AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I lengthened my stride, desperate to be back with Kat once more. A sense of urgency hummed inside me, deeper than my pulse, hungrier than hate.
“Laz,” Freddy called. “Brother, slow down.”
My phonebeepedin my pocket. No doubt it was Dad calling to either ridicule or congratulate me. Both I didn’t give a shit about, not in this moment. I lifted my gaze to my building in front of me as that eerie, threatening feeling inside me grew.
“Logan,” I murmured, calling for the brother, even though I had no idea what I ask asking him for.
Still, he strode ahead and moved in front of me, placing himself directly in the line of any oncoming fire, and scanned the island’s grounds for movement.
His gun was in his hand in an instant. He moved faster, stepping around the giant palms to stride toward the building doors. One scan of the keycard and they opened. My fucking heart was booming in my ears as the two guards turned, took one look at Logan and his gun, and froze.
“What is it?” one of them asked, reaching for his own piece under his jacket.
“Who the fuck are you?” Logan growled, looking from one to the other.
The asshole just scowled, glanced toward his partner, and answered. “The protection for Ms. VanHalen.”
“No, you’re not,” I snarled, and strode closer. “You’re not the ones who were here before.”
“Before?” The idiot looked confused. “We were held up for a second, but we’ve been here the entire time.”
I jerked my gaze toward the elevator. “And you’ve seen her? You’ve seen Kat?”
The scowl only grew deeper as the asshole just shook his head. “No, I assumed—”
I didn’t stop to hear the rest, striding toward the elevator as that pressure built inside me. It was getting hard to breathe, getting hard to hear anything over the pulsing of my heart. Logan stepped in behind me as the doors opened.
“She’s fine,” Logan urged. “She’s fine.”
But the brother didn’t sound convinced as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. He was into the apartment first, scanning the living room, letting me go ahead to check the bedroom.
“Kat,” I called, listening to the silence.“Kat, are you here?”
She wasn’t in the bedroom. I glanced at the rumpled sheets and made for the bathroom. She wasn’t there either. “She’s not here, Logan.” I jerked my gaze to his. “She’s not here.”
He grabbed his phone and punched in the number. “Freddy, she’s not here.”
There was an audible“Fuck!”from the other side.
That panic had a name now…
Emptiness.
“I want those guards found, Logan,” I growled as my fists clenched by my sides. “I want them hunted down and I want her back in this goddamn apartmentnow.”
A nod of his head and my brother clenched his grip around the phone. “I’ll get the Commander on the line.”
39
Kat
I felt weightless for a moment, before my side slammed against something hard and cold. Salty water splashed my face, jerking me awake. I surfaced from the darkness, driving to the light. I blinked and opened my eyes.
There was a man sitting above me, perched on the side of a dinghy as we became airborne again. I let out a cry as the impact with the water smashed me against the hard bottom again, drawing his gaze.
“Easy,” his voice cut through the roar of the motor. “We flip, and you’re dead.”
He looked at me like I was nothing. I tried to remember what the fuck happened, and focused on my hands. A plastic strip bound them together. Panic punched me hard as I looked at my feet. One shoe was missing…but my ankles were bound, too.
