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“No! Get your hands off me, you fucker!”The scream pierces the air like a knife, making my blood run cold.
It’s her!
“Move!” My voice is a guttural growl, barely containing the fury bubbling beneath the surface. Carl nods, his eyes wide with determination.
I push aside the terror threatening to consume me at the thought of what we may find. But she’s alive. Her scream – horrifying as it was – has let me know she’s alive.
“Anton!” Carl is pointing to a cracked door at the end of the hallway.
“Follow me!” Adrenaline surges through my veins, propelling me forward. Time is of the essence and every second counts.
Another scream pierces the air, followed by low laughter.
It’s time.
I aim a brutal kick at the door, and I brace myself for what I might find inside as the rotten wood splinters and yields to the onslaught. I charge into a dimly lit room, the only light coming from a flickering bulb above.
“Anton!” Her voice comes out as a hoarse cry; hoarse from screaming, no doubt. I’ll make the fuckers pay for that. All of them will pay.
She’s tied to a chair, tears streaming down her face, her shirt stripped, her clothing hanging in tatters. Her bare feet are resting in a pool of water. It takes me a full second to take in the men who are flanking her. One I vaguely recognize from that night at Lena’s bar, and I’m guessing it’s Hector.
Motherfucker.
The other one has to be Cartwright… I grit my teeth. The heavyset older guy is eyeing me with one brow raised, looking too fucking confident for a man in his position. There are a couple of heavies looming in the background, but I know they’re no threat. Muscle with no skill is written all over them.
“Welcome to the party, Mr. Ulianov,” he says. I feel my finger curling around the trigger of my pistol. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He glances down at Hector’s hands. My brow furrows as I take in the sight of a stripped electrical cord he’s holding. “Your woman’s a real livewire,” he smirks. “A bit like what my friend here is holding.” He looks down at Hector’s hand again.
I run an eye from his fingers to where the cable is plugged into an electrical outlet. I glance back at the pool of water surrounding Scarlett. Her feet are firmly planted in it, even though I can see her trying to curl them away.
“Fuck,” I say before I can stop myself. If he drops that thing in the water, Scarlett’s toast.
“I’d say that about sums it up,” says Cartwright. Behind him, Hector leers over her, stroking a hand over her shoulder. She flinches away.
I’m going to break every one of those fingers.
“Get the fuck away from her!”
“Put the gun down, Mr. Ulianov,” Cartwright says. “I don’t like to do business with armed men.”
“Business?” I’m fighting down the urge to blow his head clean off. “You’re out of your fucking mind!”
“You think so?” He nods at Hector, who touches the end of the wire to Scarlett’s throat. She jolts and screams as electricity crackles.
“Stop!” I snarl.
Cartwright chuckles. “So… Now that I have your attention, shall we discuss those terms?”
Scarlett’s eyes are fixed on me, tortured. It fucking kills me.
“What do you want?” I grind out, not taking my eyes off her.
“You,” the fucker says.
“You want to trade me for her?” I frown at him. This is the second time I’ve had this thrown at me in two fucking days. But this time it makes no sense. What beef does he have with me?
It doesn’t matter. I’ll do it. I’m about to step forward when he speaks again.
“I didn’t say trade,” he says. My frown deepens. “I want you to work for me. In exchange, I won’t send her to you in pieces.”
