My jaw tightened and I hung up the phone. Slade would never understand why I had to do this. He didn’t live my life or see the things I had. Saul’s death deserved to be painstakingly slow. I wanted him to suffer. Just like his slaves had. Just like he hurt Lily. Bloody...brutal…
Sirens echoed in the distance and my arm shot out, hailing a cab. As I spouted off a road a few streets over from my house, I let my plan work out in my head. This had to work. It would. If it didn’t, I was fucked. And if something happened to me, they’d come for my slave. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
The blur of colors helped my mind race. So clearly, I could see what was going to happen. I wasn’t naïve. I knew things rarely played out like in one’s thoughts, but as different scenarios flashed, I embraced each one, letting them feed and burn into my mind so I’d be prepared for anything.
I closed my eyes, focusing on the pressure at my hip. My fingers pushed into my thigh and I could feel a smile pull at my mouth. This would be the last time I had to kill and I’d enjoy every moment of it.
The pull of the brakes had my eyes opening, I took out my wallet, paying the fare. The sound of the door closing had the new Zain retreating. The old one surged through me and my ears adjusted to my surroundings. Cars passed. Pedestrians talked and laughed as they went in and out of homes. I walked two blocks, letting myself just…feel. For what was about to happen, a calm sensation cloaked around me. Death had been my forte. I’d spent my life living it, and all I had to do was commit the act once more. There was a sadness mixed with my blood lust. The finalization to my past hit me hard and I pushed away the sense of grief I felt. This was for the best. For Lily.
I stepped onto my block and looked down at all the stairs aligning the connected homes. Potted plants rested by some doors. Others had welcome signs. When I got to my landlord’s, I peered up at his closed door. Was he alive inside? Dead?
My feet bounded up the concrete steps and I pulled out my keys, sliding one into the lock. From slow to fast, my pulse increased. I turned my wrist, unlocking it, and pushed the door open. In a quick turn, I put my back to the outside of my home and waited. The soft muffled sound of shots going off were almost undetectable. Just like my own—silent. I pulled my gun, crouched, and turned into the entrance. Bang.
A man fell at my shot and I moved back out of range. Two total and the other wasn’t my uncle. Shit.
“It’s him!” was shouted in Arabic. From the sound of the voice, I could tell he’d moved further toward the stairs where the bedroom rested. I spun back to the entrance and rushed inside, yanking the door closed behind me. Multiple shots rang out as I sprinted toward the kitchen. I only had to pull my trigger once to drop the last visible guard. Warmth coated my side and I cursed myself for not wearing the fucking vest. I hadn’t even considered taking it from the trunk of Lily’s car. I knew it wasn’t bad. More of a scratch than anything, but I’d been damn lucky.
“Saul!”
I flipped the table onto its side as I slid to a stop. Scraping sounded on the floor while I angled it to the front door and the stairs. If he came down, I’d have perfect view of his feet before he could even see me. But the big question was, if…
I switched to Arabic, hoping to at least get a response. The man had been yelling at someone. There was a chance my uncle wasn’t even here, but I wasn’t betting on that. Saul wanted me dead. He wanted my slave. This had to have been his plan.
“Saul, come down. I know you’re up there.”
The echo was loud in the silence of my home. If the guard wouldn’t have made it obvious, I would have assumed no one else was here. But…there had to be. I rose the slightest amount, peering at the open space around me.
“Saul!” A growl poured from my lips and I stayed low, running deeper into the kitchen. Weapons were spread around my house at random locations, but that wasn’t what I was after. I stood, swinging the cabinet open and grabbing the gauze. As I made my way back to the table, I took off my jacket and pulled my shirt open, not caring about taking the time to unbutton it. Button’s spun around the floor and in fast wraps, I circled my stomach. The scratch from the bullet was deep, but nothing I’d need stitches for.
Annoyance mingled with impatience and I looked back up at the stairs while I finished fastening the bandage. “You better be praying,” I yelled out. “By the time I get up there, you’re going to wish you would have.”
“Always so sure of yourself. Not this time, Zain.”
My hands dropped and I grabbed my gun, aiming it for the stairs. From my angle, I couldn’t see the top, but I kept it trained to where he’d first come into view. If he decided to do so.
“Really? Are you sure, because I think it is. Listen to your gut, Uncle. What does it tell you?”
A laugh was followed by footsteps from above. I glanced up, but stayed focused on the stairs. There was no telling whether he was up there alone.
“Zain, Zain…” Again he laughed. “You know, I have to admit, this is going to be rather fun. Had I known how much, I think I would have done this a lot sooner.”
What sounded like a soft voice had me tilting my head to get a better angle. Whispering buzzed and I couldn’t make out what was said. The sob that followed had me standing. It was feminine, making my heart drop. Slade had said Lily was at the hospital. She was supposed to be safe. If this wasn’t Lily…then who?”
I took a step, my feet seeming to weigh more with each inch I grew closer.
“No?” Saul laughed quietly. “You know, I’ve done this before. You’ll thank me, I promise.” The sobbing increased.
“Saul!” I placed my foot on the first step and gripped my gun tighter while I keeping it aimed above. All he had to do was peek his head over the side and I’d blow his brains out. But from what I could see, he wasn’t by the edge.
“Did you finally decide to join us?”
My jaw tightened and I hated that he knew I was approaching. I walked faster, my finger remaining on the trigger.
“Come on. Come say hello.” There was a drawl in his tone. Almost as if he were coaxing a young child. My head came to the top of the opening and I counted to three before I took a quick look. Time stopped as I pushed my hand to the wall for balance. So, that’s what he’d meant. He’d done it before. Rage had me seeing red and I felt almost disconnected as I took a step higher. My hand slid into my pocket and I pulled out my phone, hitting Slade’s number. I didn’t even raise the phone to my ear. I placed it on the top step, out of view, and walked the remaining distance until I was standing in the room.
Rope was strewn over the rafter above and Mary’s arms were bound high enough to where she had to stand on her tiptoes to stay balanced. Tears stained her face and blood was smeared along her mouth and chin. The swelling on her cheek had me circling the room for a clear shot. Saul was standing behind her, holding the knife to her throat, one hand on her slightly rounding stomach.
“Mary, it’s going to be okay. Just don’t move, okay.”
“Za-in.” My name came out broken as her eyes closed and more tears spilled out.
Saul’s finger splayed and his fingertips pushed in, gripping the fabric of her loose, light blue dress. Mary began noticeably shaking as she let out an angry groan. It was followed by more sobs.
“Let her go. This is between me and you. No one else.”
“Wrong,” Saul snapped in English. “When one becomes the enemy, everyone they’re connected to is fair game. I believe this would be sorely missed if it were taken away. What do you think?” His hand rubbed over her stomach again and Mary tried to move to the side. The shift had her gasping. Blood ran down her neck and I stepped in closer, moving my barrel up and down, trying to find a shot that would work. Where he stood, there was no way I could take him out without risking Mary’s life. One wrong move and she could be dead.
I answered back, speaking loud in case Slade was listening. “You hurt that baby and so help me, I won’t be the only one gutting you alive. You taking
her might have been your biggest mistake. You won’t make it out of this room. You have to know that.”
“They killed Caleb,” Mary said, crying harder. “They—” Her voice diminished at my uncle angling the knife to where she had to lift her neck. More blood escaped, soaking down into the high collar of the dress. Saul spun them slightly, dropping the knife from her throat and pulling out a gun. I moved with their direction, keeping my aim and watching where he had his.
“You’re wrong. You’re the one who’s going to die. As for her,” his hand gripped into her stomach making her cry out, “she’s going to send a message to your new friend that you don’t mess with Saul Amari and get away with it.”
Chapter 45
Lily
“That’s all you saw?”
The detective’s deep voice was drowned out by my worry for my brother. He held his phone, pale, completely still. I nodded. “Yes. I know nothing. Please, excuse me.” I was already walking away as my words flowed from my mouth mindlessly. Slade’s arm shot out to Marcio, fisting his coat.
“Get Gaige on the phone now. I need to talk to him.” Panic laced his words and he broke from Marcio, rushing toward the exit of the Emergency Room. I followed behind, staying silent as Brace moved in close.
“Mr. Roberts, you need to stay here while I get the car. It’s safer that way.”
Slade’s gray eyes darkened as they snapped our way. “Safer? Fuck, safer. That son of a bitch has Mary and I’m going to kill him.”
I didn’t need to ask who. We all knew who was responsible for the events that had gone down. Air would barely come as I thought of Mary being in Saul’s clutches. I jogged behind Slade as he ran for the car. He seemed oblivious to everything but what he was hearing on the phone. The power locks clicked and I followed Slade as he climbed in the back.
“No, you stay.” His hand came out to stop me from getting in and I slapped it away.
“Don’t you tell me to stay. I know Zain is the one who called you and I’m going.”
“Boss.” Marcio got in the driver’s seat, reaching back to hand Slade his phone. I climbed in at the distraction and Slade gestured to Brace, who was already pulling out his laptop from the passenger seat.
“Hurry up with that fucking address.” My brother lifted the phone to his other ear and squinted before he began talking. “Gaige, I need you.”
There was a moment of silence and my brother lowered his head. His shoulders sagged and I froze as I prepared myself for him to break down completely. So many emotions filtered across his profile while he stared down at the floor. All I could think about was how I was invading what should have been a private moment between him and this agent.
“Saul Amari has my wife and Zain is the only one there to help her. I can hear what’s going on and…he’s threatening to kill Zain and my child to send a message.”
Bile burned my throat and I gripped the handle of the door with everything I had. Saul would do it. I knew he would. Something told me if Zain could have killed him, he would have already. There was something holding him back, but what?
Slade’s head flew up. “Address, now!”
“Working on it, boss.”
Deep breaths were coming from my brother and he shifted. “I think I just heard a shot. I’m not sure. There was something. Maybe a bang on the wall? Fuck, I don’t know! The connection keeps breaking up.” He went to say something but hesitated. “How long?”
Brace’s head turned in our direction. “They’re at Zain’s.”
“Address,” my brother bit out.
As Brace told him and my brother repeated it to Gaige, I went over the layout of Zain’s place. Were they downstairs? Upstairs? Were they going to see us pulling up? Had someone been shot or were they fighting? So many question spun wildly in my mind.
Tire’s squealed as Marcio left the parking lot and floored it in the direction of Zain’s. Like my brother, I couldn’t sit still. If something happened to Zain or Mary, neither of us would ever be the same.
“See you there.” Slade hung up and dropped Marcio’s phone at his feet. He pulled back the other, hitting the speakerphone button. Silence.
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 ahea
d 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
Lily: Captive to the Dark Page 33
