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Trey slowly glanced over at Rogue. He didn’t recognize the voice on the other line, which sent up warning flags.
“Who’s this?”
“Murphy. I’m with Stark’s crew. I don’t have much time, and neither do you. They’ve got her in one of the safe houses. I can only hold them off for so long. Made a suggestion for them to get rid of the car first before they take her out, clear away any and all evidence. Stark agreed. But I can only fend them off so long.”
“Is Stark there now?”
“On his way. But listen, this isn’t on Stark. It was Sean who grabbed her. Said he thought Stark could negotiate with you and trade her if you’d reinstate the deal. Stark didn’t know anything about it.”
It may not have been Stark’s plan initially, but he was doing everything he could to cover it up. What Stark should have done was call Trey immediately, but instead he was orchestrating a coverup to conceal the murder of Trey’s woman. I’m going to fucking kill him, personally.
“Give me the location and directions.”
Trey shared a look with Rogue while listening to Murphy give directions. Trey slowly nodded, confirming that he was giving their actual location.
“She said if I helped her, you’d spare me. Need your word on that,” Murphy said.
It was becoming clear through that single statement that Murphy wasn’t trying to help Dahlia out of the goodness of his heart. He wanted to be spared the wrath of the Underground.
Trey didn’t make deals with the enemy. However, he’d make an exception. He stared back at Rogue.
“Yeah, you have my word. I won’t kill you.”
The heavy sigh on the other end was the last thing he heard before Trey ended the call.
Chapter Thirty-One
Dahlia was working on borrowed time. It had been at least an hour since she’d made her desperate plea to Murphy. She was hoping for some type of update, but she was left with her own thoughts, and none of them were good. Even if she could find some way out of the locked room with bolted windows, she had no idea where she was or how far from Lawry. For all she knew, she’d been knocked out for hours.
When the lock turned, Dahlia scrambled up to her feet and pressed her back against the wall in the corner. She expected Murphy to come in, but instead, it was her worst nightmare. She felt the blood drain from her face when Sean walked in, smiling and locking the door behind him. Being stripped of her clothes was scary enough, but being vulnerable in front of this guy had the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.
“Your time is almost up,” Sean said, smirking with a small shrug. “I thought maybe you’d wanna go out with a bang before the big bang.”
She was left extremely exposed in her thong panties and skimpy bra, but at least she’d have a fighting chance against him. When he lunged for her, she shot out her arm, catching the corner of his jaw. It may not have hurt him, but a shooting pain ripped through her arm.
He rounded the mattress, and Dahlia raced toward the door, but he hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her against his chest.
“A fighter. I like that!”
He tossed her on the bed, and her gut reaction was to try and squirm away, but he grabbed hold of her ankle, pulling her back toward him. She heard the distinct sound of his belt buckle and his zipper. She stopped, and her breathing shallowed. She was officially in fight-or-flight mode. Dahlia shot out her foot, nailing him in the leg, but it only made him more aggressive. He grabbed the edge of her panties, ripping them down her legs, leaving her bottom half completely exposed.
Dahlia swung her legs and clawed her way, trying to get off the mattress as she screamed. Not for help but out of pure desperation. Her own voice was painful in her own ears, but she didn’t stop. As his body came down over her back, she felt his bare flesh rub against hers, and she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed louder.
“Ain’t no hero coming through that fucking door.” His taunting cackle had the bile rising in her throat.
Dahlia balled her fists, punching the mattress and swinging her legs. Even if it didn’t stop the inevitable, she would not go down without a fight. She sucked in a breath and let out a gut-wrenching shriek. Her last act of salvation.
He gripped her hair, yanking her head back.
Then the door burst open, and a man, bigger than any man she’d ever seen, barreled through the door and gripped Sean by the neck, tossing him across the room with one hand. Sean slammed so hard that he dropped to the floor without a fight. Dahlia wasn’t sure if he’d been knocked out cold, but the man raised his gun and shot him three times before he lowered his gun to his side and slowly turned to Dahlia.
Dahlia had seen him before. She knew who he was, yet somehow, it did nothing to ease her fear. She looked down at Sean, and her eyes widened. This was all too much.
Dahlia scrambled to her knees and quickly crawled to the corner of the room, tucking her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs. She balled herself up so tight.
I just want this to be over.
****
