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“Hell no. You’re a part of Royal now. Nobody goes it alone.”
Paris had been with this psycho for hours, so there was no time to argue. God, she was probably so scared. I programmed the GPS and peeled out of the lot. “All I did was find out who he was. He didn’t have any history, so I put him aside while I dealt with other shit. Fuck! I should have done more.”
“You did much more than that. It’s impossible to predict what someone will do, Scotty.”
“I knew better. Not only from my training and experience, but if Shane didn’t teach me a lesson, I don’t know what the fuck else needs to happen for me not to fuck up again.”
“It’s hard for men like us to accept that we can’t always protect the people we love.” His phone rang, and he put it on speaker. “What’s up, Q?”
“His cell is pinging at his house. I gained access to a neighbor’s doorbell camera, and I can see the tail end of a gold station wagon in the driveway, so they’ve gotta be there.” I figured as much. The basics I found on Gordon told me he had lived in the same home his entire life, and typically freaks like him were too scared to venture too far outside their comfort zone. “Link, Foster, and Cal are about twelve minutes behind you.”
“We’ll be there in ten.” Brody hung up and looked at a message that just popped up on his screen.
My neck was sweating, and the foot that wasn’t on the pedal was bouncing so fast it was nearly vibrating. The dread coiling in my stomach was getting tighter and tighter because I fucked up. I failed her because I was too busy focusing on the past instead of looking at what was right in front of my face.
Gordon’s house was closer than I expected it to be, just on the other side of Lawless. It was supposed to take thirty minutes, but I’d shaved off more than half that time, and then I was going to do whatever it took to save her. And when I did, I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in prison, so I needed privacy. “Did Beau back off? It’s out of his jurisdiction.”
“Crime happened in his. Why don’t you want help finding her?”
I gripped my steering wheel. “I’ll take help, just not his kind.”
It must have finally dawned on him. “Shit. You don’t want to do something so illegal it jeopardizes your future with her.”
“I’ll worry about the consequences later, but I don’t need witnesses.”
“Right.” He typed something on his phone. “Beau’s backing off but heading to Donovan Corp to find Daddy dearest.”
Fine by me. Artie was better off getting picked up by law enforcement anyway.
“Go time.” I skidded to a halt half on the curb, gripped my gun, and ran up to the small ranch home that had seen better days. The grass was up to my knees, the brick was crumbling, and the blinds were falling apart, which gave me a good view inside.
Paris sat on a chair, back to the window. She was moving around, so I knew she was alive, but her limbs were tied to the chair.
“Fuck,” Brody came up behind me. “Stand back, I’ll go in first.”
“Like fuck you will.” I didn’t budge. “I know what I’m doing.”
I raised my arm and turned the knob, not surprised to find it unlocked, and I pushed the door open and nearly gagged.
“It smells like death,” Brody whispered.
I took a step in, then swept the room and aimed at Gordon. He sat on the couch with a woman’s head in his lap. He was stroking her long graying brown hair that was covering her face. The other arm was resting on her body, and he had a gun aimed at what I could only see was a set of men’s legs. “Drop your weapon, Gordon,” I said as I stepped in.
I heard Paris crying but couldn’t look at her just yet.
Gordon’s eyes were on said man, and when I took another step in, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Arthur sat on the floor, his back against the wall, head slumped forward, bruised and bloodied, seemingly unconscious. “Gordon, you don’t want to do this.”
His eyes moved to me, and the absolute look of insanity made me swallow hard. “It’s not a real gun, see?” He pressed the trigger, and a soft whizz preceded Arthur groaning when something hit him. “They’re BBs.”
Sure as shit, they were. But upon further inspection, I could see the barrel of a pistol also shoved under that woman who still wasn’t moving. What did he do to her? “He’s got a real one, too,” Brody whispered out of Gordon’s sight, noticing it at the same time as me. “Stall him and protect her. I’ve got your six until backup arrives, then we’ll take Gordon down.”
I didn’t acknowledge him but snuck a glance at Paris, who was trembling from head to toe with tearstained cheeks and a rip in her shirt. I took a step her way and got Gordon’s attention. “I’ll put my gun away, okay? I don’t want Paris to accidentally get hurt.” I made a show of setting my weapon on the ground only because Brody had my back. “I’m gonna untie her, okay?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“I’m waiting for her to wake up so she can see.” He pulled the stringy hair off the woman’s face, and Paris whimpered at the sight of the rotting corpse.
