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“Colt doesn’t have anything yet,” he answers.
“We need your help. How many of you can come to our location? We have a helicopter on the way to your north warehouse now.”
Hawk starts shouting in the background to his brothers before he answers me. “We’re about five minutes away from there. All eight of us are coming.”
“Fuck, I love you, bro,” I say.
“I know. You can show me how much later. Need any gear?” he asks.
“Flashlights, weapons, and hiking boots. The girls are somewhere on this mountain with one of our men. We need to find them.”
“On it,” he says before hanging up on me.
Within thirty minutes, Hawk, Ash, Beau, Knox, Wolf, Angel, Colt, and Maddox burst from the helicopter at the top of the mountain and run toward us with heavy bags in their arms. Alessandro, Luciano, and ten of their men have already arrived in a separate chopper, ready to help with whatever we need. I hadn’t expected the two leaders of the Italian syndicate to come and cover ground with us, but it means the world to me that they’re here. When he heard we had a traitor, Alessandro was beyond pissed. In our world, there’s nothing worse than someone in your own ranks turning against you.
We don bullet-proof vests. Wolf and his guys brought an arsenal. AK-47s, knives, even grenades. In minutes, we’re armed to the teeth. Colt stays behind with his laptop. He can tap into our security system and scan the camera feeds. Though the property is so large and remote, that might not do us much good. We turn our two-way radios to the same frequency, and take off in a grid pattern.
Hawk keeps pace with me, silent. Thank fuck. I’m not in the mood for conversation. I’m glad he’s a man of few words.
Minutes pass. Then an hour. Nothing. No footprints, nothing on the cameras. Fuck. If they’re dead…if they’re hurt…I’ll never forgive myself.
“Hey, look at this,” Hawk says.
I peer over at him and look at what he’s pointing at. Something orange. And finger shaped. The air rushes from my lungs. A Cheeto. I stare at it for a long moment before scanning the area. There’s another one fifteen yards away. Fuck, please tell me they left a trail. Please, please, please. When I find the next cheesy snack, my entire world crashes to pieces around me because next to it is a deep red trail of blood.
21
SCARLET
“Are you sure you don’t want a Cheeto? They’re cheesy and delicious,” I say.
I grin when Patrick shoots me an exasperated look. “For the fifth time, I don’t want any Cheetos. I can’t believe your Daddy lets you eat them.”
I shrug and pass the bag to my sister, who grabs a handful and shoves them in her mouth in a very unladylike way. Patrick stares at her with wide eyes. It’s quite comical. The poor guy has been answering our questions and listening to us talk nonstop since we left the house.
“How much farther to the creek?” Cali asks.
He stops mid-step and scrubs a hand over his face. “We should be there in a few minutes. Are you guys tired? Do you want to go back already?”
We both shake our heads.
“Nooo. We love it out here. We’re just excited to look for sharks in the creek. Do you think we’ll see any?” I ask.
I have to roll my lips in to keep from laughing. It’s so fun messing with Patrick. I’d guess he’s around the same age as my Daddy and we’ve confirmed he doesn’t have a Little girl of his own. He acts annoyed, but I’ve seen him fighting back a smile several times today. Obviously, it’s because Cali and I are so charming.
“Do you two always fuck with your Daddies like this or am I the only lucky one?” he asks.
Cali’s eyes widen. “Ooooh, you shouldn’t cuss. We’re not allowed to swear. You don’t want to be a bad influence, do you?”
He mutters something under his breath while she and I grin at each other. This is fun.
A few minutes later, we get to the creek, and he lets us explore the area after we promise not to leave his line of sight. The man is just like the rest of them. Overprotective and bossy as hell.
We shove our bag of Cheetos into my small backpack, then pull out our phones to take pictures. We even get Patrick to take a few pictures with us. Begrudgingly, of course.
“Okay, girls. Time to head back. It’s getting late and the temperature is going to start dropping soon,” he calls out.
“Five more minutes?” Cali begs, holding her hands clasped together for dramatic effect.
