Hidden

by T K Barber

  Annalise sidestepped one of Marianna’s men that made a grab at her, pushing off his shoulder to propel herself further, nearly tripping when she hit the curb.

  “Damnit! Rico don’t let her in there. Go! The rest of you go, go, go!”

  The swarm moved, splitting apart like ants around a puddle.

  Rico appeared beside Annalise from nowhere, and she screeched when he grabbed her arm, just at the edge of the building.

  Without hesitation, she whirled into him, throwing off his momentum. His eyes widened when he stumbled a step.

  She jerked against his grip. “Let. Me. GO!”

  A solid front kick to his thigh, and down he went with a loud shout. Anna fell back a few steps, her entire body both buzzing and numb. “Sorry!”

  He’d live. She spun and took the fire escape stairs two at a time. Finally, finally she made it to the door and jerked on the knob. It didn’t budge. Fear froze her, rooted her in place again.

  “No . . . NO!” She jerked a second time.

  “Yo! Clear out of the way!”

  Killer’s bark startled her as it shot up from the base of the fire escape, but she ignored him and bumped the door with her shoulder, trying to will it open like her apartment door.

  “THOMAS!” She screamed, her heartbeat causing jumps in the sound. “Thomas, we’re coming for you!”

  No good. She took a step back and shook her hands with a whimper, flinging off the buzzing in her palms. If only she had—she sucked in a breath. That’s right! Gun! She jerked it out of her waistband and flicked the safety off.

  “Meyer, get that girl outta the way ‘fore she gets her damn self knocked off!”

  Killer’s order spurred the redhead into action and footsteps thudded on the stairs below her.

  Annalise exhaled and popped off three shots into the door handle. Elation swept through her and shoved fear deep down into a locked box in her chest. For the moment.

  “Aye step left!” Meyer stomped closer and tugged her by her upper arm.

  She tried to jerk away from the wall of a man, but he easily held her. Shouts sounded from below. Inside. They both paused. Several fast ‘pops’ followed. Then silence.

  Her knees buckled and Meyer’s grip adjusted, holding her up. He caught her gaze, concern lighting his. “Ye okay, lass?”

  She nodded. It wasn’t Thomas. No way.

  He guided her back a step to clear a way for two of his buddies. They exchanged a glance, a single nod, and the smallest of the giants kicked the door in. Buddy one and two rushed through, guns drawn, and Annalise was practically sucking air through a straw.

  Two gunshots. Her vision went white, and she screamed. “Don’t shoot Thomas!”

  Meyer released her and went through himself. Annalise scrabbled through the door frame behind him.

  A sucking smokey gasp filled her lungs, and she skidded to a stop.

  She flicked her gaze to the right. Buddy one and two stood over two dead bodies.

  Good. That’s what anyone who came after her Thomas should get.

  She wrenched her eyes away from the blood and glanced to the other side of the room. All reason left her mind.

  Annalise

  “THOMAS! Oh . . . my God!”

  She sped across the dirty floor to his still frame. He sat slumped over on a metal chair, facing a massive flickering screen.

  Annalise quickly averted her eyes as she reached him. Her stomach twisted. Marianna came from the other side of the room, through a far door, flanked by her personal army. She gestured to each corner of the room, and a man peeled off in that direction.

  Killer came through the fire escape door behind Annalise and grunted as he made quick work of the screen by popping off several shots into the projector. He muttered “Sick fuckin’.” under his breath, but Annalise could only focus on Thomas.

  Pale, taking shallow breaths, but at least still breathing.

  “Thomas.” She crouched down in front of him and put her shaking hands on his face, trying to make him look at her. “Thomas, it’s me, Anna.” She scanned his face as her heart both squeezed with heartache and exploded with love. “I’m here,” she whispered. “You’re safe.” She furrowed her brow when he still didn’t respond. She wiped residual tears off his cheeks with her palms and cleared her throat. “Wake up.”

  “You’re gonna wanna step away.”

  Killer’s voice cut through the room like a razor, and Annalise’s head snapped up. Before she could retort, Marianna, who had cleared the room and was now standing on the opposite of Thomas’s nightmare stage, nodded, opening her mouth, but Rico spoke first.

  “Annalise, he’s right. Come here.”

  Annalise’s jaw dropped open. Then clamped shut. Like hell. No way. She ignored them completely and sneered instead. She put her hands on Thomas’ shoulders and gave him a gentle shake.

  “Thomas. Hey. Hey, wake up.”

  “ ‘ay! I said back away! You got a death wish or somethin’?”

  She shot him another look to let him have it, but Killer had his gun trained on her. No, not her . . . Thomas. Her eyes widened, and she passed a glance over to Marianna. Several of her men also had their guns on the two of them. What the hell?

  “What are you guys doing?! This is Thomas! The whole fucking reason we came here! Why aren’t you helping me?!” Annalise’s voice hitched, and she cleared her throat, but no one moved. “Fine.”

  She grabbed Thomas’s hands and pulled on him, shocked at how heavy he was. Apparently, he was musclier than she remembered, but she managed. Of course, she’d never tried to lift a lifeless man before. She finally got him to his feet. He swayed, nearly dropped down, but she caught him.

  “Good—unh!”

  She strained to keep him standing until he found his own feet. She kept her hands on his waist and he put his on her shoulders, probably to steady himself further. In some twisted way, it looked like they were dancing.

  But instead of the joy that should have brought her, her gaze caught Marianna’s and her stomach rolled.

  Tears in the corners of her eyes. Why?

  Annalise furrowed her brows and passed a glance to Rico, who had a hand on his gun, the other clenched at his side. Then she glanced at Killer and his band of brutes. All their faces wore masks of wariness. What the hell weren’t they telling her?

  Thomas was fully on his own feet now, but still as a statue and quiet. She swallowed. Far too quiet. She was almost afraid to look at that point. After all, what were they so afraid of?

  His hands still rested heavy, lifeless on her shoulders. She leaned her head back slowly as she released his waist.

  “Thom—”

  Dead.

  Her chest froze.

  His eyes were completely dead. His expression, dead.

  The room spun and she swallowed. His face was dead. He was breathing and standing, but Thomas wasn’t there. She had no idea what, or who, was inside his body, but Thomas, the man she loved, was not standing in front of her.

  Nausea crawled through her, scrabbling over the terror. She didn’t go through everything she did, just to lose him now. She clenched her jaw.

  He didn’t even look at her. Just stared out toward the now black screen. A chill shot down her spine, and she had no clue what to do.

  “Annalise, come here.”

  Rico’s whisper barely registered over her own pulse. An eerie stillness blanketed the room. Annalise’s eyes met every pair looking back at her. Thomas was still immobile. She swallowed.

  Maybe it was a good idea to step away. She leaned her weight back, but the second she moved her leg his hands tightened on her shoulders.

  She flinched. It didn’t actually hurt, not even close, but she was hoping if he thought he’d hurt her would snap him out of whatever the hell was going on. It didn’t.

  Actually, he could probably tell the difference. He had seen her in real pain far too many times.

  T
he blank nothing in his eyes still beamed out, aimed at some imaginary thing. So, was it the hidden Thomas that didn’t want her to leave? Maybe a tiny bit of him was still in there. Somewhere. Now, to find him.

  She leaned forward, but his hands held her back that time. Okay . . . maybe she could just make him.

  “Thomas. Let me go.”

  His hands dropped like lead weights through mud and he blinked but didn’t look at her.

  Marianna made a move to come closer, but Rico shot his hand out and grabbed her upper arm. She glared at him, but he just shook his head and moved with her, hand still on his gun. She nodded and exhaled.

  “Tommy . . .”

  His eyes snapped to focus, and he wheeled around.

  One footstep.

  Every gun not already out appeared from its hiding place. A symphony of clicks bounced off the walls like popcorn in a kettle. But he didn’t stop. He took steady steps straight up to Marianna, only making it as far as Rico’s body, which was now directly in front of Marianna’s.

  Annalise slapped her hands over her mouth as acid rose in her throat. He even carried himself differently. Stiffer, colder. No swagger. No hands jammed in pockets with his shoulders lifted as he leaned in to tease her. That was not her Thomas.

  A million years passed in those few seconds. The piercing stare from Rico mirrored by Thomas. Annalise exhaled slowly and made eye contact with Killer.

  He gestured toward the door with his head, hand cocked sideways, gun still aimed at Thomas. She furrowed her brows and gave a single head shake. She was not going to leave him. She’d never leave him. Just like he said he’d never leave her.

  Killer narrowed his eyes at her but flicked his gaze to Thomas when he took a deep breath.

  He spoke around Rico, to Marianna. “You lost, Ortega.”

  Marianna’s jaw dropped. She slapped her palm over her mouth and pinched her brows.

  With that, Thomas turned on his heel and headed straight to the fire escape door, every sight trained on him.

  Steady, even, robotic steps. No glance in any direction, let alone Annalise’s.

  She almost reached out to him, but her body wouldn’t move.

  The rhythmic thuds faded as he descended the stairs until Annalise’s own heartbeat drowned everything else out.

  He just . . . left. He left her.

  This pain was altogether new. If she’d been examining it from the outside, it might have been a fascinating thing to watch as it slashed and sliced through her soul. As it scratched down her chest leaving gaping wounds.

  As one knifed finger of despair stabbed her heart, another plunged straight into her stomach and twisted. Her arms and legs weighed down by nailed-in anchors. She floated and fell at the same time.

  Her throat closed and everything was too much. Too much air. Too much room. Clothes too tight. It hurt too much. Her heart charred. There was—she had to—how?

  No one moved. And then they did. She blinked and Marianna’s arms were tight around her, smoothing down her hair, and making soothing shushing noises.

  He left. Her.

  How was there water on her cheeks? More and more came until she finally realized she was crying.

  No. Drowning.

  Her hands, all on their own, clutched at Marianna like a life preserver, clawing at her shoulders as she fought to surface, gasping for air. Wave after wave sucked away everything she had.

  What was she going to do now?

  Her vision narrowed. The ground tried to swallow her. She checked out, prepared for her knees to hit the concrete, but they never did.

  She ripped open her eyes. The pale canvas of Killer’s smooth skin was all she could see. His stone cut jaw worked as he lifted her like a sack of feathers. Had Marianna let her go? Had he taken the initiative?

  He was warm. Solid. Present. She inhaled sharply through pursed lips and squinted as she tucked her quaking hands under her chin.

  This wasn’t her warehouse. She just needed to breathe. Arms against her chest, she focused on the motion of his sure steps. Passing out or breaking down wasn’t going to save Thomas from whatever the hell that was. He needed her.

  She clenched and unclenched her fists, taking another slow breath as Killer carried her down the stairs.

  Focus. How was she going to save Thomas now?

  The who and why would come soon enough, she’d make sure of that. Rage rippled through her veins, burning the fear away.

  Everyone in that room knew stuff she didn’t. What would they have done to Thomas, if she hadn’t been there, ‘in the way’ essentially? She shivered and Killer adjusted his hold on her.

  At the bottom of the stairs, he stopped. His chest rumbled with a short hum. When he turned slightly in each direction, Annalise peeked an eye open, curiosity winning for the moment. Her pulse made the sight of his pursed full lips jump. What was he doing? She wiped a tear from her chin.

  He cleared his throat and set her down gently, supporting her back until her legs finally steadied. She wasn’t even close to a hundred percent yet, but she was on the way. Even so, her heart hammered in her throat.

  Killer put his hands on his hips and stretched his shoulder, looking completely uncomfortable or, maybe lost?

  “You’re . . . alright. In that . . . I mean.” He blew a slow breath to the sky and drummed his fingers against his belt. “Maybe, uh, maybe he’s not all the way. Like. Gone, yeah?”

  He scratched the back of his neck. She would have totally laughed if she wasn’t completely heartbroken.

  “Ehhhhhh . . .” Killer patted the top of her head at arm’s length and shrugged, leaving his shoulders up. That broke the wall.

  Three surprised laughs burst out, and she nodded. “T-thanks.”

  If that was supposed to be his convincing voice, it needed some serious work. Still, the intent made her heart hurt even more.

  Marianna and her parade of men came down the stairs next. She stepped up beside Annalise and stroked her hair once, then rubbed her upper back. Another slow exhale and feeling came back to her hands and feet.

  Killer faced the Price pack and nodded.

  “Wish we’d been earlier. I’d have loved to catch that bastard red-handed for once. Not gonna call this even, so we still owe you one. Call us the second you need us.”

  Marianna stepped up to Killer, who raised his dark brows. She gave him a hug, which apparently no one on that entire sidewalk was expecting, most especially Rico, whose body went rigid and grew at least two inches.

  “I can’t thank you enough for being willing to rush right over. I didn’t know your men could move that fast, to be honest.”

  Killer’s smooth, loud, short laugh bounced off the walls of the alley as he stepped back from her, plopping his hands on his hips.

  “I got the best, and they had incentive. ‘Swhat I do. Until next time.”

  He did a half bow, followed by a half salute, a slight metal tinkle from his watch the only sound. When he made a wide circle in the air with his arm, the posse moved as a single unit, loading back into their cars with a grace that really shouldn’t have belonged to such massive, scary-looking men.

  Meyer had the back door open before Boss dude got there, and he ducked to climb in. He stopped with one leg in the car and turned back to face Annalise.

  “Hey . . . girl. I seen this one other time. J-pop likes to fuck with people. He’s got this twisted Doc as his supplier. You’re prolly the only one who could bring him back, if he can . . . uh. Come back. So. Don’t give up on him just yet, right? And. Just. Don’t judge what he does now. It . . . It just ain’t really him, feel me?”

  She had every intention of delivering some witty, ass-kicking retort. Instead, she barely managed a weak nod. They stood, eyes locked for one more second before he dropped into the car.

  Meyer was quick on his feet, too, and was in the car in less than a second. Killer popped his arm out the window and pointed, ordering the entire g
roup to move.

  And they did, as close to in sync as traffic would allow. Pretty spectacular to see, honestly.

  Marianna wrapped her arm around Annalise’s shoulders again.

  So. What next?

  She had no clue where Thomas went, what he was going to do, how to bring him “back,” whatever that meant. Annalise spun in Marianna’s grip, stepping back.

  “Well?”

  Marianna looked over to Rico, then back to Annalise. Annalise blinked. Where the hell had he come from?

  “Now, I take you to my house.”

  Woozy from waning adrenaline or not, the last thing she wanted was to go to any one’s house, let alone Marianna’s. And Nick’s glower was far-reaching, she could almost feel it. She shuddered. He probably already knew. He always fucking knew.

  Too bad. They needed to find Thomas and bring him out of whatever the hell was going on. She needed to.

  “No way. That’s not happening.” She squinted and passed a glance between Rico and Marianna. “You know where he’s going?”

  Rico crossed his arms and glared at the sidewalk. Marianna rubbed her neck and shook her head. “I’m worried, but we don’t know if he got in a car, what car it might be, or anything useful.”

  “Then no, I’m not going anywhere with you.” She unfolded her arms and pointed to the now vacant side of the road. “You heard Killer. I’m the only one that can save him. What will he do to you without me there?” She shuddered and recrossed her arms. “What will you do to him if he can’t get it under control?”

  “Annalise, I really do understand—”

  “I don’t think you do!” She fumed.

  Marianna sighed. “But we can’t just drive around the city. We can’t—” she swallowed. “—start a turf war. We aren’t ready for that. Doubt we ever will be, honestly. That’s just not how we run things.”

  Annalise’s blood boiled. She stomped the space between them and glared.

  “If your own damn SON isn’t reason enough to start a war, what the fuck else is there?”

  Marianna’s eyes bugged, and she stood stock-still. The silence was nearly deafening. Rico glanced over his shoulder at the two men who still flanked Marianna and even though Annalise couldn’t see his face, she felt sure he was sending daggers to the two of them.