Max’s chin drops to his neck, his shoulders sagging. “I can’t lose her. I can’t. We can’t. This will kill my wife. She’s only just recovering from Landon’s scare,” he whispers brokenly.
“I’m so sorry,” Maverick rasps, his watery eyes on his brother. “I’m truly sorry.”
“Dad?” Liam and Landon call out, running over to us through the rain.
He startles, scrubbing the rain off his face before looking up at his sons. “What are you doing here?”
Landon shares a look with Liam before turning to his dad. “We aren’t sure. We both felt like we needed to get to Hayden. We tried calling her, but she didn’t answer, so we rang Mum, knowing Hayden goes to see her most Friday’s after work, and Mum said you were coming to look at Hayden’s car, but that she didn’t believe you.”
“You lied, didn’t you?” Liam asks, looking distraught. “Something has happened to our sister.”
Landon casts him a sharp look. “No, it hasn’t. Don’t talk daft.”
Liam shakes his head, his eyes dropping. “Yes, it has. This is the same feeling Hayden and I got when you were in the hospital. We just knew.”
“She’s a fighter,” I remind them, hating the dread in their expressions. It’s like they’ve cast her off already.
“Why are you even here?” Landon barks, eyeing me with disgust.
Max’s phone rings and we all turn to him, watching as his brows pull together while he looks down at his phone.
“Hello? Hayden? Where the fuck are you? Are you hurt?” he rushes out, moving under the shelter as he puts his phone on loudspeaker.
Beau races off to the back of the van, while Landon, Liam and Maverick step under the shelter, crowding the phone.
“Hayden, where are you?” Landon asks, but Max slaps his chest.
“Shut up, let her speak.”
Hayden groans, and in the background, it sounds like rain is hitting a tin. “Dad, I really need a favour. I’ve been kidnapped and I need you to come and get me.”
“I fucking know you’ve been kidnapped. I’m your dad; I know everything. Tell me something I don’t know,” he barks, yet the relief pours over his expression at the sound of her voice.
“In the boot of a car,” she fires back. “I cannot believe you are having a go right now.”
“Whose phone are you on?” Maverick asks, glancing at Max hesitantly.
She groans. “Please tell me the whole family isn’t there.”
“Hayden,” Max growls.
“Alright, alright. I don’t know whose phone this is. There were three or four of them. I pinched it out of a pocket when they were struggling to get me in the boot. Fuckers knocked me out.”
“Are you okay?” I rush out, stepping closer to the phone.
“This is not happening,” she moans.
“Of course you robbed it. I didn’t raise a stupid girl. But lose the attitude, Hayden. I’m so pissed at you right now,” her dad warns.
“Dad, don’t make me regret choosing to memorise your number in case of an emergency. This is an emergency, and if anyone can get me out of this, it’s you. I don’t need you losing it on me now. You promised you’d always be there,” she tells me him, her voice shaking a little. “And I don’t want you attacking everyone around you because you’re scared and being a drama queen.”
He snorts, rolling his eyes at the phone. “I’m the only one keeping it together. Do you have any idea who took you, where they’re taking you?”
“No, I… shit, they’re slowing down,” she whispers. “Dad, you need to tell Beau it’s—”
“I’ll have that, you bitch,” a deep voice vibrates down the phone.
“Hayden,” Max yells, his eyes wide.
She screams as a struggle is heard over the phone. “I’m going to kick your balls so fucking hard you’ll be spitting them out,” she yells, causing us all to wince.
It takes everything for me not to protect my own balls.
“She always goes for the balls,” Liam rasps, his face a little green.
“Hello? Hayden? I swear to God, if you touch my daughter, I will hunt you fucking down,” Max roars, right before the line goes dead. “Fuck!”
He goes to throw the phone but thinks better of it, screaming into the sky.
I link my fingers together, placing them on top of my head, my breath catching as I take a step back.
“Got her. I traced the phone and tracked the GPS,” Liam, their family friend, announces, rushing over to us. “Let’s go.”
As we head for the cars, I throw Beau the keys to my car. “You drive.”
“I’ve linked the signal to your phone,” Liam calls out, opening the passenger side of the door to Max’s car.
“I’m coming with you,” Landon calls out to us.
Beau pauses before he gets in the car, looking down at his phone. “That son of a bitch.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
My hands slide through the mud and leaves as strong arms throw me roughly to the floor. A stick cuts along my cheek as I struggle to get a grip.
My head is still pounding from having something large and heavy whacked across the back of my skull.
I swing my leg out, hitting the tallest of the four in the shin when he goes to grab me.
“Get her up, Low,” says the dark voice as its owner steps away from the back of the car.
Low hoists me up by my armpits, gripping me firmly in place when I struggle to get free.
“How could you do this?” I growl at Fisher, blinking raindrops from my eyes. “You’re a cop.”
He smirks, stepping closer. “It was quite simple really, and they made it so, so easy.”
I don’t recognise the man staring back at me. There’s no resemblance to the man I met Monday in that conference room. None at all.
The way he stands, sure and cocky, no remorse or guilt for his actions or involvement. His expression is hard, contrast to the concern and worry he had worn in a perfect mask in that room. It was all lie.
All of it.
Even his eyes are pure hatred, the orbs holding nothing but darkness. It’s eerie.
And as a torch of light shines on him, revealing just how dark this man is, everything begins to click into place.
He isn’t just a corrupt officer leaking information. He’s the brain behind the entire cooperation, down to every last burglary.
I feel stupid for missing it, for not coming to the assumption sooner. However, it’s all making perfect sense to me right now; every detail I didn’t read into. Each house that was robbed had something worth stealing. They knew exactly what house to hit. All because of the man standing before me.
It was him.
“It’s you. All of this is you,” I scream, when the reality of just what he has done hits me. All those poor souls, all those frightened men and women. “Why would you do this?”
I’m pulled back against a hard chest and my shoulders sink, yet a murderous rage is brewing inside of me.
“Ah, I wondered if you knew of my involvement. It was funny to watch and help the officers try to catch a man that doesn’t exist.”
I spit in his face, struggling to get out of the hold Low has on me.
Fisher grinds his teeth together, his expression boiling with fury as he steps forward, slapping me across the face.
The rain soothes the sting his handprint has left. “Why? Why would you do this?”
He wipes the spit off his nose and cheek before taking a menacing step towards me. I straighten my back, pressing my lips together, ready for whatever he’s going to do.
“I’ve spent years of my life getting abused from those I swore to protect. I got spat on, hit, and dealt with low-lives, only for a majority to get off anyway,” he snaps.
“And you don’t see the irony?”
He ignores me, continuing with his rant. “The people I risked my life to help? They didn’t care. I didn’t get a thanks. Parents? They teach their children to be scared of us, which in turn, tu
rned them against me, against us.
“The men I worked with or for? Pathetic excuses for men. And I did all of it for pennies. I lost everything because of this fucking job. Everything! My home when our pay was cut or our hours were dropped. My wife left when I started drinking to help cope with the difficult day. That’s why I did it, Hayden. I want what I’m owed. It’s been a long time coming.”
“All I’m hearing is wah, wah, wah,” I snap, my gaze drifting over to the boy who is no older than twelve, shaking and wide-eyed. “You’re using kids to do your dirty work.”
His gaze also lands on the young boy, a sinister smirk pulling at his lips.
“They want money, which I provide. What more could they want? And with me in charge, it keeps them out of trouble.”
Is he delusional?
“Can you hear yourself?” I snap, trying to pull my arms free. My gaze goes to the other guy around my age, who is covered in spider tattoos. “And you’re happy to be used by an old dude who is throwing a tantrum because his poor life didn’t go his—”
My lungs burn as I wheeze, the air knocked out of my chest from Fisher’s punch to my stomach.
“Shut the fuck up, you mouthy little bitch,” he snaps, stepping back.
My soaked hair sticks to my face as I lift my head to level him with a glare. “Fuck you,” I croak out, panting.
Tattooed guy chuckles, ducking his head a little to meet my gaze. “We’re here because we want to be. No fucker messes with us. We’ve run off three notorious gangs and have members begging to join us.”
“And we’ve got pockets of cash, don’t we, Kyle?” Low adds, growling low in my ear when I shove my shoulder into him.
“So do half of the population who get off their arse each morning and have a real job,” I snap.
Low’s grip on me tightens. “Please tell me I get to end her.”
“Now, Low, you know it’s your brother’s initiation night. JJ must be the one to do it. And since he’s already witnessed too much, you know the rule if he doesn’t,” Fisher reminds him, sending JJ a look that promises retribution if he doesn’t do what’s demanded of him.
My head whirls to the boy, who takes a step back, his eyes bulging with fear.
“He’s just a boy,” I argue, curling my lip in disgust.
“And tonight, he will become a man,” Fisher explains.
My mind instantly goes to all the burglaries that had resulted in rape, and my stomach sinks.
I close my eyes, summoning a deep breath. I will die before I let that happen to me. My mum told me about Aunt Kayla and the trauma she lived through when I was a teenager. I had wondered why she was wary around men other than my dad and uncles. She lived through hell and it has stayed with her.
I can’t do that.
If he’s going to destroy a piece of my soul, there is no way I’m not going down fighting.
“He’s just a boy, you sick bastard,” I yell, kicking back at Low.
Fisher’s lip curls. “You should have listened to Rob when he told you not to poke your nose in.”
“They’ll know it was you. Nothing you can do to me will make me keep quiet,” I warn him, making sure I take in every detail of Kyle and JJ.
Fisher strides forward, grabbing my chin between his thumb and index finger in a bruising grip. “They’ll never know I was here. I made sure of it. They’ll be too busy trying to detain the group I sent as a distraction so I could slip away and slip back in easily.”
I’m unsure whether he knows about our plan.
“Beau will know.”
He forces a laugh, his eyes hardening. “You think I didn’t know you two put on a show last Monday? The minute you said witness I knew you suspected a dirty cop. I made sure to get rid of any witnesses,” he barks.
“The old lady.”
He grins. “To be honest, none of us touched her. After I threatened her, I made sure the boys let her see they were watching her. It was luck that she had a heart attack.”
“That’s why you came to my work,” I guess.
“Yes. I’ll give it to you, you put on a good show. But I’m better. Let me guess, Beau is waiting at the other location for someone to show up?”
“Yes, so he’ll know it’s you when you leave here. Someone will have noticed by now that you aren’t there.”
“Ah, but you see, I made sure to reveal Rob’s location at the cattle market to my friends. He will also struggle to explain his whereabouts.”
“You arsehole,” I scream, dread filling my stomach. “Beau will still know it’s you. He isn’t stupid. He’ll figure it out.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Accidents happen all the time in our line of work,” he suggests, wiggling his eyebrows.
“And me?” I ask with a sharp bite.
His eyebrows bunch together. “You’ll be dead. You’ll be no concern after tonight,” he tells me, his voice void of any kind of emotion. He turns to Kyle, nodding. “We need to burn the car.”
Kyle nods, striding over to the back of the car. He pulls out a canister of petrol and douses the car.
“And me?” Low asks, gripping me tighter. I wince.
Stepping back, Fisher pulls a knife out of his belt, an evil glint in his eye. JJ’s hands begin to shake as he slowly raises them, taking the knife from Fisher.
Ruffling the boy’s hair, Fisher bends down to meet his gaze. “Are you going to make me and your brother proud tonight?”
“Yes, sir,” JJ whispers.
“Good,” Fisher grits out, standing up. “Make her suffer.”
“You really are going to regret this,” I warn, gritting my teeth.
“What, no, ‘you can’t do this’, ‘please help me’?” Fisher mocks.
My eyes narrow into slits, staring at him dead on. “No. I don’t need to, because you’ll be screaming those later. If I don’t kill you, my dad or brothers will.”
He chuckles, dismissing me, and turns to Kyle. “Get the other tank. We’ve got a job to do.”
“C’mon, bro, let’s get this done,” Low barks, dragging me deeper into the forest, away from the petrol fumes.
“And don’t think you won’t regret this either,” I yell, before screaming out when my hair is pulled back.
The trees blanket us in darkness, and it takes me a moment to get used to it.
JJ pulls a torch out of his pocket, shining it in front of us as the smell of smoke fills the night air.
Low throws me to the floor and I skid along the ground, grazing my knees and my palms. I dig my fingers into the ground, gripping dirt and stones in my hands before kneeling, ready to make a run for it.
My eyes roll to the back of my head when Low lands a solid kick to my stomach. “I don’t think so,” he warns me, rolling me onto my back, his blue eyes narrowed down on me.
“Low,” JJ whispers, shining the light over me.
“Do it,” Low snaps at his brother, crushing my hand into the ground.
I cry out, blinking past the pain as I throw the dirt in my hand up at him. He kicks me again, knocking my teeth together.
“I’m scared,” JJ rasps.
“You don’t have to do this, JJ,” I declare, panting.
“He does,” Low barks. “Do it, JJ. You know what will happen to you if you don’t.”
JJ falls to his knees beside me, his lips trembling as tears fall down his cheeks.
Each time I move, Low presses his booted foot down harder, causing the pain to intensify.
“I have a family,” I rush out, staring at JJ. “I’m a triplet, the only girl.”
“Shut up,” he cries out.
“My mum, she… she loves me. She always wanted a daughter after being with my dad for so long. She was surprised when she also had two boys in there as well.”
“Do it,” Low yells, slapping his brother across the head.
A sob tears from his throat as he stares down at me, and I try one last time, forcing tears to my eyes. “I’m nine weeks pregnant. Please don’t kill my
baby too,” I lie, having no shame.
“Low,” he whispers, staring up at his brother helplessly.
Low kicks me once again. “She’s fucking lying, brother. Don’t be a fucking wimp and embarrass me now.”
He drops the flashlight to the ground, bringing his palm to his eye socket and rubbing in circles.
“They’ll kill me if I don’t do this. They’ve done it before. I don’t want to die,” he whispers brokenly.
My heart clenches at his declaration, and the fear in his voice.
“Do it,” I order, my voice firm. “Do it.”
His hand trembles as he raises the knife, hovering it above my stomach. “I’m so sorry,” he sobs out.
“So am I,” I whisper, before moving quickly. I snatch the knife out of his hand with my free one.
I turn, driving the knife into Low’s leg, my hand warming as blood spurts through my fingers. His expression is drawn in agony, his mouth open in shock as I pull the knife out. I bring my knees to my chest and kick out. JJ, who is sitting on the balls of his feet in shock, gets my boot to the face.
“You fucking bitch,” Low roars, gripping my hair in his hands and yanking.
I scream, and in a jerk reaction, I plunge the knife into his other leg, just above his knee. I drop to the floor, shuffling backwards to move out of his way.
“Fuck,” I whisper at the sight of blood.
He sways as he puts one foot forward, before falling to the ground, howling.
I always thought I could stomach defending myself, knowing it would be for the greater good. I mean, life without me would suck. Yet, stabbing someone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
“Low?” Kyle yells, and I hear him moving through the forest.
Crawling forwards, I reach for the torch, gripping it tight when it slips out of my hand. I flick it off, getting to my feet and wobbling my way into the forest.
As the footsteps grow closer, I begin to run, tripping and smacking into branches. I sashay to the left, slinking further into the darkness.
My feet catch on something and I trip, falling to the ground, my sore hand landing in a pile of stingers.
“Fuck,” I whisper.
Hayden (A Next Generation Carter Brother Novel Book 4) Page 28
