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“Now, let’s go find her. Where do you think she could be? She’s not answering her phone?” Killian glanced out the window, apparently done with the sentiment moment for now.
“No, she’s not. She might have gone to our first apartment if she’d thought I would find her at her family’s.”
“Then let’s head there and check.”
Rather than parking in the garage, I cut the engine on the street, not even bothering to pay the parking meter as we hurried towards the apartment’s front doors. As soon as we got to our floor, I knew something was wrong. The keys trembled in my hands, but finally, I got it open.
There was a body on the living room floor, and the place looks like a mess. The coffee table was broken, wood splintered across the ground, mixing with small shards of glass from the needle lying on the carpet. Killian and I froze, staring.
“Do you know this guy? Is he one of ours?” Killian whispered.
I shook my head slowly. “No. One of hers. He’s one of the men I tasked with watching her when she’d go out.”
“Fuck.” Killian quickly closed the door after checking to make sure the hall was clear. “But hey, it’s a good sign that he’s here and she’s not.”
Was it, though? There was no sign of Sienna anywhere other than the body she might have left behind.
“You take care of the body. You know the drill. I need to get back out on the street and look for her.”
Killian nodded, moving towards Vincent lying on the floor. He checked him over first. “Looks like he hasn’t been dead for long. You might still be able to find her.”
I ran out the door leaving Killian to deal with the mess. Stopping first in the garage, I double-checked to make sure her car wasn’t still here. If it was, then I’d know she’d been taken. But it wasn’t there, and I sighed in relief, though it didn’t make me feel that much better. She was still out there somewhere. Alone.
The next location was the docks. If she wasn’t at her family’s apartment, or ours, then she might have gone to the office. There would have been security there, though, at this point, I was trusting them less and less. Vincent had been a security guard. Aaron had been our guard. And they’d both fucking betrayed us. How many were in on it? Was it everyone who wasn’t immediate family? Just how far did this betrayal go?
As soon as I turned into the parking lot, my stomach dropped. Sienna’s car was here, the only one in the lot. I parked beside it, checking the inside. It seemed normal. I headed towards the offices. There was no one here. The shipyard was dark as hell. There should have at least been some men from my father’s side securing the place, even if Sienna’s had all left. But there was no one. None of the lights were on in the office building, and I had a feeling she wasn’t there. I had a feeling she wasn’t anywhere here.
I stopped halfway to the buildings, feeling unable to breathe. If she was gone…If she was taken…My feet turned on their own, racing towards the sidewalk outside the shipyard’s fence. Where there were people. Where there was life and light and security. Gasping, I leaned against the fence as people passed me by. I didn’t phase them. This was New York. The city that never sleeps and was full of oddities. Even at this hour, there was still a sizable crowd on the sidewalks.
Even out here, it still felt too much. The city buildings closed in around me, blocking out the sky and the air. Sienna’s car was here, but she was not. I had no idea where she was or if they took her—whoever they were. I already lost my father tonight. I couldn’t lose her either.
Stumbling away from the shipyard, I felt as if I were walking in a dream. People’s faces blurred passed as they went. The lights mixed with sounds, making everything surreal. Someone bumped into me. Hard. I fell back against the chain fence, whipping around to see who’d run into me. But no one stopped or even glanced in my direction. Pissed, I start to walk away when I feel something brush my hand from inside my pocket.
I stopped, yanking out a piece of paper that hadn’t been there before. My eyes scanned the street, clearer now. Was someone watching me? Following me? I opened the paper up, reading the words scratched onto the surface.
Fear wrapped around my heart, my lungs, choking me. They had Sienna. And if I wanted her to live, I needed to go to her. To them.
There was an address written at the bottom. One outside the city. I didn’t hesitate. Didn’t question it. Racing back to my car, I slipped inside. The tires screeched as I peeled out of the lot and headed towards the city’s limits.
The place was a fucking dump. Literally. The trash yard sat at the edge of the highway, the city's lights casting a glow on the horizon. But here, it was all darkness. I cut the engine, turning off the lights as I got out. I could hear nothing but the sounds of cars passing overhead. I grabbed the HK416 from the passenger side, and I shut the door quietly. They probably already knew I was here, but I didn’t want to alert them to my presence by slamming the damn door.
I didn’t know what this place was or why they’d taken Sienna here. It was far enough from the city to avoid detection from the police. Still, I didn’t think the Snake cared about given the fact he’d started taking out officers one-by-one these past few weeks. My guard went up the minute I’d stepped out of the car, my gun already loaded with extra bullets in my pockets.
The place seemed as abandoned as the shipyard had. I couldn’t see any lights in the small trailer that served as the office here. No movement between the piles of junk scattered around the yard. There was one light at the center, though I couldn’t see what was there just yet, my line of sight blocked by mountains of tires, broken bicycles, and other shit.
I crept forward, fingers already on the trigger as I wandered through the yard. Glass bottles had been broken on the ground, and they crunched beneath my feet. I’m sure the Snake’s men heard me coming from a mile away, but I’d still be ready for them. If Killian knew about this, he’d be pissed I hadn’t taken him with me. To be honest, I probably shouldn’t have gone on my own, but there’d been no time to call reinforcements. I didn’t even know what reinforcements to trust except Kill.
My eyes caught sight of the crushed cars stacked on top of each other at the far end of the yard. It gave me a better view of the center, the place with the singular light. And it was better protection than a bunch of tires. I backtracked, walking alongside the wire fence until I was able to reach the cars. With my back pressed against the rusting metal bodies, I inched forward until I could see the center.
Sienna was there, tied to a fucking chair. Flashbacks of the time she’d been taken ran through my mind. Back then, I’d been able to pick them off one-by-one from the top of the shipping containers. I doubted the same tactic would work twice. They would have learned their lesson by then. I didn’t know how I would be able to pull it off this time. One thing I knew for sure, though, was that the Snake wasn’t here. Not if Sienna was still alive.
Though, she didn’t look alive. Her head lolled to the side, her eyes closed. It took a moment of absolute stillness on my part to catch the slow rise and fall of her chest. There were chains looped around her chest, woven between the two metal bars of the chair. That would be a lot harder to get her out of if a fight broke out.
Cursing, I pressed my back against the car. So far, there hadn’t been any movement around me. I couldn’t even see how many men were really here. If they weren’t going to come out now, then that meant they were waiting for me. I’d be walking into a trap without knowing the specifics, and everything I’d ever learned told me that was a bad idea.
Everything about this was a gamble. But I’d do it for her. Always.
Taking a deep breath, I stepped out into the light. The barrel of my gun flashed, but I kept my eyes trained on Sienna. On her chest, rising and falling, reminding me she was still alive. I reached her without anyone attacking me, but that didn’t make me feel any more relaxed. They were here. They were just biding their time.
