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Seconds flew by and I glanced over at my brother nervously. The loud sound of a horn had me jumping. A traffic jam rested before us and my lips parted in panic. Slade’s head came up at us coming to a stop and he looked around, as if he were lost.
“Come on,” Marcio growled. We all seemed to scan the surroundings, but there were no other options. We were stuck unless we got out and walked the ten miles it would take to get us to Zain’s.
“I told you I wasn’t going to be the one dying.”
Time stopped at Saul’s voice. My nails subconsciously clawed into the seat. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t.
“Fuck!” My brother’s hand reached for the door and he seemed to battle with the same thing I did. What was faster? He was in dress shoes, me in heels, and it was a good thirty degrees outside. Neither of us had our jackets and we were now on the freeway. Barriers from construction prevented us from driving into the grass to move around the cars. What did we do?
Static filled the interior and a light noise in the background grew into a loud scream.
“Mary!” Slade’s yell sent chills throughout my body. Loud sobbing and her calling out Zain’s name had the phone Slade held turning blurry as tears filled my eyes.
“Now…it’s your turn.” Saul’s words were broken up and almost impossible to understand due to the heavy accent, but I knew what he said. Silence suddenly filled the car and Slade pushed the button on the phone, displaying the home screen. The call had dropped.
“No.” His head shook. “No!” The door on his side flew open and he jumped out, racing ahead, in between cars. I didn’t wait, couldn’t, knowing that Zain was supposedly dead and Mary could be next.
I kicked off my heels and pushed myself as hard as I could to try to keep up with Slade. Cold air filled my lungs and cut right through the blazer I wore, but I barely felt it as I focused on running as fast as I could. The further I went, the faster Slade seemed to run. He quickly became so far ahead of me that I knew I didn’t stand a chance in keeping up.
Cars moved at a slow creep along my side and cramping eventually took over my side, but still, I forged ahead. The exit that lay ahead was backed up as well. Slade took it, racing right for the light at the congested intersection.
I cut between two cars, merging to the far lane, following. My legs were growing heavy and my feet throbbed from the pounding against the road, but if I didn’t hurry, I was going to lose Slade completely. And I didn’t know this route to Zain’s. Or even this part of town. I may have grown up in the city, but there were still parts I wasn’t familiar with.
Horns blasted from all around and colors rippled before me. Fear took over, causing me to stumble. No, this couldn’t happen right now. I refused to let this happen! The noise grew louder as I grew closer to the intersection. Slade was already weaving through the cars and making it to the other side of the road. Someone yelling out their window to the people in front of me had my body shaking worse than it already was. Anger swelled and I let the facts cloud everything out. Zain and Mary needed help. Lord only knew what they were going through or what happened. Discomfort or subconsciously harbored fears were not going to stop me from getting there. I had the control. Me.
Brace made it to my side and a sense of calm took over. Traffic began to move at the change of the light and Brace suddenly had his gun withdrawn. His eyes scanned the cars as we stayed even with their flow. One minute, he was next to me, the next, he was throwing open the door of a sedan and was halfway inside. The car jerked to a stop and the man climbed out, running away.
“Get in,” he yelled. My legs were practically numb, but I rushed around and climbed in. My heavy breaths filled the interior and we shot forward. He got in the far lane and turned right at the light, immediately crossing through traffic to take a left at the first road. Slade was so far ahead that I couldn’t believe the progress he’d made.
“How much further away?” I looked at Brace who increased the speed toward the hill ahead.
“A ways. We’ll get your brother and make it there within a few minutes. It all depends on traffic. We’re going to have to go the long way now that we’re off the freeway.”
Slade was suddenly before us and Brace’s yell barely even broke through the zone he was in. A wild look was in his eyes as he turned, looking at us.
“Get in, Boss. Let’s go get Mary.”
The decision shouldn’t have been hard, but Slade was gone. He stared ahead, only to turn back to us.
“Get in,” I said, calmly. “Mary and Zain are waiting.”
He blinked and reached for the door with zombie like movements, climbing in the back. His phone was still clutched in his fist and his cheeks were red from the cold. Dark strands fell over his forehead and he breathed in deeply as he blinked a few times. With a slow look down, he brought the phone up, hitting one of the buttons. A few seconds went by and he brought it down. The car jumped at hitting a dip at the high speed, but neither Slade nor I seemed to really notice as we held each other’s stare.
“If Mary is…” he licked his lips. “I’ll make that motherfucker pay, Lily. I promise you with everything I have, he won’t live another day when I get my hands on him. He’s a dead man.”
“They’re going to be okay.” I forced the words out, regardless of whether I believed them or not. “But, if...” I didn’t break eye contract, “if Zain or Mary are hurt, I’m helping. They’re ours and no one messes with what belongs to us. That’s the way you raised me and that’s the way we finish it. Now promise me.”
A twitch pulled at my brother’s cheek, but he nodded. “You have my word. We won’t stop until this is done, once and for all.”
Chapter 46
Zain
My uncle had never been a good shot, but this time, he hadn’t missed. Fire engulfed the top of my shoulder and I stayed perfectly still as I listened for his footsteps on my wooden floor. My gun still rested in my hand and I was taking a chance by being a sitting duck, but if I wanted not to risk injury to Mary, I’d have to continue to play dead until he at least got far enough away from her for me to do anything.
His voice filled my ears and I tried making my breathing as light as possible.
“Your husband has been nothing but a nuisance since he came into our lives all those years ago. Things were never the same after he took Lily. Her actions when she returned ruined everything. You have no idea the pleasure I’m going to get out of this.”
