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I secured the end around the leg of the heavy oak dresser that was next to the window. Going to the window, I tried to open it and sighed when it didn’t budge. Of course, he locked it. The idea that he had bedrooms in his house with doors and windows that locked from the outside would have worried me, if I’d planned on hanging around. I picked up the comforter from the ground and started wrapping it around my fist.
Eyeing the door, I wondered if anyone was about to hear this. There wasn’t much I could do about it, if they did. This was my only way out. I was just grateful my body had adjusted to the drugs. I didn’t really feel like crashing to the ground because I’d gotten dizzy while climbing down.
I held my breath and punched the window as hard as I could. My padded fist had no problem going through the glass, but it started throbbing and aching like crazy. A bedspread was not good enough protection for this. It took less force to bust the weakened glass around the frame once I’d made a fist-sized hole in it. I tossed the blanket over my shoulder and the makeshift rope out the window.
Poking my head out, I looked down and shuddered. It wasn’t that tall of a house, but I wasn’t looking forward to this. I tried to see if anyone was around outside, but it was pretty dark. The moon was only half full in the sky. It wasn’t the best night to go scampering around through the forest. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of a choice.
I could see the tree line about a hundred yards off the front of his house. Beyond that was the faint glow of the city lights. It gave me a direction to head and I was grateful for it. Normally, I wouldn’t go into the woods of upstate New York without plenty of supplies—one being a compass—but being out here hadn’t exactly been in my plans.
Holding my breath, I eased myself out of the window and dangled from the frame on my belly. My feet searched blindly for the first knot and I let out a sigh of relief when I found it. Taking a fortifying breath, I began easing down the fabric rope.
Once I hit the end, I hung there and looked down over my shoulder. It was a bit higher up than I liked, but I wouldn’t splatter my brains all over Nico’s walkway either. Not that the sadistic asshole would care. I dropped my feet and used my upper body strength to walk my hands down the rope to the very last knot, giving myself the shortest distance I could from where I dangled and the ground.
My arms were quaking from the effort of holding up my body weight for so long. Bolstering my courage, I let go. It took everything in me not to scream during the short drop. Bushes below broke my fall as I crashed through them ungracefully. My ass hit the ground, tailbone taking the brunt of the impact, and I sat there stunned and hurting. I gave myself a few seconds to inventory my body and make sure nothing was broken before I popped my head out of the bushes to look around.
So far, so good.
I knew once I made a dash for the tree line I’d be easy to spot in the open clearing between the house and the woods. I eased up onto my feet, but still hunched to use the bushes as a shield. Counting down in my head, I hoped no one would be watching. I burst from the bushes, eyes trained out ahead of me on the tree line, and pushed my body to run as fast as it could.
Chapter 17
Nico
Iknocked back a few fingers of whiskey as I stood staring down at the list of names on my desk. I was sure of who had orchestrated the hit against my wife, but I needed the proof first. So far, it was just the opinion of myself and Sal’s future son-in-law that it was one of the Guzman brothers who’d started this. I didn’t know why, but it didn’t matter. The Guzman Cartel had taken something from me and I was determined to send their organization straight to hell. I didn’t just want to destroy the brothers who had taken a foothold in New York. I wanted to bring down all six of them.
According to this email, I may be too late to take on one of them. Apparently, some motorcycle club down in Texas had taken out Miguel Guzman and his operation in Reynosa, Mexico. That left Marco—the oldest and the man in charge here—Raul, Lorenzo, Tomás, and Alvaro. One by one, I’d make them pay until the only thing left was a smear of a memory.
My office door opened and Luca hurried in. He cleared his throat and seemed like he wasn’t sure what to say. “What?” I asked, looking back down at the paper.
“She’s gone,” he said flatly.
My head snapped up. He was watching me carefully. “What the fuck do you mean ‘she’s gone?’”
“She busted out the window and climbed down sheets she tied together.”
I stood there staring at him in disbelief for what felt like a full minute before I started laughing. Luca’s brows shot up and it was his turn to watch me incredulously. He’d been expecting me to fly off the handle, and I still might. For now, I found Havoc’s nerve humorous. I’d underestimated her again. I wouldn’t make that mistake in the future. Once I tracked her down, I’d handcuff her to my bed if I had to. The thought had wicked images invading my mind.
She seemed to have it in her head that I was going to kill her. I’d let her believe it and left her in—what I thought—was a secure room. “Which direction?”
“South, toward the woods.”
She was trying to get back to the city. We were well over an hour’s drive from New York City, but she’d been out cold for the trip so she wouldn’t know that.
“Get a couple of extra guys over here to help us look for her. Tell them to hurry the fuck up.”
“Yes, Boss.” He turned and started to leave.
“Luca.” He stopped and looked at me over his shoulder. “Grab the machetes, too.” Nodding, he hurried out of the room to follow my instructions. It was a good thing I didn’t sleep much. This was going to be a long night.
* * *
It tookanother twenty minutes for more of my men to show up. I had a handful guarding the house—not that they did a very good job since Havoc had just escaped. To be fair, they were usually prepared to keep people out of my home, not keep a woman in.
“Spread out, if you find her, radio us, and bring her straight back to the house. Anyone hurts her and I’ll gut you myself.” I met each man’s gaze, giving them a hard look. Most stared down at the ground, refusing to maintain contact.
We were standing at the tree line and I watched as my men spread out and started searching. Shining my flashlight on her tracks, I began following them. It would take me a lot longer to track her than it would for her to run, but I was hoping the dark would slow her down. I glanced over as Luca fell into step beside me.
I didn’t comment and continued following her prints. Luca was a better tracker than I was. I planned on being the one to find her and having him along ensured that I would.
