Fucking Christine was there, and Jessa was thrashing against a smirking Littlefinger. No doubt Roland Hyde was skulking around here somewhere, too.
Something twisted in my gut. We were running out of time. I signalled to Cassius and Weston to take one side, to get to Jessa, while I took the other. As Winter began following me, I pushed her back gently. Cade would kill me if anything happened to her. “Go. Hide behind the SUV. I don’t want anyone seeing you.”
Keeping to the shadows, I moved closer to the group of cars.
A hand clamped down on my arm, and I felt the cold metal press of a gun barrel in the small of my back. A deep voice growled in my ear, “Where do you think you’re—”
Before he could even finish his sentence, I was twisting down and around, taking the henchman with me. At the same time, my fingers closed around the blade of one of my knives, pulling it free from its sheath. It was a matter of seconds before I’d incapacitated him, and one hard thrust to the back of his neck with my knife and he was down and out for good. Kicking his gun away, sending it skittering under one of the cars, I wiped my knife off on the henchman’s jacket and straightened up.
