by A. J. Macey
Sloppy motherfuckers, I noted, dropping inside as silently as possible in my boots. I stayed in my crouched position where I landed, waiting to see if anyone was coming or if anyone was nearby since the entrance to the room was open. No footsteps sounded, but I heard a guy having a one-sided conversation, probably on the phone. I moved around the edge of the room, keeping my eyes on the door. I didn’t see him by the time I reached the opening, so I pulled out my knife and gun, readying for anything.
When I peeked out, I found a large burly man standing guard outside a door, his back angled toward me as he talked on his phone. Seeing the gun tucked into his lower back wasn’t surprising, but I felt my lips thin, knowing I had to be careful. There was no telling how many men were in the building and a gunshot would be the fastest way to do it. I stuck my gun back in its holster and crept forward.
“Of course,” the man said with a huff, “it’s not like this will take that long. Boss is just finishing up negotiating with our overseas friends and then we’ll be taking care of this little problem. Yeah, yeah, I got it. I’ll call you when we’re done. Okay, bye.”
The anger that had been simmering since finding the photo of Harper in that high rise surged as he hung up. I didn’t give him time to react as he turned, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw me behind him. His attempt to reach for his gun was useless as I swiped out with my knife.
Blood immediately spurted out, the warm sticky liquid hitting my face and neck, quickly soaking his shirt as he still tried to grab his weapon. With another swipe, I got him in the arm. A small piece of me probably should have been ashamed that I stood by and watched him slump to the floor in a heap, bleeding to death, but all I felt was cold. They’d taken Harper, there was no room for sympathy or remorse. After checking for a pulse, I readied myself for another Phantom on the other side of the door but when I opened it, all I was hit with was blinding fury.
Harper, bloodied and crying where she curled on the ground. Her glassy and red ringed eyes landed on me as soon as the door was open, shifting from scared to hopeful, and another bout of tears came.
“Liam?” she croaked, as if she couldn’t believe I was standing there. Running over to her, I dropped down and surveyed her injuries. A couple swollen and bleeding cuts on her face, wrists and ankles raw.
“It’s me, Baby. I’m going to get you out of here,” I reassured her, brushing a mat of hair out of her face. Slipping a hand under her, I tried to help her to sitting but she cried out in pain, wrapping her arms around her torso.
“I think they broke a rib,” she puffed out between waves of crying.
I’m going to kill them all, I vowed as she struggled to move.
“Tried to escape,” she told me with a tiny smile. “Got to the front door…”
“We can talk about this after we get you out of here, okay?” I promised, but when I went to help her to stand, she grabbed tight to my shirt. The grin twisted into an expression I couldn’t place.
“I think I killed two of them,” she whispered, “but there’s still two more that I know of since you got him.” Her eyes flicked to the door where the man lay.
There was a glimmer in her eye, one I knew well. The sensation that follows after a first kill. A small part of Harper would never be the same, and a wave of guilt threaded through the anger. She should never have had to be put in that situation, I thought, trying to keep my face flat. She didn’t need to see me reacting badly.
“It’ll be all right, Baby. I’ll handle the other two if it comes to it,” I explained, moving her to standing. “All I care about is getting you the hell out of this.”
Her hand was still fisting my shirt and when we were finally upright, she tugged on it, bringing me down to kiss me. It was only a brief moment, but I tried to pour everything I felt into it, hoping that whatever happened, she would know I cared.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” she murmured against my lips, having steeled herself. “The stairs are off to the side, the door to upstairs is closed, and the front entry is around the corner. The dick in the suit and the other guy were up on the second story last I checked.”
“How bad are the ribs?” I asked, considering going back out the way we came in.
“I don’t think I can move very fast, and it hurts to breathe too deeply.”
“Can you lift your arms?” Another pained expression twisted her face when she tried before shaking her head.
“Okay then, upstairs is the only way out,” I muttered, nodding to myself before walking out of the room. Following her instructions, we made our way up the stairs, being sure to keep her behind me. The air was thick with tension, but I forced myself to focus; Sam and the others should be here soon if not already. Get Harper to the front door and to one of them or the cars so she could escape.
Then the last two bastards were mine.
“That way,” she whispered, pointing to the left. “Front doors that way, but we have to pass by the staircase to get there.”
Glancing around, I tried to find an alternate route other than the one she’d already tried, but the balcony attached to the backdoor wasn’t finished meaning there was no escape that way; I wasn’t going to have her jump down with a broken rib. Grabbing her hand, I tugged her forward, before yanking my gun out again. At this point, I would rather shoot the last two men than try and stay stealthy.
“There,” she said in a barely audible voice, with a point to the door. It was only a few meters away, but I didn’t want to rush past the stairs without making sure no one was on it.
“Clear,” I whispered, finding the unfinished steps empty. “Go.” I had her go first to get to the door so I could stay between where she was and the men who took her.
My gaze was pulled away from the stairs when we got to the front door, a man and woman dead in the living room off to the side. Harper whimpered when she saw them but yanked her eyes away to unlock the door. Their heads had both been bashed in and as much as I hated the idea of her having to what she did, I was impressed.
“Almost done,” I heard her say quietly, “two more locks.”
“Well, well, well,” a man’s voice echoed throughout the house after I heard her open the door. The startling sound pulled my attention from the dead Phantoms back to the stairs. “If it isn’t Liam King in the flesh.”
“Run,” I said, not taking my eyes off none other than Harrison Murray. One of the head lieutenants of the Phantoms.
“But—” Harper tried to argue.
“Do it!” I commanded. She didn’t need another push, darting out of the house and across the lawn as the second man she’d told me about came down the stairs, gun aimed at me. His gaze lit up as he saw me, as if he’d won the lottery.
“What a perfect way to take my anger out,” Harrison said, coming down the rest of the steps, “and it’ll be an even better day once I get my hands back on that woman of yours.”
Fuck. My brothers and Sam better get their assess here. Now.
15
Harper
“Do it!” Liam demanded, so I listened, sprinting as fast as I could despite the tears streaking down my face at the pain shooting through my torso. Where I was running to I had no clue, but I kept going. Right as I crossed the street at the end of the block, two cars squealed up to the curb. A fresh surge of adrenaline pumped through me, but I nearly collapsed with relief when I saw Hunter, Theo, and Sam jump from the cars.
“What happened?”
“Where is he?”
“Are you all right?”
All the questions were asked at the same time and I couldn’t tell who was saying what, so I just started talking. “He’s still in there, there’s the dick in the suit and one of the Phantoms left; the other three are dead already.”
“Fucking Christ, that kid,” Sam bit out. “I told him to wait! I’m beating his ass later for this.”
“You, stay,” Theo ordered, and I balked.
“Excuse me?” I exclaimed. “You’re not leaving me o
ut here.”
“Well we’re certainly not taking you anywhere right now until we get our brother back,” Hunter snapped.
“I’m going with you—”
“No!” all three of them shouted.
“You can’t force me to stay here; I’m not leaving Liam in there,” I snapped back. “So either you give me a gun or whatever kind of weapon I know you guys are packing and I’ll go in armed or I’ll fucking steal it off one of the men I killed once we get inside, but I’m going with you.”
“Theo—” Sam started, but was cut off when Theo waved a hand. He and Hunter were eyeing me curiously before finally glancing at each other in some silent communication. When Theo’s attention returned to me, there was a glimmer of appreciation in his expression.
“Fine, I’ve seen how you shoot so you’ll get a gun, but you do not make a move without our say so. Got it?” Theo said firmly, passing over a gun he had tucked in his waistband.
“Are you sure about this?” Sam murmured.
“Yes, I’d rather have her prepared when she goes in than to listen to Liam rip me a new one later for letting her sneak her way back in.”
“Can we stop talking now and go get him?” I huffed, throwing my hands up. Hissing in pain, I brought my arms down and finished my statement through gritted teeth. “We’re kind of on a time limit here.”
“Are you injured?” Hunter asked, and I glared.
“I’m fine, I want Liam back. Broken rib or not,” I ground out, storming around them and back to the house. “Let’s go. I’ll give you a rundown on the house.”
They didn’t need another invite to follow, peppering me with questions as we hurried to back down the road. I had no clue where the bout of bravery had come from and at that point I wasn’t even sure if I could call it bravery or just plain stupidity, but I knew without a doubt I wasn’t going to leave Liam in there with the assholes who’d taken me. Not when it was my fault he was there in the first place.
“This way,” Sam directed, taking us to an opened window in the basement.
“Looks like the way he used to get inside,” Theo noted.
“I’ll go first, you two help me get her in here without injuring her even further,” Sam continued to run the show and in a matter of a few—painful—moments, we were back in the house. “Do not get yourself killed, got it?” he instructed me, and I nodded.
I had no plans to die but I knew I wasn’t going to let Liam get killed here, and if getting him out of this situation was the last thing I’d do, so be it.
Liam
“Drop the gun and move away from the door, if you please,” Harrison instructed, his faux politeness making me scoff. “I don’t plan on killing you any time soon, Liam, but I have no qualms having my man shoot you in the leg if you don’t do as I say.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, considering if I could get a shot off before the other Phantom, Chance, if I remembered correctly, but decided against it. Kneeling, I set the gun on the concrete slab flooring and stood back up. Harrison’s brow lifted and I rolled my eyes, following the second part of his instruction to go back into the living area by the kitchen, where the only way out was through the back door and jumping off a half finished deck.
Come on, Liam, think. The only option coming to mind though was to stall them until my brothers got here, so that’s what I went with.
“So, what is it that you Phantoms are up to? Killing and leaving bodies all over the city is bad for business,” I started, turning to face Harrison and Chance when I was where they wanted me. Harrison tsked, shaking his head.
“You really think I’m going to tell you that? How dumb do you think I am?” he spat, eyeing me with disdain.
Shrugging, I told him the truth. “Pretty fucking stupid, frankly.”
The hatred in his expression hardened and he waved Chance forward. Bracing myself, I widened my stance and held up my arms knowing what was coming but before he attacked, three more Phantoms arrived, striding down the hall and flanking Harrison.
Two of them I could handle, five of them… fuck.
“Ah, glad to see the three of you finally show up,” Harrison hissed. “You two, go search the surrounding yard and homes, see if you can find the girl and bring her to me. You,” he directed toward the third man, “stay here and help Chance teach our enemy what happens when you cross us.”
“Gladly, Boss,” the guy said, stepping over next to Chance.
“What, Harrison, too scared to face me so you set it up two versus one?” I prodded, but he didn’t react. The men moved then, one punching while the other tried to secure my arms. Thankfully Chance set his gun onto the counter, meaning I had the possible chance to get my knife from my boot.
They really are stupid if they think I don’t have another weapon on me, I mused, dodging another punch and kicking out at the one who was trying to get ahold of me. The two of them were relentless in their assault, but I was able to land hits too; the crunch of a broken nose and the shout of a dislocated shoulder filled the air as I fought back. A cruel smile spread as I watched the two of them struggle to fight now that each had an injury.
When the man with a broken nose charged me, I threw my body weight into my punch, clocking him in the temple. He dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes, and I chuckled in triumph.
One down, one to go.
Pushing past the aches and pains permeating my body from their hits, I focused on Chance who was glaring at me, his arm clutched helplessly to his side. How pathetic, I sneered, kneeling and yanking my knife out as he charged. His momentum knocked us to the floor, but not before I buried the blade into his side.
He rolled off of me, yanking the knife from his side and swiping out at me. The injury made him slow and fumbling, so I shuffled to get up and knocked the weapon from his grasp with my boot. Unfortunately, the move put me too close to him, and somehow the bastard still had fight in him, kicking out and catching me in the chest to lay me out. The impact left me gasping for air but I couldn’t stop, latching on to the anger and determination fueling me to flip over to get up.
Just as I pushed up off the cold flooring from where I’d been laid out, a kick landed on the side of my head, the jarring hit disorienting me. Stumbling to standing, I tried to shake the stars from my vision. When I finally cleared the dizziness, I found Harrison before me, gun aimed at my forehead. The man I’d knocked out was still in a heap off to one side, while Chance lay in a pool of his own blood. Two down, only one to go, but I wasn’t liking the odds as I looked at Harrison’s crazed expression.
“I don’t think so, King,” he hissed. “You have a lot of information I need answers to. Oh, and don’t forget I still have two more men that will return soon with that little whore of yours—”
“You threatened the one I love,” I cut in sharply, having had enough of the banter. I just wanted to kill the damn bastard. “You don’t get to walk away from that.”
“Oh, is that what you think?” he countered, but before he could continue, a deafening crack of a gunshot sounded. Harrison fell lifeless to the ground, a bullet hole in the side of his head. Whipping my head around to see which of my brothers killed him, I found myself shocked by what I saw.
“Guess you’re not the only one willing to kill for love,” Harper stated, dropping her hand to her side, a gun clutched in her grip.
“Harper!” Sam shouted. Footsteps pounded up the basement stairs a moment later, Hunter, Theo, and Sam all running into the room behind where Harper was. They all looked shocked, glancing around trying to piece it together.
“What happened to ‘I promise I won’t go running off’?” Sam challenged Harper who only shrugged.
“You three were busy fighting those other two,” she explained, shrugging before handing Sam the gun without further explanation.
“Harper, you…” I breathed, walking over to her. I didn’t finish what I wanted to say when she reached me, grabbing her face and kissing the living hell out of her.
&
nbsp; “Aww, look, Little Liam has a girlfriend,” Theo teased.
“A feisty little girlfriend,” Hunter joined in. I didn’t bother to respond, flipping them off with one hand and focused on Harper’s tongue darting out to tangle with mine.
“You are in so much trouble,” I murmured, smirking as she nipped my lower lip.
“Kiss now, reprimand later,” she whispered.
Now that, I can do.
Epilogue
Harper
One Month Later
There was a skip in my step and a bright smile on my face as I walked to my car after classes had finished, hopping in and heading back to the new house Liam had bought after the fiasco of me being kidnapped. He hadn’t felt comfortable staying there with the Phantom’s knowing where it was, so within a few days, we’d moved into a new place.
It’d been a month since everything with the Phantoms had gone down, and everything was looking up. Though I still had some legal proceedings to finish, for the most part it was behind me. Liam had called his contact, an Inspector Carter, who was the first on the scene. His first question had been what the hell happened, so outlining the events of the day took a long while. But in the end he determined that legally, we all were free to leave. The two men who had attacked us when we were in the basement had been killed during the fight. They’d slipped in the same way we’d entered the house and ambushed us, but thankfully Theo, Hunter, and Sam were cleared of the charges.
Liam had been cleared of the death of one Phantom and the assault of Chance, who was currently incarcerated with a mile-long list of charges dating back over a decade. Finally, I had to go through interview after interview, giving statements to more than a handful of various police officers in different departments about the murder I’d witnessed, my kidnapping, and subsequent self-defense. My parents had a meltdown when they found out and had immediately flown into the country to spend the last three and a half weeks with me. They’d finally left earlier this morning before school.
