Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

D’Angelo

The next day, just as I promised, I took Oliver to meet with his family.

We stopped at his friend’s place first to check on them. After what happened to him at the coffee shop, Oliver was concerned for Ashes’s safety, but he also knew that once he started questioning his family, he would probably be there for a while and wouldn’t have time to look in on his friend afterward. So, making a quick stop at Ashes’s place first was the simplest option.

“Your friend lives in a shack?” I asked as we sat in a car across the street from Ashes’s residence.

At first, I thought that the actual house on the property was our destination, until Oliver told me that the house belonged to Ashes’s landlord. Apparently, Ashes lived in the outbuilding in the back. It couldn’t hold more than a room or two, and looked like the kind of place where lawn equipment would be stored.

“Ashes uses it as a workshop for their jewelry business,” Oliver explained. “There’s a bed and a kitchenette in there as well, along with a small bathroom. It’s basically like a studio apartment. They could probably afford more, but the workshop is the only thing they really care about.”

I shrugged. “To each their own, I suppose.” I still didn’t understand why someone would choose to live like that, but I wasn’t about to question Oliver’s friend in front of him.

“Boss,” Eva called to me from the front seat of the car. “We’ve got a problem.”

Sighing, I resisted the urge to start tugging out my hair. “What is it now?”

“The security we set around this place. I can’t get a hold of them.”

That did not bode well. I only employed the best security. They wouldn’t be out of contact for anything other than an emergency situation.

There wasn’t time to worry about it. We needed to act.

“All right. I’m going in. Eva, come with me. Gavriil, stay with Oliver.”

“But, Boss—” both Eva and Gavriil started to argue.

“No. Do as I say. One of you stays with Oliver. Someone’s already tried to kidnap him once before. All of this will be for nothing if he ends up getting taken anyway. If we’re not seeing anything from out here, that means whatever happened is already over, or only a small group was sent after Ashes. Either way, we can handle it.”

Oliver tugged desperately at my arm, nearly pulling my jacket off my shoulder. “Did something happen to Ashes? They’re okay, right?”

Giving his hand a squeeze, I tried to sound as reassuring as possible. “I don’t know. That’s why I’m going to go in there to find out. You’re going to stay here so Gavriil can keep you safe.”

“What? No!” Oliver reached for the door handle. “If something happened to Ashes then I’m going in with you.”

I grabbed him by both arms and pulled him back before he could get the door open. “No. Oliver. You’re going to stay here. If you go in, you’ll only put yourself in danger and there’s nothing you can do. Don’t make me restrain you.”

He was panicking and his pupils were contracted to mere pinpoints, but he swallowed his racing pulse and managed to nod.

“All right, fine. But you better not take too long.”

I kissed his forehead. “Be back before you can blink.”

After quickly checking that all of my weapons were in place, I jumped out of the car with Eva. We went around the edge of the property, sticking to the shadow of the decorative pine trees that lined the street. It was dusk, so the fading light worked to our advantage and blurred everything into an indistinguishable gray.

The shack—I refused to think of the tiny little building as a home—had two doors. One in front and one in back. It was an easy choice which one to take. The only windows were on the front wall, so there was no way to see someone approaching the back door from the inside.

I didn’t even see any security cameras on the building. It really was an unsafe place.

The thought of Oliver spending a lot of time in this shack hanging out with his friend terrified me. When this was over, I was going to buy this Ashes person a new place to live just for my own peace of mind.

Without many windows, it was also difficult to check what was happening inside the shack before going inside. After quick deliberation, I decided an abrupt entry would be necessary. If we turned out to be wrong and there was no danger, I would simply apologize to Oliver’s friend later, but I was nearly certain that wouldn’t be the case.

Standing to either side of the back door along with Eva, I quietly counted to three. Then, using all my strength, I kicked in the door. The wood practically splintered under my foot, but it opened and allowed Eva to charge inside.

Gunshots rang out before I could even follow her through the door. Shouldering my way inside, I found the shack to be exactly as Oliver had described. One corner almost looked like an apartment, with a bed, couch, television, and a kitchenette. However, most of the space was dedicated to a jewelry-making workshop. Everything had a chaotic sort of order to it.

Except for one table, which was just chaos without the order. It had been overturned, and various tools and materials lay scattered over the floor.

My brain had about five seconds to catalog everything I was seeing. Several people stood over a bound figure on the floor.

Based on Oliver’s description, the figure was Ashes. They were squirming against their bonds and trying to look around in a panic, but the blindfold over their eyes made everything they did useless. I didn’t recognize their attackers, but I knew a kidnapping when I saw one.

Eva had already engaged the first kidnapper by the time I reached the group. Her bullets had killed at least one person, and another body lay conscious but bleeding on the ground. I managed to get a shot off, putting a bullet in the shoulder of the nearest kidnapper. They stumbled, but it wasn’t a lethal shot.

The kidnappers naturally split down the middle, half focusing on me while the other half confronted Eva. Just from the way they moved I could tell they were seasoned fighters. Probably ex-military who fell on hard times after returning to civilian life.

This wouldn’t be an easy fight. They were likely the same group of people who had attacked Oliver, and it seemed they’d learned their lesson and brought a larger group.

One of the kidnappers kicked a table at me, and I was forced to lower my gun in order to dodge out of the way. The shack was small. There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver. A gun was limited up close. If I tried firing again, I would just as likely shoot an ally as an enemy. Off to the side, Eva was also having a similar difficulty, but I had to trust her ability to handle herself while I concentrated on dealing with my half of the kidnappers.

Stowing my gun away, I pulled out a pair of long knives instead. I always liked bladed weapons better than guns, they felt more in control than a bullet that could fly off in any direction, and the hilts settled comfortably in my hands.

The next kidnapper I encountered swung at me with a nightstick. Flipping one of my knives so the blade lay along my forearm, I blocked the swing of the nightstick. The clang of metal against metal knocked the kidnapper off balance, and I pressed forward. I embedded my other knife in the kidnapper’s neck, slicing right through a main artery.

With a spray of blood, the kidnapper dropped to the floor like the devil himself had snatched their soul right out of their body.

I did a quick count. There were at least three more kidnappers still alive from my half of the group.

My blades flashed. I swept out legs from under people, blocked blows when people tried to hit me, and dodged every time I saw the muzzle of a barrel point my way. Another kidnapper fell, and I couldn’t even consciously remember what had killed him. My body moved on instinct and muscle memory. Very few actual decisions were required.

It was in these moments that I always felt the most free. No thought. No decisions. Just movement.

Something struck the back of my leg and my knee collapsed. Moving with the sudden change of momentum, I tucked into a roll and came up on the other side of the overturned table. This put me closer to Ashes’s prone figure on the floor. At some point, they’d managed to get their blindfold off, and they stared at me with a mix of terror, confusion, and a little bit of recognition.

A shadow flickered in the corner of my vision. One of the kidnappers had tried to sneak up behind me. Reflexes kicked in, and I planted one of my knives in the middle of someone’s chest. The blade struck their breastbone in an awkward way and twisted out of my hand. I knew better than to try and hold on and risk hurting myself. I let it go. The kidnapper collapsed, taking one of my weapons with them.

I could hear Ashes screaming behind the gag covering their mouth.

Rough hands grabbed me from behind and something sharp sliced my shoulder. I whirled around before they could get a proper hold on me and hugged their arm to my chest. Repositioning my feet for better balance, I threw my attacker over my shoulder. They flew through the air, feet tumbling over their head in a perfect arch, and hit the concrete floor with the satisfying crunch of breaking bone.

Unfortunately, my foot tangled in a coil of wire that had fallen to the floor and I tripped. My other knife fell from my hand, and for one terrifying moment, I was weaponless. My attacker saw the moment of vulnerability, and although they clutched their visibly broken arm, they still smiled in victory.

Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I grabbed the first thing I could find. It turned out to be a soldering iron. The tool had a similar weight and handle to a knife, and I instinctively shoved the pointy end into my attacker’s eye.

Only when I smelled something burning and heard the sizzle of flesh did I realize that the soldering iron was still on.

The kidnapper screamed and clawed at their eyes, desperate to get the iron out. I pushed deeper, all the way up to the hilt, until the flailing body stopped moving.

They finally collapsed and I stumbled back a step, breathing hard.

“What took you so long, Boss?” Eva said from a few feet away.

Looking over at her, I found even more bodies lying on the floor at her feet. She’d dispatched her half of the enemies, and then dealt with a few of mine.

“What? You’re the bodyguard. This kind of stuff is supposed to be your job.”

She grinned at me—or at least gave me a toothy expression that passed for a grin—then stored her own knives safely back in their sheaths.

“You’re slower than normal today. Did your new bedmate work you too hard?”

A muscle twinged in my lower back.

“Shut up.”

I’d been so busy dealing with the Russians, and Caprice, and Oliver that I couldn’t remember when I last got a decent night’s sleep. Although, I would never admit such a thing. I’d much rather let Eva think that my fatigue was a result of overindulgence. I had a reputation to maintain, after all.

“Ashes!” Oliver’s familiar voice shouted as he ran into the shack.

I cast a glance at Gavriil, who stood in the doorway.

The man merely shrugged. “What. You said keep him safe. You’ve taken out all the enemies. It’s safe now.”

I frowned at him but didn’t argue.

Kneeling by his friend’s side, Oliver pulled the gag from Ashes’s mouth. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Ashes spit the gag out with such force they nearly bit their own tongue. “What the hell, Oliver? What’s going on?”

“It’s okay,” Oliver tried to reassure them while removing the rest of the ropes. “You’re safe now. Everything’s being handled.”

Ashes tried to immediately jump to their feet, but they were obviously dizzy and stumbled. Oliver caught them before they could fall.

“Okay?” Ashes continued to shout, though they let themself be guided to sit on the mostly untouched couch. “This is not okay. Oliver. Your boyfriend just killed a guy with my soldering iron. Everything is far from okay.”

“There’s an explanation. I swear. It’s just that...” Oliver trailed off, looking pensive for a moment, before he turned to me. “Actually, why did they attack Ashes? My friend isn’t connected to you.”

I retrieved my knives from where they had fallen and checked the blades for damage. “No, but you are, and through you they could control me. Since their plan to kidnap you failed, they went after your friend to try and lure you out.”

“Ah, I see...” Hazel eyes suddenly widened. “But, if that’s true, then what about my family? They’re in just as much danger as Ashes.”

“Yes,” I said, putting my knives back in their proper places. “Which is why we need to move quickly. Come on. Bring your friend. You can explain everything to them in the car.”