by Ruby Wolff
“Put your phones in the box.” I hand it over to Pike and watch him take everyone's phones. He puts the box outside the office.
“Angel, what’s happening?” My dad moves closer to the table.
“We have a mole.” I look up at Warren and Dad, and they look like I did when I first found out about it. I tell them everything I know, everything about Alice, and how they know everything about what we had planned for the Young family. I sit back for a moment as Warren and Dad stare at me in shock. “Now the Midlands have Alice. Harvey is...I want the mole!” I shout at them all.
“Craig’s been with us from the start—it’s not him. He doesn’t talk to anyone, and Doc, he was your grandad's friend, Pike. Ronnie, he's one of the originals of the Frost family,” Dad says.
I don’t know who I should trust at the moment. If Dad thought it was either one of them, he would've thought about it before fighting for them, but he didn’t. He was on their side straight away.
“Do you trust them enough? Whoever the mole is, they’re the ones who got Elijah killed.” I look at my dad. I understand why he's fighting for them, I do. I trust Pike with my life, and I’d back him all the way, but I lost a brother because of them.
“I do,” my dad says, and I give Pike a nod, letting him know they can come in.
I look back at my dad, silently asking him to tell them what's happening because I’m not in the mood to talk about it.
Pike hands Vinny his phone, which is still beeping.
“Ben’s se-sent a list.” Vinny tries to walk over to me, but can’t even take a step. Walking around my desk, I grab the phone from him. “He’s thrown the phone away. He’ll be in touch tomorrow with a new number,” Vinny says as Doc starts working on him again.
I hear Dad call Craig over to where Vinny is. He gets ready to tell them what I’ve just told them, but I tell him to take their phones from them first.
I begin writing down all the families who’re helping the Midlands. Pike and Warren stand on either side of me.
“Get me the youngest Midland. Hunt him down and bring him to me. Vinny will keep in touch with Ben. Craig will get everything ready so John talks. Dad and I are taking a drive to the Midlands’ place.” Putting the list in my pocket, I look over at my desktop. The phone’s beeping. Shit. I forgot to call the Carter family back.
I hit the answer button. “Angel, you hadn’t called back. We got worried…”
“Frank, I don’t have time for this. They’ve taken Alice, and... What did you find out?” I ask.
“Oh, Angel, this all links together. The Midlands have their own war with Alice, but because she's your girl, it’s made it so much worse for—”
“Frank, instead of pissing me off, how about you just spit it out,” I interrupt. I already know her being with me has made her time with Harvey worse. I don’t need others telling me that.
“The Midlands are behind O'Reilly. They’re sending the guns to the Irish, then to them. What I’ve heard is, the King of London's about to fall, and London's there for the taking. They plan on taking it, too.”
I look at my dad walking over to the screen. “Frank, before we continue this conversation, I need to ask you something. Your family’s been with us since before I was even born. Yes, things around us seem to be falling apart. Elijah, families wanting to burn us, Alice, but where does your loyalty lie?” I see my dad’s also now wondering who’s giving our family secrets to the enemy.
“Where it’s always been—with you. And I hope yours is still with us, Robert,” Frank says.
I take a step away from the screen for a moment so he can’t see me looking at my dad.
“Frank, some things have happened over here, and we’re trying—”
“Robert, you call, and we'll be there,” Frank cuts him off.
“I'll call you later and explain what’s happening.” Dad ends the call and stares at me for a moment. “Let’s get ready for a war,” he says.
“I want John here. On your way to getting him, go fucking burn down O'Reilly’s club,” I almost shout at Warren and Pike. “Shoot them all, but before you kill O'Reilly, find out which Irish family!”
“I’m going to talk to Ronnie, see what he can find out if they're hiding something on the Midlands. I'll be back, then we can go see them.” Dad pats my shoulder. “She’s a strong girl. She’s dating you.”
I watch Dad and Craig leaving the office, then look over at Vinny and Doc. “How is he Doc?”
“A few day’s rest and he'll be good. One went through and through, and the other grazed him.” Doc looks over at me. “You want me to get anything?”
“Just be on standby. No one’s dying until I put a bullet in them. When we get Alice back, I want you at the house,” I say. There's no way I trust anyone else touching her.
Doc gives me a nod then leaves the office. I hand Vinny a drink as I bring a chair to sit in front of him.
“You think we will find her in time?” Vinny asks, but it’s not a confident question.
I take a deep breath, already knowing the answer. “No. I wish we could, but the moment Harvey gets her where he wants, we have to prepare for the worst. Every story we’ve heard, double it.” There's no point in me thinking anything less. If I do, it’ll be worse for me. I have to imagine all the worst things that can happen to her.
“I told her to fight, but now I’m thinking—”
“Vinny, no matter what we said to her, it wouldn’t have prepared her.” Lighting my cigarette, I lean back in my chair. “Ask Ben if there's any safe house they use, if there's any place they take people to torture them, anything that doesn't have a link to the Midlands. Something has to stand out,” I tell him.
With Ben and Ronnie looking into it, we have to be able to find out where he has her. There has to be somewhere that will stand out.
Right now, I can’t think about what’ll happen to Alice. I have to put my business head on and work on finding her any way I can.
***
I look around the town as my dad and I walk into the pub they're always in. The moment the door closes behind us, all eyes are on us.
I look at the bartender. “The Midlands, where are they?”
“Not here, but they said you might pop in, and told me to give you this.” He puts a box on the counter, and I look over at my dad. “Mr Frost, we don’t want any trouble. They really aren’t here,” he says quietly.
I believe him. He doesn’t look like a man who works for them. “Open the box,” I demand. I don’t trust the fuckers.
I watch him open it, and he pulls out a note and laptop. Walking over to him, I take the note.
SURPRISE.
I pass the note to my dad, grab the laptop, and leave. I have no idea what game they’re playing with me, but I don’t trust them. As we get back to the car, I call Vinny to see if Ben’s called with any information on where they're all hiding. Pike and Warren call to tell me John's missing, and his regular places are empty. Then, O'Reilly left the club. I told Warren to kill everyone and burn the club down. The Midlands are about to burn, and I’m going to make sure they burn slowly.
One question is, how did the Midlands know I was coming here? The only people who knew were the guys in the office. Is one of the men I trust actually the mole?
“Angel, I know it looks—”
“Dad, no one knew we were coming but—”
“Angel, it’s not them,” my dad argues, and he means it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Someone's fucking with me, and when I find out who it is, I’m going to make sure their death lasts for days.
If it’s not any of us who were in the office, then who and how did they know about me coming to the Midlands?
I choose not to say anything as we make our way back to the bar. Pike calls me to let me know that John's missing and the family have all split up for a while. Are they scared what I'll do, or they just a bunch of fucking cowards?
Ben hasn’t called Vinny with any news. All he’s said is that
the Midlands are trying to find out where Harvey is because they don’t know what he has planned. That family has no fucking respect for each other. They can’t even work together or talk to each other.
Chapter 8
Angel
Every pair of eyes in the room swivel to stare at me as I burst through the doors to my office. Instead of speaking one at a time, their voices clamber for my attention. Everyone tries to talk over each other. The noise and chaos puts me even more on edge. I shake my head and ignore them all as I stalk over to the desk. Snatching a cable off the table, I connect my laptop to the TV screen in my office. I want to be able to see every inch of whatever's about to be shown, even though I know it may break me. I want every frame to be recorded and saved, just as it’s bound to be burned into my mind forever. I want everyone in the room looking at them to scour the images for clues, for some hope that this can be ended quickly. For Alice, anyway. I’ll make sure it doesn’t end quickly or painlessly for the bastards who took her.
“Everyone shut the fuck up!” I shout when I can no longer tolerate the racket behind me. The incessant noise pisses me off, making me lash out. I have more important things to fucking think about than listening to them blame each other for letting this happen.
“Pike, call Max, tell him to be ready. Things are about to get ugly,” I say, my tone dark and furious. Ignoring everyone, I cover up the camera on the laptop and turn on the mic. I know that anything can be hacked, but I’ll take every precaution I can at this point. I walk over to my desk and take out the iPod, hit play, and put it close to the mic so if they do hack into my laptop, they won’t hear a damn thing we’re talking about. Those bastards already had the upper hand; I refuse to give them anything else.
Taking a few steps back, I stare at the blank screen and attempt to calm my thoughts and emotions enough to focus on something other than my fury and fear. I can’t just sit here waiting for something to happen. Turning to face the crowded room, I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Now the family can tell me what the fuck they know.
“Vinny, what’ve you found out?” I ask, lighting up my cigarette and inhaling deeply. I turn back around, unwilling to face anyone and let them see my fear for Alice. Focusing on my fury instead, I glare at the wall.
“Ben met up with Bruce. He's finding out where John’s gone. He’ll let me know as soon as he has any information,” Vinny says.
At least someone's fucking doing something. It angers me that he doesn’t have answers, information, something real to report, but I try to remind myself that my men aren’t sitting idle. Everyone's in high gear on this.
I turn my attention to the next person I want answers from. “Pike?”
“We’ve been looking through every property the Midlands own. Our pawns are sitting on them. Soon as anything happens, we’ll know,” he tells me.
I shake my head, frustrated by the lack of any real information. Desperation claws at me with every report. No one's giving me anything on finding Alice, and that’s the only answer I want. How long can I sit by and wait? “Dad?”
“Ronnie's turning every stone he can looking for her. Angel—”
“Don’t,” I bark, holding up a hand to stall any further excuses. I don’t need him telling me not to worry. I have every reason to worry! I know without a doubt that Harvey isn’t going to be fucking gentle with her. Telling me I shouldn’t be concerned only serves to incense me further.
“The Irish?” I ask. I want to know which family's working with the Midlands and putting guns on the streets of London.
“The Kelly family. What shall we do?” my dad asks me.
“Kill them. Send a team and kill them. I don’t give a fuck about asking them questions, I want them dead,” I snap, unleashing my anger on the only people I can at the moment.
I snatch a glass out of Pike’s hand. He continues to stand in front of me, blocking my view of the TV screen. One look from me and he cringes, ducking out of my way immediately. There are no words said, and I prefer it that way. I glare at the screen, demanding it shows me something, anything I can use to save Alice. Pike glances over at me, but I ignore him. He sees the look in my eyes. He sees what has awakened in me. We both know blood's about to be spilt… A lot of blood.
I push Pike out the way when the screen suddenly lights up to reveal an image. The pit of my stomach burns with fire as I watch Alice on the floor, trying to pick the lock around her ankle. Panic and relief rush through me. Seeing her held captive like an animal stirs my fury, but I bask in seeing her alive and unharmed. That won’t last long, though, and I focus in on her escape attempt. I can’t make out what's in her hand, but I assume it might be a hairpin, and will her to move faster.
“Ben, they have a live feed up,” Vinny says from somewhere behind me. “Nothing, just her in the middle of a room… No sound… Record the feed and track the source… Call me soon as they say something.”
The tension in my shoulders eases the tiniest degree now that I know the tech team's working on tracking the source of the video. With Ben using their tech team, I don’t need to get mine involved, and I don’t want too many seeing this. I walk closer to the screen. My gaze scours the room Alice is being held in, trying to get a look around to see if there’s anything I can use to pinpoint a possible location.
“Ben said they’ve locked onto the feed and are trying to record and track it. He’ll call as soon as he has something we can use,” Vinny tells me.
I nod, but I know Harvey isn’t about to tell anyone anything. He’s too scared someone will talk. He always plays things close to the chest, and I understand why even though I hate him for it. I operate the same way. It’s what’s kept me alive this long. No one ever knows where I kill the men I get, and no one ever will, either. No one knows what I’m thinking, and Harvey seems to play things close to the chest, too.
“Pike,” I call out when something catches my eye in the video feed. “Screenshot. Zoom in as much as you can on the windows. Is that a poster, a reflection of something?”
That command is interrupted when Alice suddenly lurches up from the ground and runs towards the window. It takes me a moment to process that she’s broken free of the lock. I freeze, holding my breath and pleading for her to escape. Climbing up onto a box under the window, she tries to open the lock, but nothing. Her body tenses, but I don’t think it’s from finding the window locked. I curse the lack of sound in the video and plead that she didn’t just hear someone coming for her. My hopes are destroyed as I watch Harvey walk into the room with a look of smug satisfaction plastered across his face.
Small sounds of movement suddenly whisper from the TV speakers. I tense, eager to hear Alice’s voice. Instead, I hear Harvey’s.
“Been looking for you for a very long time,” he sneers at Alice.
I snap my gaze over to Pike and motion for him to turn the volume up on the laptop. As much as I despise the sound of his voice, I need to hear every word. Maybe he’ll slip up, say something about where they are. Even a small clue will help.
“I have to admit,” Harvey continues, “they protected you well. Now I have you, and the things I have planned…” He sits down on the chair next to the table, opens a laptop, and waits for Alice to give in and take a look.
While he waits, he glances up at the camera and smirks. The sight of his arrogance balls my hands into fists. This fucking arsehole will die a prolonged and painful death. Just as soon as I can find him.
Whether out of fear or curiosity, Alice walks over to him and leans down to see what's on the screen. Her eyes widen, and she quickly moves away, just staring at him, though I can’t tell for sure if it’s in disgust or fear. Shadows hide too much of her expressive face.
What's he showing her?
Harvey looks back over at the camera, pleased with himself, and walks closer. He’s looking up, telling me it’s in the corner of the room. That gives me a sense of where the door is, how big the room is, and that there are no other ways for Alice to esca
pe but that door.
“You see, Angel, everyone thought I was going to sell her from one man to the other, and that was my plan, but then,” he laughs, a bitter and vile sound, “but then I found out that the devil himself has fallen in love with her. If she’s good enough for the devil, I can’t pass her around. No, that would be too simple, too easy.” He walks back over to Alice, and she takes a step back from him.
Silently, I beg her to stand her ground, show him that he doesn’t scare her. Harvey enjoys hurting the weak. He’s a sick man with absolutely zero conscience. Revenge and pain are the only things that motivate him.
“I think I’m going to keep her all to myself,” Harvey says before grabbing her arm and yanking her closer to him. He darts in to kiss her, and at that moment, she head butts him. The force surprises him into taking a step back. Then Alice is the one who’s surprised when he starts laughing. “She’s a fighter, Angel. You did good. I’m going to enjoy marking her.”
My hands tighten around the glass in my hand, shattering it into pieces and spilling the liquid over my numb hand.
Harvey’s gaze sweeps from side to side as though he can actually see into the office and is addressing the other men in the room with me. “You'll see a pop up on the side of your screen, momentarily, that’ll show you all exactly what I have planned for your queen. Now, I know as well as you do that you have a lot of enemies, Angel. A lot of them are going to enjoy hurting you through Alice.” He grins, his twisted smile making it clear how much he’s enjoying this. “I’ll give you a moment to look at the bidding page, see how very busy it is, how eager your enemies are to make you pay.” I stare at the bidding popup in horror before looking back at Vinny. The bastard is auctioning Alice off to any family who wants to beat her. I take a step back and watch Alice looking up at the camera, then my eyes move back to Harvey. “Now, I did want to play with her first, but she’s a fighter, and I kinda like my pretty face as it is. I don’t want her fighting me, so I thought I’d let the family have some fun. Then I'll have mine.” He takes a step closer to the camera so it’s only his face I can see. “I don’t want to watch all this fun alone, so I’ll leave this feed up, and you can watch everything that happens to her, knowing there’s nothing you can do to help her.” He laughs he walks back over to Alice to gloat. “I already have your first winner. Oh, they were all too happy to spend a lot of money to hurt your boyfriend. So much so, he even bid for a full hour,” Harvey tells her. He grabs a handful of her hair and drags her face right up to his. “Oh, the fun I’m going to have with you.”
