Chapter 48

Everything is going well. Better than well actually.

“Your plan was good,” I tell Cillian as we walk out of the building. Lev is making his way to us in the van, since we now have four unconscious kids and one knocked out guard with us.

I checked in on Kai who was doing a final sweep of surveillance to make sure we got everyone.

“Thanks, Old Man.” Cillian stretches his arms above his head. “Just wait till you see what else I’ve got planned.”

I nearly drop the kid hanging over my shoulder.

“There’s more?” I ask, eyes darting around the property.

Before he can answer, static comes through the comms, causing us all to pause.

“Lev?” Damien questions.

No answer.

“Kai?” Nessa says, voice thick with frantic energy.

I cannot even reach out to comfort her, so I place the kid down and walk to her side.

“ Lisich -” My words are cut off by the sound of a gunshot coming from where we left the vans.

Without thought, Cillian, Nessa, and I take off at top speed. Damien is right behind us. My lungs ache as we get closer and closer, my limbs moving faster than they have in my entire life.

This cannot be happening. No one else can die.

Panting breaths are all that can be heard when we get to the van, the door broken off and hanging by just one of the hinges.

“Kai!” Nessa screams, leaping into the vehicle. I draw my weapon, prepared to fight anyone and anything that may be in the way here.

“No!” Damien yells as he grabs Lev’s shoulder and pulls him up. Blood is all over the keyboard and splattered across some of the screens. “Baby! Baby!”

We glance back and forth, but there is no sign of our boy as Damien clutches Lev to his chest.

Nessa continues to scream his name, opening up every cabinet and looking under every chair in the whole van before she lets out a blood-curdling screech.

The rest of our family begin to make it to the van along with a few of the kids. But I stand there frozen, staring at Kai’s phone that has blood splattered across it and our tracker locations pulled up. Just under the GPS, you can see all of our vital signs. Nessa’s heart rate is elevated like the rest of ours, but that’s not what has my attention.

It’s Kai’s heartbeat, sitting at a perfect sixty-four, as his dot moves away from us at speed.

That’s when I notice one of the cars is gone.

Did he play us, or did something else go very wrong here tonight?